Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Fall 2021 - GSWS 208 D100

STT-Diagnosing Difference: Race and Gender in Global Medical Perspective (3)

Class Number: 7799

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Sep 8 – Dec 7, 2021: Tue, 2:30–5:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

The place of race and gender in medical approaches to health, illness, and the body. Students will explore the different ways race and gender are defined within medical knowledge systems, health technologies, and clinical practices across historical and cultural contexts.

COURSE DETAILS:

This course explores the role of race and gender within medical knowledge systems, health technologies, and clinical practices in different cultural and historical contexts. We will examine how forms of social difference and political inequality impact global health outcomes from cancer to COVID; how medical technologies – from the spirometer to the speculum – are connected to changing social understandings of race and gender; the ways that doctors’ understandings of social differences inform their approaches to the research and treatment of disease in different populations; the place of race and gender in medical training in global contexts; and the role of patients and publics in shaping medicine from AIDS activism to stem cell research.

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

For more detailed information please see the GSWS website: http://www.sfu.ca/gsws/undergraduate/courses/Educational_Goals.html

Grading

  • Participation and Attendance 16%
  • Weekly Discussion Posts 24%
  • Illness Narrative 25%
  • Medicine and Media Project 35%

NOTES:

Participation and Attendance – 16%

Weekly Discussion Posts – 24% (4 @ 6 points each; public or private post options)

Illness Narrative – 25% (Describe and analyze a personal illness experience in one of the following formats: 1000-word essay, long-form comic, 8-minute podcast, video/tiktok, or other format approved by instructor)

Medicine and Media Project – 35% (For this project, you can EITHER analyze an example of medicine in the media (this can be a film, a news article, a graphic novel, a memoir, analyzed in one of the following formats: ~1800-word written essay or ~1200-word visual essay with original artwork, infographic, long-form comic, 15-minute podcast, video/tiktok, or other format approved by instructor) OR you can create your own media about medicine as a work of fiction or critical memoir, an infographic, a long-form comic, 15-minute podcast, video/tiktok, or other format approved by instructor. You have the option to do this alone or in a group.)

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

  • Lissa: A Story About Medical Promise, Friendship, and Revolution (2017), Coleman Nye and Sherine Hamdy
  • All other readings and materials will be made available on 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 FALL 2021

Teaching at SFU in fall 2021 will involve primarily in-person instruction, with approximately 70 to 80 per cent of classes in person/on campus, with safety plans in place.  Whether your course will be in-person or through remote methods will be clearly identified in the schedule of classes.  You will also know at enrollment whether remote course components will be “live” (synchronous) or at your own pace (asynchronous).

Enrolling in a course acknowledges that you are able to attend in whatever format is required.  You should not enroll in a course that is in-person if you are not able to return to campus, and should be aware 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 may need class or exam accommodations, including in the context of remote learning, are advised to register with the SFU Centre for Accessible Learning (caladmin@sfu.ca or 778-782-3112) as early as possible in order to prepare for the fall 2021 term.