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School of Global Studies

Global Pol of Disease and Biosecurity (954M1)

Global Politics of Disease and Biosecurity

Module 954M1

Module details for 2017/18.

30 credits

FHEQ Level 7 (Masters)

Module Outline

The importance of global diseases has traditionally been overlooked in the discipline of International Relations. Today, however, globalisation processes are fanning the emergence of a host of pervasive diseases ranging from infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS through to lifestyle diseases including cancer and obesity that states, international insitutions and non-governmental organisations are urgently trying to come to grips with. The AIDS pandemic alone continues to kill three times more people every day than died as a result of the terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001.

This course begins to theorise the ways in which diseases and globalisation and becoming increasingly linked, and analyses the various economic, political, social, legal and security challenges that diseases pose for contemporary world politics. The course then evaluates the competing mainstream and critical approaches to global governance, paying particular attention to how they concepualise health issues. Important questions addressed by the course include :
How can global diseases be effectively governed in an international system divided into sovereign states? What are the political processes and economic interests driving the global of disease? What, finally, are the complex ethical issues involved in responsing to global health crises?

Module learning outcomes

Identify the ways in which contemporary diseases are linked to processes of globalisation

Identify the economic, political, social, legal and security challenges that contemporary diseases such as influenza, HIV/AIDS, and obesity pose

Understand the competing traditional and critical theories of global governance and how they apply to the aforementioned contemporary health issues

TypeTimingWeighting
Essay (5000 words)Semester 2 Assessment Week 3 Wed 16:00100.00%
Timing

Submission deadlines may vary for different types of assignment/groups of students.

Weighting

Coursework components (if listed) total 100% of the overall coursework weighting value.

TermMethodDurationWeek pattern
Spring SemesterSeminar3 hours111111111111

How to read the week pattern

The numbers indicate the weeks of the term and how many events take place each week.

Prof Stefan Elbe

Assess convenor, Convenor
/profiles/174796

Mx Emilia Moscardini-Powers

Assess convenor
/profiles/214700

Dr Matthew Ford

Assess convenor
/profiles/261708

Dr Kamran Matin

Assess convenor
/profiles/138207

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