Undergraduate - UnitHSC2022 - Culture, society and health

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2014 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 2, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered, or view unit timetables.

Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences
Organisational Unit	Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine
Offered	Caulfield Second semester 2014 (Day) South Africa Second semester 2014 (Day)
Coordinator(s)	Dr Rosalie Aroni (Caulfield), Ms Jabulani Ncayiyana (South Africa)

Synopsis

This unit will explore how individual and population experiences of health are shaped by culture and society. The unit draws on key sociological and anthropological theories and concepts to reveal explanations for health in respect of larger socio-cultural realities and political processes. Students will be encouraged to foster skills in critical deconstruction of Western representations of culture to arrive at an appreciation of various 'ways of knowing', including Indigenous scholarship. There will be a focus on global health and in particular, Indigenous people, place, culture and health.

Outcomes

By the completion of this unit, the student will be able to:

Apply key principles of sociological and anthropological thought to the lived experience of individuals and populations
Demonstrate a sound understanding of the themes associated with the sociological imagination
Demonstrate an understanding of colonialism and its impact on health
Demonstrate an understanding of the politics of health
Critically examine and evaluate aspects of culture and society with which they are familiar (as well as historical representations) in order to extend their understanding of the socio-cultural structures, institutions and processes relevant to health globally

Assessment

Formative assessment:
Weekly quiz (weeks 2 to 11)

Summative assessment:
Individual journal (1200 words) (15%)
Individual analysis of media coverage of a health issue (1500 words) (30%)
Group presentation of a contentious health issue (15 minutes) (15%)
Individual essay (2000 words) (40%)

Hurdle requirement: 80% attendance at tutorials

Chief examiner(s)

Dr Rosalie Aroni

Workload requirements

3 hours contact time per week (1 hour lecture 2 hour tutorial / workshop)

Prerequisites

Must have passed one of HSC1081, HSC1082 or HSC1112

Prohibitions

ATS2717