Politics, Surveillance and Public Health (PHCM9522)
This course aims to provide a broad understanding of some of the principal discussions in medical sociology from the perspective of public health practice.
This course aims to provide a broad understanding of some of the principal discussions in medical sociology from the perspective of public health practice.
This course teaches some key social scientific tools, and considers their use as applied to contemporary public health issues, with a particular focus on surveillance and global health. We will consider social scientific research on a selection of topics such as medicalisation, public understandings of disease and contagion, risk, infectious disease surveillance and preparedness, transformations in digital epidemiology, empowerment and health equity as well as biosecurity and biodefence.
In examining this research we will be identifying some of the different (and sometimes competing) theories of power, risk, globalisation and embodiment being employed by medical sociologists and anthropologists. We will be examining what social science can contribute to key debates in public health and health governance.
This six-unit course can be taken as an elective towards the Master of Health Leadership and Management, the Masters of Public Health and the Masters of Global Health programs, and is one of the nominated courses for those studying for the specialisations in Health Promotion, International Public Health and Infectious Diseases. It is the stream defining course for the MPH plan in Social Research.
External (Distance) and Internal (Face-to-Face) classes on campus
Assoc Prof Niamh Stephenson
Course Convenor
+61 (2) 9385 1281
n.stephenson@unsw.edu.au
We welcome students from any discipline and level of experience to contribute perspectives and understandings. In addition, we encourage you to engage with the material, ask questions, discuss relevant issues with teachers and colleagues, and regard the available literature with a critical eye.
The overall aim of this course is to introduce you to the knowledge and skills required to understand and participate in applying current social science research and debates to public health and health governance issues.
This course is designed to enable you to:
You are probably already drawing on social science thinking and research in many different courses in the Masters in Public Health and/or Health Management and/or International Public Health and in your work in this field. This course provides you with the opportunity to critically engage with this important field of research. By gaining a deeper understanding of the issues and debates involved in the social sciences, you will be able to develop the implications of different theories for public health and health governance practice and research and to develop your own well-informed positions in these debates.
This course is taught as a series of seminars/webinars following lectures all of which focus on assigned readings. The teaching strategies are designed to facilitate the development of particular skills, including:
Assessment Task 1 – Building seminar discussion
Weighting: 25%
Assessment Task 2 – Reflection on key reading
Weighting: 25%
Assessment Task 3 – Essay
Weighting: 50%
Learning resources for this course consist of the following: