Undergraduate Module Descriptor

POL3247: Politics of Biology

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

Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:

19^th C appropriations of Darwinian theory by both laissez-faire capitalist and socialist/anarchist ideology;
The role of biological ideas in 20^th C eugenics movements and other forms of ‘dehumanisation’;
The notions of ‘nature’ and ‘human nature’ in debates around issues such as gender, sexuality, disability, and the use of bio-technologies;
The implications of contemporary understandings of development and evolution for our ideas of the human individual;
The role of ideas of nature and biology in humanism and posthumanism;
The relation to nature needed for a sustainable human future.

This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
22	128	0

...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled Learning & Teaching Activity	22	11 x two-hour seminars
Guided Independent Study	50	Private study reading and preparing for weekly seminars
Guided Independent Study	78	Preparation and completion of assessments: independent research and writing

This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).