Welcome to UCIL

Welcome to UCIL. This website provides an overview of the UCIL units we are running for 2021/22. We are delighted to be able to offer our students such a diverse and attractive range of units.

UCIL offers credit-bearing, interdisciplinary course units that are available to all undergraduates with a free choice. Units bridge disciplines, focussing on global issues and societal challenges. They are delivered by teams of academics, with cross-disciplinary groups of students working together to contribute their own perspectives and ideas. UCIL students acquire key employability skills, including problem-solving, team-working and enterprise, as well as an appreciation of the societal impact of our fast-developing digital world. This year we are thrilled to be launching our very first postgraduate unit.

UCIL units are rigorous and challenging. Delivery ranges from face-to-face, through blended to fully online. The latter are especially popular owing to their fresh mode of delivery and the freedom they give students to work to their own schedule.

New units for 2021/22 are:

All UCIL units conform to the highest academic standards and operate in line with University regulations, policies and procedures. The UCIL Academic Board monitors standards and consistency across the unit portfolio. Two UCIL External Examiners provide further oversight.

Proposers for UCIL units are asked to consider the following as part of their proposal:

  • Is the unit truly interdisciplinary, drawing on appropriate teaching and research expertise from across the University?
  • Is the unit innovative in curriculum, assessment design and delivery?
  • Is the unit set at an appropriate, yet challenging, level to make it accessible to undergraduates from any discipline?