Course unit details:
Anthropology of Health and Wellbeing
| Unit code | SOAN60412 |
|---|---|
| Credit rating | 15 |
| Unit level | FHEQ level 7 – master's degree or fourth year of an integrated master's degree |
| Teaching period(s) | Semester 2 |
| Available as a free choice unit? | Yes |
Overview
This course uses ethnographic case studies to examine how interactions between people, societies and systems generate health or illness and wellbeing or illbeing in a range of contexts.
The course explores the ways in which health and wellbeing articulate with politics and inequality. Topics covered by the course include Human Society and Health, Wellbeing and Care, Disability and Ageing, Gender and Reproductive Risk, Exclusion and Destitution, Social Protection, Socio Emergence and New Epidemics (dengue, Ebola, SARS), the Political Economy of Health Provision, Medical Tourism, Health Insurance, the Wellness Industry and Health Hacking and Personalisation
Aims
Use a range of case study materials to explore the diverse ways in which cultural ideas and social organisation shape health and wellbeing in a variety of contexts internationally. The course emphasises ways in which human action can improve or have a damaging impact on health and wellbeing outcomes for different social groups. Students will be introduced to examples of public policy responses to health and wellbeing as well as issues impacting on health and wellbeing at different scales from the personal to the global.
Enhancement for MA level comes from depth of engagement
Learning outcomes
At the end of this module, you will understand how ideas about health and well-being are culturally constructed, how the political economy of health is organised and how inequalities within health and social systems are mutually constituted, including the contribution of social science research to health politics and priorities.
Enhancement for MA level comes from depth of engagement
Teaching and learning methods
The course consists of 10 two hour lectures delivered live and on campus. Each lecture slot is divided into two parts. There will be a short break in the middle.
Assessment methods
3000 word final essay
Teaching staff
| Staff member | Role |
|---|---|
| Maia Green | Unit coordinator |
Additional notes
Postgraduate students will have their own seminar group and a dedicated assessment in the form of a four thousand word essay. Postgraduate students are expected to engage more with full length ethnographies.