Undergraduate Module Descriptor

SOC2037: Pharmaceutical Cultures

This module descriptor refers to the 2019/0 academic year.

Module Aims

You will be introduced to literature which shows how pharmaceuticals affect society and how pharmaceutical products are affected by social factors. You will make critical assessments of pharmaceutical marketing, unpacking notions such as ‘disease-mongering’ which create new markets for drug consumption. You will assess the relationship between pharmaceutical products and social control, in spheres such as mental health. You will examine how uses and experiences of medications vary across cultures and across different social groups; and how these differences link into wider international policy regulations of pharma products. As such, this module will develop your critical thinking in relation to the contemporary literature on the pharmaceuticalization of society, as well as stimulate your own intellectual interest in this area.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

This module's assessment will evaluate your achievement of the ILOs listed here – you will see reference to these ILO numbers in the details of the assessment for this module.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to:
Module-Specific Skills1. demonstrate knowledge of, analyse and show some critical engagement with, a range of models and theories concerning pharmaceuticals and pharmaceuticalization of society
2. show some ability to relate these perspectives to empirical studies and public policy on pharmaceutical consumption, production and international regulation;
Discipline-Specific Skills3. demonstrate in writing and orally some competence in using major theoretical perspectives and concepts in sociology and their application to social life ;
4. demonstrate in writing and orally an ability to analyse empirical sociological materials and some critically engagement with these involving complex reasoning;
Personal and Key Skills5. develop an ability to engage in complex arguments verbally and in small groups;
6. demonstrate in writing an ability to analyse, begin to critically engage with, and report accurately on existing written material whilst articulating it within a structured and cogent argument.
7. demonstrate the ability to work independently, within a limited time frame, and without access to external sources, to complete a specified task.