In this 5 ECTS course, students will acquire theoretical understanding as well as practical skills related to how arts and aesthetics can be a resource for health, resilience, and wellbeing. It combines online lectures, seminars and student assignments, as well as physical workshops during a two-day on-site visit to Lund University. 

The course combines online lectures and seminars, student assignments in-between seminars, and physical workshops during a two-day on-site visit to Lund University. Accepted students will get a scholarship to cover the costs for travel and subsistance. The pedagogy is based on student-centred learning, where the students are encouraged to engage in their own and each other’s learning process. Parts of the pedagogical methodology of both the online and on-site teaching is inspired by Object-Based Learning (OBL).

The course is co-taught by teachers from Lund University and the Arctic University of Tromsö. 

Competences
By participating in the course you will develop your skills in the areas of:

- Ethics & responsability
- Knowledge into action
- Emotional awareness & resilience

Requirements

The course is targeted towards students with an interest in the potential of arts and aesthetics to support health, resilience, and well-being, together with the existential dimensions of health. It also targets students who work professionally in the healthcare, social work, or the cultural sectors.

Selection strategy: Students must have 30 ECTS in art history, visual studies, or any other subject for which the topic of this course is relevant, in order to be accepted. Make sure to upload a transcript of records in your application. A short statement of motivation must also be uploaded (no more than 150 words).

The course is interdisciplinary, combining historical and theoretical perspectives from the humanities and social sciences with findings from the medical and health sciences. The focus is on an existential understanding of health. On completion of the course the students will be able to:

- Account for how the arts, culture and aesthetics can be a resource for health, resilience and well-being.
- Describe and discuss scientific and scholarly perspectives on creative and aesthetic processes promoting health, well-being, healing and rehabilitation.
- Account and discuss different ways to measure and interpret health effects of arts and aesthetics, from medical and humanistic perspectives.
- Design and lead creative and aesthetic activities for the purpose of promoting health, resilience and well-being.
- Apply relevant theories and methods in analyzing creative and aesthetic activities in relation to health and well-being.

Assessment of the course is based on a project plan for an aesthetic activity, which be designed by the student, together with a written part accompanying theoretical reflection. The students will present their project plans at an online seminar, where they will receive feedback from teachers and fellow students.

Read the full course plan here.

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