Undergraduate Module Descriptor

POL2163: Pandemic Politics: Studying the Social and Political Context of COVID-19

This module descriptor refers to the 2020/1 academic year.

Overview

NQF Level 5
Credits 30 ECTS Value 15
Term(s) and duration

This module ran during term 1 (11 weeks)

Academic staff

Professor Susan Banducci (Convenor)

Pre-requisites

None

Co-requisites

Module only open to 2020/2021 Year abroad students from Streatham based Politics/IR programmes.

Available via distance learning

No

There is no doubt that the novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic is the most significant public health emergency in this century. Despite being identified as among the country’s greatest security threats in 2010 and 2015, the country, from the health services to industry, seems ill prepared to deal with the virus and its impact. In this module we focus on the major social and political developments preceding the current pandemic and how the contributed to our ability to manage the crisis (e.g. globalisation, austerity, digitalisation and the devaluing of expertise). We also examine the social and political consequences of the pandemic.  During the module you will be asked to keep up to date on the current debate around COVID-19, engage with scientific evidence and think critically about the relationship between politics and pandemics. As a Q-Step led module, you will also be asked to think critically about the role of data-driven evidence and models in decision-making.

Module created

02/09/2020

Last revised

02/09/2020