Entry requirements

General eligibility requirements + English 6.

A minimum of 60 Higher Education Credits

Progression level in relation to degree requirements

The course is not part of any main field of study.

Course contents

Cyborgs, post-human, transhuman, life 2.0, non-binary, animate/inanimate, humans living amongst and interacting with animals, plants, things, objects, the planet. What matters? How are we anchored by history, by memory, by ritual, by tradition, by the limits of our “signifying” bodies? And what are the states of mind characterising our limitations? Finally, how do we deal with denial, defense, (in)sensitivity, carelessness, discomfort? This course dives into speculations about some of the most fundamental questions shaping contemporary culture and society: What is involved in being human? And does the category of the human need to be reimagined or reinterpreted in moving towards the future?

Learning outcomes

On completion of the course the student will be able to:

1. analyse literary texts, artworks, films and/or other cultural productions in imaginative ways
2. demonstrate the ability to think critically by making nuanced links and connections between new ideas and relevant established theories
3. demonstrate an expanded understanding of ethics
4. identify, formulate and analyse societal challenges by working processually and collaboratively with creating their own scenarios for the future.

Learning activities

Lectures, seminars and workshops.

Assessment

One paper (6 credits) assessing LO 3 and 4 (graded as A-U), one paper (3 credits) assessing learning outcome 4 (graded as pass-fail) and one presentation (6 credits) assessing LO 1, 2 and3 (graded A-U). Re-examinations will be given in accordance with Students’ Rights and Obligations, but adjustments to the assignment can be made if the circumstances for the original examination cannot be replicated.

Course literature

• Ferrando, Francesca. Philosophical Posthumanism. Bloomsbury Academic, 2018.
• Haraway, Donna J. Stayin with the Trouble. Making Kin in the Chthulucene. Duke University Press, 2016.
• Sorgner, Stefan Lorenz. On Transhumanism. Penn State University Press, 2020.
• Bruno Latour. Down to Earth –Politics in the New Climatic Regime. Paris: Polity, 2018.
• Westerlaken, Michelle. Imagining Multispecies Worlds. Doctoral dissertation at Malmö University, 2020.

Additional scholarly articles, as well as fictional and artistic works, will be added.

Course evaluation

Malmö University provides students who participate in, or who have completed a course, with the opportunity to express their opinions and describe their experiences of the course by completing a course evaluation administered by the University. The University will compile and summarise the results of course evaluations. The University will also inform participants of the results and any decisions relating to measures taken in response to the course evaluations. The results will be made available to the students (HF 1:14).

Interim rules

If a course is no longer offered, or has undergone significant changes, the students must be offered two opportunities for re-examination based on the syllabus that applied at the time of registration, for a period of one year after the changes have been implemented.

Additional information

This is the English version of a Swedish syllabus.

If a student has a Learning support decision, the examiner has the right to provide the student with an adapted test, or to allow the student to take the exam in a different format.