Postgraduate Course: Infectious Disease and Global Governance (SCPL11020)
Course Outline
| School | School of Social and Political Science |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | Emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases have been a matter of increased global public health focus. While biomedical explanations are important, the experience and management of infectious disease is fundamentally bound in social, political, cultural and economic structures. This course focuses upon the way in which social scientific approaches can be harnessed to understand and evaluate the context which surrounds infectious disease governance. The course introduces students to key social scientific concepts in understanding infectious disease, and (particularly in seminar sessions) encourages students to consider how these can be applied in the formulation of effective policy. |
| Course description |
Emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases have been a matter of increased global political focus. While biomedical explanations are important, the experience and management of infectious disease is fundamentally bound in social, political, cultural and economic structures. This course focuses upon the way in which social scientific approaches can be harnessed to understand and evaluate the context which surrounds infectious disease policymaking. The course introduces students to key social scientific concepts in understanding infectious disease, and encourages students to consider how these can be applied in the formulation of effective policy.
Outline Content
1. Infectious Disease and Public Health: Constructing Infectious Disease
This session reflects upon the history of infectious disease management within public health. It examines different ways on understanding 'governance' and considers the political prominence of infectious disease debates.
2. Risk
This session considers the way in which different actors conceptualise, construct, represent, and manage risk. We explore different theories of risk and assess the problem of risk management using a case study.
3. Local Contexts
This session focuses upon lay understandings of infectious disease, and explores points of tension with biomedical approaches.
4. Stigma, Blame and Othering
This session examines the effect of infectious diseases in exacerbating social divisions and exclusions. Concepts of stigmatisation, blame and othering are examined.
5. Resisting Public Health Interventions
This session explores public resistance to biomedical intervention. We focus on the case study of vaccine hesitancy and anti-vaccination movements to explore these issues.
6. Disease Management: Case Study 1
This session focuses upon a contemporary infectious disease case study (varies each year).
7. Disease Management: Case Study 2
This session focuses upon a contemporary infectious disease case study (varies each year).
8. Border Control, Surveillance and Biopolitics
This session explores the use of surveillance and border control in managing infectious disease. It examines the use of Foucauldian concepts in understanding these actions.
9. International Health Regulations
This session assess the strengths and weaknesses of the International Health Regulations
10. Disease and Development
This session explores the links between economic development and infectious disease management at the level of global governance.
c. Student Learning Experience
This course encourages you to critically engage with issues surrounding the governance of infectious disease. This is done through a variety of in-class (seminars, lectures) and online (e.g. discussion forum) activities. You will be expected to engage in in-class discussions of contemporary infectious disease management issues. Seminars will include a range of other tasks, including policy analysis and media analysis sessions. We will make connections between scholarly research, theories and concepts, and contemporary infectious disease events.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2017/18, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 35 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
196 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
1. Annotated bibliography: Students submit a critical evaluation of selected academic and policy sources relevant to the production of their final essay. This task encourages students to evaluate the aims, strengths, limitations and usefulness of source materials. Total of 1000 words. (25%)«br /»
2. Essay of 3000 words (75%) |
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate a critical awareness of current issues in infectious disease and global health
- Critically assess the relationship between infectious disease and socio-political structures at the local, national, and global levels
- Consider and critically analyse the role of key discourses, actors, structures and institutions that underpin the experience and management of infectious disease
- Understand and critically assess various social scientific conceptual and analytical tools in investigating infectious diseases
- Critically evaluate and synthesise academic and policy literatures around infectious disease governance
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Reading List
Allen, T. and Parker, M. 2011. The Other Diseasesof the Millennium Development Goals: Rhetoric and reality of free drug distribution to cure the poor's parasites,Third World Quarterly 32(1):91-117
Briggs, C.L. and Nichter, M. 2012. Biocommunicability and the biopolitics of pandemic threats,Medical Anthropology 28(3):189-98
Coker, R., Rushton, J., Mourier-Jack, S., Karimuribo, E., Lutumba, P, Kambarage, D., Pfeiffer, D., Stark, K., and Rweyemamu, M. 2011. Towards a conceptual framework to support one-health research for policy on emerging zoonoses,Lancet Infectious Diseases 11(4):326-331
Dingwall, R., Hoffman, L., and Staniland, K. 2013. Pandemics and Emerging Diseases: A Sociological Agenda, Chichester: Wiley Publications
Eichelburger, L. 2007. SARS and New York's Chinatown: The politics of risk and blame during an epidemic of fear,Social Science and Medicine 65(5):1284-95
Fidler, D.P. and Gostin, L.O. 2003. Biosecurity and Public Heath, in: Biosecurity in the Global Age, Stanford: Stanford University Press, pp 121-187
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Sudeepa Abeysinghe
Tel: (0131 6)51 5471
Email: Sudeepa.Abeysinghe@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Nicole Develing-Bogdan
Tel: (0131 6)51 5067
Email: v1ndeve2@exseed.ed.ac.uk |
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