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for a past academic year. Please see the current academic year for up to date information.
| Unit name |
Well-being and Society |
| Unit code |
ARCH10008 |
| Credit points |
20 |
| Level of study |
C/4
|
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
|
| Unit director |
Dr. Lawson |
| Open unit status |
Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
none.
|
| Co-requisites |
none.
|
| School/department |
Department of Anthropology and Archaeology |
| Faculty |
Faculty of Arts |
Description including Unit Aims
This introductory unit examines key concepts of well-being and livelihoods and provides a grounding in the principle issues of medical and applied anthropology, population and health studies. Topics include health and nutrition, population and the demographic challenge, migration and refugees, well-being, disease and illness, and poverty and Inequality.
Aims:
- To introduce students to concepts of well-being and livelihoods: from social and biological perspectives, and at the local and global scale.
- To equip students with knowledge and understanding of the principal biological and cultural influences upon well-being and livelihood, and to locate these in their broader economic, social, and ecological context.
- To demonstrate how the traditional anthropological focus on the local community and small-scale society can be applied to the wider national and international picture of well-being.
- To survey and explain methodologies used in the fields of applied and medical anthropology, demography, and population studies.
Intended Learning Outcomes
At the end of this unit a successful student will be able to:
- Describe and explain the biological, ecological, and socio-cultural aspects of well-being, livelihood and society, including nutrition and disease.
- Appraise the relationships between population growth, poverty, inequality, and health.
- Compare and contrast interdisciplinary approaches to key concepts and indicators of well-being.
- Use case studies to relate the traditional anthropological focus on the local community to wider national and international studies of well-being.
- Use evidence to debate anthropological studies and development initiatives.
Teaching Information
Weekly 2 hr lecture/seminar sessions, to include film screenings and debates
Assessment Information
Exam (75%, two hour, summative). Assesses ILOs 1-5
Essay (25%, 1,500 words, summative). Assesses ILOs 1-5
Class test (one hour, formative). Assesses ILOs 1-5
Reading and References
- McElroy A. and Townsend, P.K. (2009). Medical Anthropology in Ecological Perspective (5th Ed.). Westview Press. *Sachs, Jeffrey D. (2008). Common Wealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet Penguin Press.
- Dettwyler, K. (1994). Dancing Skeletons. Waveland Press.
- Diamond, J. (2005). Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Survive. Allen Lane.
- Ervin, A. M. (2005). Applied anthropology: Tools and perspectives for contemporary practice. Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.
- Van Willigen, J. (2002). Applied anthropology: an introduction. Greenwood Publishing Group.
