From January 2021 we will be running two Sprints to test our first term and our innovative Interdisciplinary Problems and Methods curriculum.
Participants will join us for five weeks as paid learners – what could be a better arrangement than that, being paid to learn?! During each Sprint students will road-test the challenges we have set ourselves and our students in delivering the very first part of our curriculum. This is based not on school subjects or university disciplines, but on real-world problems surrounded by learning a range of methods and ways of thinking that one can use to tackle those problems.
How will each Sprint work?
In each of the five-week problem cycles, students will focus on creating a framing which offers new possibilities for tackling the problem. We want students to experience and practise a wide range of different methods from across the arts and sciences so that as the degree develops they have the opportunity to apply their learnings on real world problems.
Each of the Sprints addresses a different problem and will produce a different output:
Sprint #1: How could we measure public health outcomes?
January 11- February 12
In these five weeks, you’ll work in a group of six to devise a tool to measure public health outcome data.
Sprint #2: How can we highlight social injustice?
February 22- March 26
In these five weeks, you’ll work in a group of six to produce a piece of a public campaign which raises awareness of a systemic inequity.
During each Sprint, students will work in groups and learn about four key disciplinary concepts with different members of faculty. These disciplinary perspectives will stretch their understanding of the problem. At the end of week 5, students will combine what they’ve learned and present their project to a panel.
What should participants expect from the Sprints?
The Sprint will be fun, but you will also need to get your head down, study hard and learn things! We would like you, as far as possible, to live the life of an LIS student, so this means around 35-40 hours of study time per week (including contact with teachers, plus your own time). Participants will work closely with other students, our teachers and tutors throughout the programme, just as students will who join LIS in September 2021.
At key points in the middle and end of the Sprints, participants will break out of ‘student’ mode and feed back to us the things they enjoyed, any challenges they experienced, and areas for further development. In other words, we want you to very consciously wear two hats at different periods: as a learner during the learning periods and as a co-developer during the reflection periods at the end of the Sprint.
We are confident it will be a powerful learning experience for all of us and we look forward to welcoming interested learners to each of the Sprints in 2021.
To learn more about the LIS Sprints and apply to be a participant, visit the LIS Sprint page
