Equipping students to study the politics of global challenges: Embedding skills, belonging, employability and ‘making a difference’ in a first-year module

University mission statements talk about impacting the world and learning gain. In a changing political landscape, with advances in AI and increased diversity in the student body the need for us to re-consider (or redefine) how we equip students with the skills they need to be able to fulfil this mission is crucial. This presentation explores our experiences from creating a new level 1 core module that embeds skills teaching through engagement with the politics of global challenges. We will highlight how we connect the topic of global challenges to skills training, surfacing employability skills and fostering a sense of belonging. We show how the assessment is designed to encourage reflection, group work and key academic skills. The overall mission is to show students how to become global agents for change.