Editorial

Foundation Years are designed to support students develop their academic skills and confidence at the start of their journey in Higher Education. Some of our students have taken a break after school, while others are looking for a career change. For all, the Foundation Year provides an opportunity to pursue a degree. Newman’s Foundation Year offers pathways into over twenty different degree pathways, including subjects in the humanities, social sciences and teacher training. The Foundation Year is designed to introduce students to a range of big ideas – to explore of the nature and construction of identities, to consider notions of belonging and to examine what it means to be human in the digital world. 

This magazine showcases some of the very best work of this year’s Foundation Year students. In it, you’ll hear from the students themselves, describing their experiences and why they chose to create this work. These projects are drawn from our work exploring what is means to be human in the digital world. Together, we explored the work of Ruha Benjamin; considered the relationship between screen time and brain development in young children; and discussed self-harm in the age of social media. As you will see, inspired by life experiences and their passion for their degree, each student took these ideas in their own direction in their work.

Emma Folwell