Undergraduate Module Descriptor

POL3247: Politics of Biology

This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.

This module aims to:

Introduce you to the interplay between how we understand the living world and how we relate to each other in society;
Expand your awareness of the various and complex relations between political ideology, social power, science, and values;
Provide you with some of the critical tools needed to negotiate these relations in the modern world;
Encourage independent research into contemporary and historical issues that can be examined using the perspectives introduced by the module.

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 Skills	1. Demonstrate critical awareness of the complex relations between political ideology, social power, science, and values. 2. Apply perspectives introduced in the module to a variety of contemporary or historical debates that bring politics and biology into conversation with each other.
Discipline-Specific Skills	3. Critically reflect on the political and social ramifications of changing understandings of science. 4. Display good awareness of a range of conceptual frameworks that can be used to understand the complex and changing interaction between science and society.
Personal and Key Skills	5. Demonstrate awareness of the multiple ways in which scientific knowledge can be interpreted and used. 6. Demonstrate awareness of mutual interaction between knowledge and social relations/power. 7. Study independently and manage time and assessment deadlines effectively. 8. Communicate effectively in speech and writing. 9. Demonstrate research and analytical skills through seminar discussions and module assessments. 10. Demonstrate proficiency in the use of the internet, online journal databases, and other IT resources for the purposes of seminar and assessment preparation.

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 century appropriations of Darwinian theory by both laissez-faire capitalist and socialist/anarchist ideology;
The role of biological ideas in 20^th century eugenics movements and the phenomenon 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 identity, diversity, the individual and society.

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).