This module is offered as an Elective in the graduate programmes in architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design and climate resilience. The purpose of this module is to offer the student, through utopian studies, a deeply ethical, philosophical and theoretical perspective for understanding their practice as a designer. For students of architecture, this elective responds to the expectation to develop "an adequate knowledge of the history and theories of architecture and the related arts, technologies and human sciences" and "an understanding of the relationship between people and buildings, and between buildings and their environment and of the need to relate buildings and the spaces between them to human needs and scale" (RIAI Standard of Skills and Competencies). For students of landscape architecture, this elective module addresses the following required 'areas of knowledge and skill' as set out in Appendix 1 of the Addenda to the International Federation of Landscape Architects IFLA/UNESCO Charter for Landscape Architectural Education when implemented in the European Region: -"Knowledge of the fundamental concepts of the relation between man and his physical and sociocultural environment. A general understanding of notions of changing values, attitudes, beliefs and behaviour in the course of time." -"The ability to interpret general goals in society, converted into specific objectives, into landscape design principles, strategies and methodologies." -"The development of skills of communication, negotiation and presentation."

This module will examine the nature and history of utopianism, especially in relation to the processes of the imagination and social design. It will consider utopianism in all its manifestations, including books and buildings, intentional communities and political movements; and it will especially pay attention to the role of the utopian method in producing the built environment. To do so, students will read and discuss work that describes and enacts utopia in description and theory and in fiction and film (especially science fiction).

Upon successful completion of this module, students will be able to: Conceptualise Utopianism as a form of social design, involving critique and vision as well as creative problem-solving; Extract utopian concepts from literary fiction and film; Apply the utopian method as a dynamic tool in the work of re-making the world;

Upon successful completion of this module, students will be able to: Participate in class discussions and respond to input from lecturers and students; Develop a position in relation to the assertion that 'the world can be made better'; Interpret (and project) social values and practices in a holistic way; Appreciate intellectual discourse and implement standards of academic writing and referencing.

N/A

This elective module is delivered through a programme of lectures and seminar discussions. Classes comprise a lecture, followed by close discussion of assigned texts. Smaller classes allow for in-depth interrogation of the subject at an advanced level. This also ensures that learning is active and participatory. The nature of the texts being read and discussed, and the reflective work undertaken by students, ensures that the module remains at the forefront of ideas in the field of utopian studies and its relationship with the designer. Graduate elective modules may have a common brief and may share lecture/tutorial time with undergraduate electives. Compared to undergraduate electives, electives in the graduate programme pursue advanced research-learning, require additional module work, carry higher expectations and are assessed accordingly. Graduate student work requires independent study in addition to extra contact time. Higher-level expectations for graduate work include more in-depth pursuit of advanced technical, theoretical or practice-based concepts. Module work in graduate electives must establish a critical position that advances or challenges current practice. This module encourages students' independence of thought as they reflect deeply on the material under consideration and develop their positionality, all developing their COURAGEOUSNESS. Engaging, through this module, in the nature of the field of utopian studies develops students sense of RESPONSIBILITY with regard to how they engage professionally and ethically with the communities and physical environments with which they work. The intellectual nature of the module content and high-conceptual level of the material develops the CURIOUSITY of the student and their capacities in critical and imaginative thinking. The range of world views presented and discussed develops their open-mindedness and hence the AGILITY in their responses and actions in bringing the thinking of this module into their design work.