HIS31460 Medicine, Culture and Society

Academic Year 2020/2021

This module explores a series of ongoing debates within the social history of medicine and welfare. Focusing on the period 1800 to 2000, it examines sickness, disease and the provision of care in Britain and Ireland in a broad social, economic, political and cultural context. Central to the study of the course is the impact of advances in medicine on the lives of people in Britain and Ireland. Key themes include: the rise of the medical profession; the role of medical science, reproduction and contraception, and the changing relationship between doctors and patients, and the state and the individual. The module also examines topics such as public health, the history of anti-vaccination movements, eugenics and the impact of conflict, in particular the First World War, on medicine. The effects of gender, class and ethnicity on experiences of healthcare and access to medicine are evaluated.


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Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

On successful completion of this module students should a) develop study, writing and communication skills b) develop an awareness of key concepts and methodologies that historians have used to approach medical history c) develop critical skills through the assessment of a range of historical and inter-disciplinary approaches within the social history of medicine d) develop the ability to handle historical sources, and to evaluate a range of primary sources.

Indicative Module Content:

Topics and themes explored in the module include:
The Rise of the Hospital and the Lunatic Asylums; The Making of the Medical Profession; Midwives, Men-midwives and Childbirth; Women in Medicine and Nursing; Disease, Sanitation and Public Health; Prostitution and Venereal Disease; War and Medicine; Contraception and Family Planning; From Germ Theory to Social Medicine; The Rise of State Medicine.

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Seminar (or Webinar)

20

Project Supervision

2

Specified Learning Activities

95

Autonomous Student Learning

103

Total

220

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
This is a small-group, seminar-based module. It is taught through two-hourly seminars held weekly. These provide an overview of the week’s topic, focusing upon key historical trends, debates and events. The weekly seminar is focused upon individual active / task-based learning by means of class debates, discussion and student presentations. Advanced research, writing and citation skills are developed through a combined individual student presentation on primary sources and written essay, and a semester-long 4,000 word research project. Autonomous learning is advanced through student-led debate and discussion of set primary sources and / or student presentations each week. 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Incompatibles:
HIS20930 - Medicine, Culture & Soc, HIS30160 - Medicine and Modern Life, HIS30540 - Themed Seminar: Medicine, HIS31030 - Medicine, Culture, & Society


 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade
Continuous Assessment: See handbook Throughout the Trimester n/a Graded No

60

Project: 4,000 word research paper Coursework (End of Trimester) n/a Graded No

40


Carry forward of passed components
No
 
Resit In Terminal Exam
Summer No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Group/class feedback, post-assessment
• Peer review activities

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Feedback on the continuous assessments will be given in written and oral form on the returned hard-copy and by appointment in one-to-one meetings with the module co-ordinator. Oral feedback on the continuous assessments will be given by peers during activities. Written and oral feedback will be provided in one-to-one meetings with module co-ordinator on an ongoing basis on preparatory plans and primary and secondary source bibliographies for end-of-semester Research Project Assignments. Feedback on the end-of-semester Research Project Assignment will be given by appointment in one-to-one meetings.