Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Summer 2020 - SA 318 D100

Technologies of Health and Expectation (A) (4)

Class Number: 2194

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    May 11 – Aug 10, 2020: Thu, 1:30–5:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

  • Prerequisites:

    SA 101 or 150 or 201W.

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Investigates how medical technologies are altering ways we perceive our bodies, frame moral questions about health, and imagine human possibilities. Case studies from around the world are used to examine the social, ethical, and political dilemmas that surface when people interact with biomedical objects under different conditions.

COURSE DETAILS:

Pathogens are part of society; epidemics are social events.

When the current coronavirus pandemic began to impact our daily lives, much of the public was taken aback by its complex ramifications. However, medical anthropologists, sociologists, geographers and historians have long been preoccupied with how “germs” participate in making social worlds. In this course you will venture into the realities of previous epidemics: We will study Ebola, SARS, HIV/AIDS, H1N1 (avian flu), the 1918 Spanish Flu, 19th century cholera/yellow fever, and the Black Death of the middle ages. How have these previous epidemics impacted our present moment? What can prior research show us about our current expectations, fears, and hopes?

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

This course presents and then applies the biocultural understanding of human health from medical anthropology. We’ll consider how agricultural practices foster new diseases; how racial and economic inequalities make people sick; how power operates through the care and management of bodies; how people make meaning out of illness; why contagions provoke us to construct narratives of origins and blame; how diseases and disease control become moral issues; how anticipatory thinking and a quest for risk prevention operates in state regimes of biosecurity; and how disaster capitalism exploits crises to entrench modes of profit-making. We end the course by thinking about hope and solidarity.

Grading

  • Participation (attendance via Zoom and/or online participation) 10%
  • Weekly note taking/mini-assignments 30%
  • Assignment 1 (short writing) 10%
  • Assignment 2 (internet research/curation/short writing) 20%
  • Final project 30%

NOTES:

Grading: Where a final exam is scheduled and the student does not write the exam or withdraw from the course before the deadline date, an N grade will be assigned. Unless otherwise specified on the course syllabus, all graded assignments for this course must be completed for a final grade other than N to be assigned. An N is considered as an F for the purposes of scholastic standing.

Grading System: The Undergraduate Course Grading System is as follows:

A+ (95-100) | A (90-94) | A- (85-89) | B+ (80-84) | B (75-79) | B- (70-74) | C+ (65-69) | C (60-64) | C- (55-59) | D (50-54) | F (0-49) | N*
*N standing to indicate the student did not complete course requirements

Academic Dishonesty and Misconduct Policy: The Department of Sociology & Anthropology follows SFU policy in relation to grading practices, grade appeals (Policy T 20.01) and academic dishonesty and misconduct procedures (S10.01‐S10.04). Unless otherwise informed by your instructor in writing, in graded written assignments you must cite the sources you rely on and include a bibliography/list of references, following an instructor-approved citation style.  It is the responsibility of students to inform themselves of the content of SFU policies available on the SFU website.

REQUIREMENTS:

This course will be delivered via emergency remote teaching technology. We will meet via Zoom for a portion of the scheduled class time and other content will be available to you through on-line resources. Please note that all teaching at SFU in summer term 2020 will be conducted through remote methods. Enrollment in this course acknowledges that remote study may entail different modes of learning, interaction with your instructor, and ways of getting feedback on your work than may be the case for in-person classes. No exams will be conducted in-person.

Materials

MATERIALS + SUPPLIES:

  • Internet access to carry out digital research for assignments
  • Scanner app for smart phone (e.g. Scanner Pro, Camscanner, Adobe Scan)
  • Notebook (paper), for handwritten drawing and notes
  • Universal Access Remote learning for this semester requires a computer or tablet, camera and internet access. Most laptops and desktops are running OSX and Windows. Tablets may be Android, iOS or Windows based. Headsets are advised but not necessary.
  • Note that students have access to free Office 365 or Adobe Creative Cloud found here.  (Zoom will be added by May)
  • If students do not have reliable access, they should inform their instructor and contact the IT desk to see if a loaner computer can be arranged. There is one computer lab open on campus for limited access.

REQUIRED READING:

All readings will be available through SFU Library Reserves and/or Canvas.

Registrar Notes:

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS

SFU’s Academic Integrity web site http://www.sfu.ca/students/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating.  Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.

Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the University community.  Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the University. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the University. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html

TEACHING AT SFU IN SUMMER 2020

Please note that all teaching at SFU in summer term 2020 will be conducted through remote methods. Enrollment in this course acknowledges that remote study may entail different modes of learning, interaction with your instructor, and ways of getting feedback on your work than may be the case for in-person classes.

Students with hidden or visible disabilities who believe they may need class or exam accommodations, including in the current context of remote learning, are encouraged to register with the SFU Centre for Accessible Learning (caladmin@sfu.ca or 778-782-3112) as soon as possible to ensure that they are eligible and that approved accommodations and services are implemented in a timely fashion.