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Worrying Ourselves to Death? Health, Risk & Modern Medicine - HPSC2650
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Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
 
 
School:  School of History and Philosophy
 
 
Course Outline: See below
 
 
Campus: Kensington Campus
 
 
Career: Undergraduate
 
 
Units of Credit: 6
 
 
EFTSL: 0.125 (more info)
 
 
Contact Hours per Week: 3
 
 
Enrolment Requirements:
 
 
Prerequisite: 36 units of credit
 
 
Fee Band: 1 (more info)
 
 
Further Information: See Class Timetable
 
 

Description

Statistics suggest that populations of First World countries are healthier and longer-living than at any previous time. Ironically, the perception exists that we are 'doing better but feeling worse'. How did we become the 'worried well'? Departing from traditional positivist and progressivist approaches in medical history, this course provides a framework for examining some of the practices and paradoxes of modern medicine. We ask why the forces that created modern medical 'miracles' have also created the current climate of anxiety and ambivalence. Why has the maintenance of health become a perpetual exercise in risk assessment?


Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course students should:
  • Be able to recognise, analyse and criticise the social and philosophical problems raised by current medical approaches
  • Place these problems in historical perspective
  • Understand the modern concept of risk assessment and its relevance in contemporary medicine
  • Be able to explain the paradox of the 'worried well' sociological phenomenon in the context of today's medical thinking about chronic disease
  • Extend their presentation, analytical, and writing skills, and gain a clearer understanding of historical arguments and the reasoning and language skills necessary to make them effectively.

Assessment

  • Two in-class tests - 20% (10% each)
  • Presentation and follow up paper - 40%
  • Participation - 10%
  • Major essay (2500 words) - 30%

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