Undergraduate Module Descriptor

SOC2085: Health, Illness and Bodies in Contemporary Society Part 1: Medicine and Social Control

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

Module Content

Syllabus Plan

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:

1. Ideas of Health and Illness
2. Experiences of Illness
3. Biomedicine and its Objects
4. Medicalization
5. Healthcare and the Market
6. Mental Health
7. Inequality and Structural Violence
8. ‘Women’s Health’ and the Politics of Reproduction
9. Longevity and the End of Life
10. Culture, Healthcare, and Medical Pluralism
11. Care

Learning and Teaching

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

Scheduled Learning and Teaching ActivitiesGuided independent studyPlacement / study abroad
221280

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

CategoryHours of study timeDescription
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activity1111 x 1hour lectures
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activity1111 x 1 hour tutorials
Guided independent study4011 course readings
Guided independent study40Reading/research for essay
Guided independent study8Critique preparation
Guided independent study40Reading/revisions for exam

Online Resources

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

ELE http://vle.exeter.ac.uk/

Journals: Social Science and Medicine, Medical Anthropology, Sociology of Health and Illness, Health

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
Essay plan of summative assignment500 words1, 3, 4, 6Written feedback

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
50500

...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
Essay502,500 words1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7Written feedback
Examination501 hour1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8Verbal feedback

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
EssayEssay (2,500 words)1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7August/September reassessment period
ExaminationExamination (1 hour)1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8August/September reassessment period