6 ECTS credits
150 h study time
Offer 1 with catalog number 1021420CER for all students in the 1st semester at a (C) Bachelor - specialised level.
Health is a central preoccupation of today’s society, which has been explained from several different disciplinary stances. Alongside physiological explanations, we as sociologists, foreground the claim that health – and, indeed, illness – is also a product of the ways contemporary society is structured and individuals are ascribed to social groups. Health is a reflection of our identity, individual choices and lifestyles, the realities we build around ourselves, and our position in society.
This course offers the opportunity to reflect on a number of interesting perspectives on health. It draws on previous sociological knowledge and major contemporary theorists in medical sociology, by using these theorical frameworks as departure points for discussions about health and health problems to prompt further insights. In so doing, it resorts to a noticeable active approach to learning. Topics include contemporary issues such as health and migration, mental health, addiction, stigma, health identities, the pharmaceutical self/imagery, (de)medicalisation, patient-centeredness, (de)institutionalisation, embodied health movements, discrimination in health care, vaccination hesitancy and so on. While students are expected to read a theorical introduction before class, each session is designed to secure significant learning opportunities by analysing cases, real-life situations and current empirical research in light of the theory. As such much of the learning will take place in the (virtual) class room. Students are expected to make a constructive and substantial contribution by: asking relevant questions to peers and instructors, being open about what they may find hard to digest in the readings, sharing new insights, presenting cases and experiences that help to understand the theory, drawing upon the readings to contribute to the group discussions. Practicing to formulate and verbalise ideas is an essential step in developing ideas for their final essay.
Students will be guided closely so that they grow confident with and develop their own views on health from a sociological perspective. The course thus aims to feed students’ sociological imagination about current debates on health and health systems.
Depending on the size of the group, the class may be delivered in the format of a seminar.
The course material consists of the following:
Study load
The course strengthens general competences for the social sciences, which range from analytical devices, to argumentative techniques, to synthesis of literature, to problem solving, to extrapolation to future scenarios. It thus contributes to acquiring mostly the following competences:
The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Oral Exam determines 30% of the final mark.
Written Exam determines 50% of the final mark.
Other Exam determines 20% of the final mark.
Within the Oral Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:
Within the Written Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:
Within the Other Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:
Not applicable.
This offer is part of the following study plans:
Bachelor of Social Sciences: Sociology