Health and Diversity

Course Code: FM622E

Institution:

Health and Welfare Studies: Public Health Science

Revision:

1

For students admitted spring 2013  

Approval

The course was established 22 November 2006.
This course syllabus (version 1) was approved 15 March 2012 by the Faculty Board of Health and Society .
The syllabus is valid from 20 January 2013.

Education level

Second cycle

Course description

The aim of the course is to develop the students´ ability to critically and reflectively analyze social welfare states and social security systems from the point of view of public health, and to bring migration and diversity to bear upon the issues. The course endeavours to develop the students´ understanding of different theoretical approaches in sociological theory and their relevance for questions of health and illness. It also aims to develop an understanding of the organizational perspectives in relation to public health.

Advancement in relation to the degree requirements

The course is in the first semester in the programme Master of Public Health and it is also a separate course.

Entry requirements

1. Bachelor´s degree, consisting of 180 hp, or equivalent in the academic areas of social, political or behavioral science, medical science or other sciences and disciplines relevant to public health.
2. The equivalent of English B in Swedish secondary school.

Learning outcomes

After the course the students should be able to
- identify different sociological perspectives and be able to relate them to health and illness,
- describe the development of state welfare in the context of the nation state,
- utilize different typologies of State Welfare in relation to empirical cases,
- discuss the challenges the welfare state and its institutions face in relation to ethnic and cultural pluralism,
- depict gendering dimensions in welfare state and relate to gendered distributional outcome in relation to public health,
- identify different organizational perspectives and relate them to Public Health,
- value perspectives implying dimensions of gender and ethnicity in relation to Public Health, and
- value perspectives implying processes of migration in relation to Public Health.

Assessments

The assessment of the students´ knowledge will be based on written assignments, performed individually or by a group of students, and/or on oral or written exams.

The course content is graded as follows:
A - Excellent
B - Very Good
C - Good
D - Satisfactory
E - Pass
U - Fail

Examination re-sits
Students who fail examinations have two further opportunities to re-sit. Furthermore, students have the opportunity to re-sit these examinations during the course to avoid subsequent interruption to follow on courses. If the course ceases or goes through major changes, students retain the right to two re-sits examinations based on the original course content. Examinations and re-sits are scheduled throughout the course timetable.

Course content

Aiming at developing the students ability to critically and reflectively approach social welfare, from the point of view of public health, and bring migration and diversity to bear upon the issues, two topics related to the welfare state are introduced.
The first involves the development of the welfare state and welfare systems in the context of the nation state, which implies excluding practices in relation to migration and diversity. Moreover, different typologies of state welfare are covered. The second topic involves the challenges facing welfare state in pluralistic societies. In this respect a tension between equity and diversity is discussed. Furthermore, major classical and modern sociological theories as well as theories of organization are presented and discussed from a public health perspective.

Learning activities

The course is based on active participation of the students. A variety of methods, including interactive lectures/discussions, assigned readings, and group projects will be utilized for the purpose of achieving the course objectives.

Grading system

A,B,C,D,E,U.

Reading list and other media

Castles, S. & Miller, M. J. (2009) The Age of Migration - International Population Movements in the Modern World. Palgrave Macmillan. 392 pp.

Helman, C. G. (2007) Culture, Health and Illness: Hodder Arnold. 512 pp.

Martin, E. (1995) Flexible Bodies - Tracking Immunity in American Culture from the Days of Polio to the Age of AIDS: Beacon Press. 320 pp.

Pálsson, G. (2007) Anthropology and the New Genetics: Cambridge University Press. 284 pp.

Course evaluation

The course will be continually evaluated through reflection and feedback from the student regarding course content and implementation. At the end of the course the students will give an individual, written evaluation to express their views about the course based on the course aims and objectives and how these have been realized. The results from the evaluations will be summarized and presented to the students orally and in a protocol.