Atopia - God, Story, Facebook and Mushrooms

Module title	Atopia - God, Story, Facebook and Mushrooms
Module code	THE3200
Academic year	2022/3
Credits	30
Module staff	Professor Sam North (Convenor)

Duration: Term	1	2	3
Duration: Weeks		11

Number students taking module (anticipated)	15

Module description

‘To use the world well, to be able to stop wasting it and our time in it, we need to re-learn our being in it’ (Ursula Le Guin). This is an actively campaigning module that juxtaposes three elements: a) religious stories as networks of co-operation and growth but which are also subject to corruption and decay; b) social media networks that are also fuelled by co-operation and growth and subject to corruption and decay in both different and similar ways; c) mycelial (fungal) networks that have evolved into the most extraordinary mechanisms for co-operation and growth – but are also subject to (and inflict) corruption and decay. It’s a module with strong interdisciplinary elements, allowing the student to reach into the contemporary life-blood of religion, storytelling, social media and biology.

Module aims - intentions of the module

The purpose of this module is to connect the religious experience with the experience of storytelling, community, digital networks and the natural world. You will investigate the evolution of co-operative networks from the beginning of life itself until the current moment. You will arrive at conclusions as to the connectedness of all forms of life, and how networks of co-operation can be both constructive and destructive. By way of research, analysis and critical reflection you will learn to synthesise separate strands of logic from three different disciplines and attain a knowledge and understanding of the modern world that will allow you to navigate the digital space with increased authority and humanity.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

1. explain the philosophical, cultural and mechanical relationships between religious networks, social networks and fungal networks.
2. describe how the evolution of such networks leads to patterns of growth/success and decay/corruption.

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

3. analyse and assess the evolution of religious networks, their successes and failures.
4. synthesise a moral reaction to the modern world, having reflected critically on the relationships between religious networks, social networks and mycelial networks.

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

5. integrate three different strands of logic from three different disciplines.
6. formulate ideas and patterns of understanding in order to arrive at new thinking, new comprehension.

Syllabus plan

Although the syllabus will change from year to year depending on who is teaching, it will include the following elements:

the evolution of story, and the introduction of magical elements into storytelling
the growth of religious stories into networks of belief and co-operation, goodwill
the factors that allow religions to become stronger and grow (their fuel), and the elements within them that mean they might shrink, decay or become corrupt
religious stories, or networks, will be put alongside the rise of the digital network culture - the ‘tech utopianism’ of the early 90s (The Rise of the Network Society, Participatory Culture in a Networked Era)
the more negative, dystopian views of networks that arose after Snowden, surveillance, digital harvesting and advertising (The Net Delusion, Blog Theory)
comparisons and distinctions will be looked for in the way that digital networks grow and maintain themselves or become corrupted. The internet was designed during the cold war to be proof against military attack but the internet is actually quite fragile, precarious and, as a result, prone to failure, with fibre-optic cables, especially, relying on a few established routes
the ways in which fungal networks might contain answers - fungi have survived (and even thrived) through Earth’s five major extinction events. After the cretaceous-Tertiary extinction, credited with the dispatch of non-avian dinosaurs and the mass destruction of forests, fungal networks grew massively, given there was so much decomposition
however, like religious networks, and like digital networks, like the internet, shared mycorrhizal (fungal) networks aren’t always beneficial. ‘Wood wide webs’ involve complex actions that feature cooperation, deception, invasion. At the heart of understanding fungal networks are the same two basic actions – what fuels them, what stymies or corrupts them.

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
33	267	0

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled Learning and Teaching	22	Lectures
Scheduled Learning and Teaching	11	Seminars
Guided Independent Study	267	Reading, research and essay preparation

Formative assessment

Form of assessment	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Essay Plan	1000 words	1-6	Comment sheet and opportunity for one-to-one feedback

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Coursework	Written exams	Practical exams
100	0	0

Details of summative assessment

Form of assessment	% of credit	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Essay or video essay	50	3500 or 15-minute video essay	1-6	Comment sheet and opportunity for one-to-one feedback
Personal contribution	50	3500 words	1-6	Comment sheet and opportunity for one-to-one feedback
	0
	0
	0
	0
	0
	0

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Original form of assessment	Form of re-assessment	ILOs re-assessed	Timescale for re-assessment
Essay or video essay (3500 or 15-minute video essay)	Essay or video essay (3500 or 15-minute video essay)	1-6	Referral/Deferral period
Personal contribution (3500 words)	Personal contribution (3500 words)	1-6	Referral/Deferral period

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Armstrong, K. (1999). A History of God . London : Vintage

Boyd, B. (2010). On the Origin of Stories . Cambridge, USA: Harvard University Press

Castells, M. (2009 ). The Rise of the Network Society . Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell

Metzner, R. (2005 ). Sacred Mushroom of Visions: Teonanácatl:. Park Street Press

Orlean, S. (2019 ). The Library Book . London : Atlantic Books

Seymour, R. (2019). The Twittering Machine . London : The Indigo Press

Sheldrake, M. (2021). Entangled Life. London : Vintage

Song, C. (2011). In the Beginning were Stories, Not Texts: Story Theology

Stavrakopolou, F. (2021 ). God, an Anatomy . London : Picador

Turnbull, B. (1962 ). The Forest People: Africa's Pygmy Tribes Along the Congo River . London : Pantianos Classics

Key words search

Stories; narrative; networks; cooperation; fungi

Credit value	30
Module ECTS	30
Module pre-requisites	None
Module co-requisites	None
NQF level (module)	6
Available as distance learning?	No
Origin date	02/02/2022
Last revision date	17/03/2022