Undergraduate Module Descriptor

LAW3205: Law, Testimony and Trauma

This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.

Module Aims

You will take part in developing knowledge in the field by conducting your research project on the legal responses to a traumatic event related to social oppression that you will choose to analyse. During lectures and workshops, you will receive tools that will support and guide you in conducting your research. These include: existing research in the area of law and trauma, theoretical perspectives, an introduction to interdisciplinary research and to creative research methods. You will also learn techniques from art therapy and mindfulness for grounding and self-care for research that can be triggering and/or emotionally taxing. You will be guided in creating your bibliography according to decolonising the curriculum principles. 

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

This module's assessment will evaluate your achievement of the ILOs listed here – you will see reference to these ILO numbers in the details of the assessment for this module.

On successfully completing the programme you will be able to:
Module-Specific Skills1. Demonstrate an in depth and critical understanding of the relationship between law, testimony and trauma in the context of social oppression.
2. Demonstrate a foundational understanding of the skills required for (1) listening to people who went through trauma and (2) creating an empowering and effective legal response to trauma.
Discipline-Specific Skills3. Analyse the interface between legal systems and political contexts.
4. Use the knowledge gained on legal responses in different jurisdictions around the world in your future legal education and practice.
5. Demonstrate the ability to co-produce original knowledge in a socio-legal field.
Personal and Key Skills6. Exhibit an independent and critical voice in academic research.
7. Conduct group presentations, provide feedback and critique to your peers, and grow as a consequence of the critique and feedback you yourself have received.
8. Employ a critical lens when examining the relationships between law, society and politics, which you can then use in future education and employment in the areas of law and/or politics.

How this Module is Assessed

In the tables below, you will see reference to 'ILO's. An ILO is an Intended Learning Outcome - see Aims and Learning Outcomes for details of the ILOs for this module.

Formative Assessment

A formative assessment is designed to give you feedback on your understanding of the module content but it will not count towards your mark for the module.

Form of assessmentSize of the assessment (eg length / duration)ILOs assessedFeedback method
Choice of topic for research project and written reflection on the reason behind the choice 500 words1-8Written or oral

Summative Assessment

A summative assessment counts towards your mark for the module. The table below tells you what percentage of your mark will come from which type of assessment.

CourseworkWritten examsPractical exams
10000

...and this table provides further details on the summative assessments for this module.

Form of assessment% of creditSize of the assessment (eg length / duration)ILOs assessedFeedback method
Summative 1: A recorded or an in-person presentation and a bibliography and organized materials of the contents you will use for chapter 1 of the research project. 205 minute presentation; a bibliography and a 4 page document of organized materials (extracts from the sources you will be using organized in a coherent way)1-8Written
Summative 2: A recorded or an in-person presentation, a bibliography and organized materials of the contents you will use for chapter 2 of the research project. 205 minute presentation, a bibliography and a 4 page document of organized materials (extracts from the sources you will be using organized in a coherent way)1-8Written
Summative 3: Essay/podcast/blog/film/artistic creation connecting between chapters 1 and 2 and analyzing the interface between the experience of trauma and the legal response to it. 602,500 word essay/podcast or blog or: 15 min film or artistic creation + 500 word document on the piece created. Art includes but not limited to poetry, visual art or recorded performance. 1-8Written
0
0
0
0

Re-assessment

Re-assessment takes place when the summative assessment has not been completed by the original deadline, and the student has been allowed to refer or defer it to a later date (this only happens following certain criteria and is always subject to exam board approval). For obvious reasons, re-assessments cannot be the same as the original assessment and so these alternatives are set. In cases where the form of assessment is the same, the content will nevertheless be different.

Original form of assessmentForm of re-assessmentILOs re-assessedTimescale for re-assessment
Summative 1Same as original1-8August/September re-assessment period
Summative 2Same as original1-8August/September reassessment period
Summative 3Same as original1-8August/September reassessment period