Undergraduate Module Descriptor

POL3222: Biopolitics in Practice

This module descriptor refers to the 2018/9 academic year.

How this Module is Assessed

In the tables below, you will see reference to 'ILO's. An ILO is an Intended Learning Outcome - see Aims and Learning Outcomes for details of the ILOs for this module.

Formative Assessment

A formative assessment is designed to give you feedback on your understanding of the module content but it will not count towards your mark for the module.

Form of assessmentSize of the assessment (eg length / duration)ILOs assessedFeedback method
‘Biopolitics of the Week’ seminar introductions 10 minutes, approximately once per term1-4; 6Oral
Biopolitics news scrapbook & class discussion of newsThroughout course – assessed via oral contribution. Students will be asked to submit their scrapbooks as an appendix to summative assessments.1-4; 6Oral
Contributions to class discussion Throughout module1-4; 6Oral

Summative Assessment

A summative assessment counts towards your mark for the module. The table below tells you what percentage of your mark will come from which type of assessment.

CourseworkWritten examsPractical exams
10000

...and this table provides further details on the summative assessments for this module.

Form of assessment% of creditSize of the assessment (eg length / duration)ILOs assessedFeedback method
Case study research project605,000 word essay report1-5Written Comments
Policy briefing: oral presentation + written paper + media article4010 min talk + 1500 word policy brief + 500 word article (80% of credit weighting on the written policy brief)1-7Written and oral comments
0
0
0
0

Re-assessment

Re-assessment takes place when the summative assessment has not been completed by the original deadline, and the student has been allowed to refer or defer it to a later date (this only happens following certain criteria and is always subject to exam board approval). For obvious reasons, re-assessments cannot be the same as the original assessment and so these alternatives are set. In cases where the form of assessment is the same, the content will nevertheless be different.

Original form of assessmentForm of re-assessmentILOs re-assessedTimescale for re-assessment
Case study research project5,000 word essay report1-5August/September reassessment period
Policy briefing: poster presentation, written paper + media article1500 word briefing + 500 word article + poster presentation1-6August/September reassessment period

Indicative Reading List

This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.

Core Texts: specific readings for each week will be available on ELE

 

Lemke, T. (2011). Biopolitics: An Advanced Introduction. NYU Press

Sismondo, S. (2010). An Introduction to Science and Technology Studies. Wiley-Blackwell

 

Theme One: Human? Nature?

Bowler, Peter (2003) Evolution: The History of an Idea (Berkeley University Press).

Milam, Erika, Looking for a Few Good Males: Female Choice in Evolutionary Biology (Baltimore, 2010).

Ruse, M. (2001). The Evolution Wars: A Guide to the Debates. Rutgers University Press.

 

Theme Two: Friends and Neighbours

Connelly, J., Smith, G., Benson, D. & Saunders, C. (2012) Politics and the Environment. Routledge, Oxford.

Demillo, M (2012) Animals and society: an introduction to human-animal studies. New York: Columbia University Press

Jorgensen, D., Jorgensen, F.A. & Pritchard, S., 2014. New Natures. University of Pittsburgh Press

 

Theme Three: Health and Care

Lupton, D., 2012. Medicine as culture: Illness, disease and the body. London: Sage.

Mol, A (2008) The logic of care: health and the problem of patient choice. London: Routledge

Rose, N. (2007). The Politics of Life Itself. Princeton University Press.

Wilson, D. (2014). The Making of British Bioethics. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press.

 

Theme Four: Futures

Bijker, W.E. and Hughes T. P. (eds) (2012). The Social Construction of Technological Systems. MIT Press

Mahon, P. (2017). Posthumanism: a guide for the perplexed. London: Bloomsbury Academic.

Nerlich, B., Hartley, Raman, S & Smith, A (eds.). (2018). Science and the Politics of Openness: Here be Monsters. Manchester University Press. OA Ebook, retrieved from http://www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526106469/

Stapleton, P. and Byers, A. (eds) (2015) Biopolitics and Utopia: an interdisciplinary reader. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan

 

The College has produced a fantastic resource to support library and research skills, including Politics specific material: http://vle.exeter.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=3611  

 

Journals and many other electronic resources can be accessed through the library’s main search portal: https://as.exeter.ac.uk/library/  

Web of Knowledge – for searching academic journals: http://wok.mimas.ac.uk/

Google Scholar - particularly useful for finding open access copies of material not available through the library: http://scholar.google.co.uk