Students

MMCC2060 – Health, Bodies, Media

2023 – Session 1, In person-scheduled-weekday, North Ryde

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff Convenor, lecturer and tutor
Nicole Matthews
nicole.matthews@mq.edu.au
Contact via email - please don't leave phone messages
10HA - Room 165C
To be announced on ilearn
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
40cp at 1000 level or above
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

What does it mean to be 'healthy'? This course will critically examine the way we understand and imagine 'health'. Drawing on perspectives from media and cultural studies, communication studies, disability studies, critical health studies and science and technology studies, we ask how our own embodied experiences of health or ill health are shaped by media and culture, as well as wider biomedical and political institutions. We will focus particularly on the way health is imagined in broadcast and online media, including public health campaigns, popular science communication, news and current affairs, commercial advertising, popular entertainment television genres and self-monitoring apps. Contemporary debates such as those around smoking, obesity, drinking, sexual health and mental illness will be analysed and discussed and we will explore how categories of 'health' and 'illness' play out in ethical and political decision making. How are ideas about 'normal' or 'pathological' bodies and identities tied into concepts of 'health'? And how does the idea that 'wellness' is an individual's responsibility underpin public policy and peoples' ways of understanding and managing their own bodies?

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  • ULO1: demonstrate an understanding of the ways in which health is understood and experienced across a range of contexts.
  • ULO2: interrogate key concepts around health, showing an awareness of debates around definitions of these terms.
  • ULO3: outline a theoretically informed account of the relationship between forms of knowledge and experiences of embodied subjectivity and sociality.
  • ULO4: apply key methods of critical analysis to evaluate social economic, legal and or medical practices which focus on bodily-being.
  • ULO5: communicate effectively and ethically in a range of contexts and modes of writing.
  • ULO6: evidence engagement with and reflection on the process of learning.

General Assessment Information

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, a 5% penalty (of the total possible mark) will be applied each day a written assessment is not submitted, up until the 7th day (including weekends). After the 7th day, a mark of ‘0’ (zero) will be awarded even if the assessment is submitted. Submission time for all written assessments is set at 11.55pm. A 1-hour grace period is provided to students who experience a technical issue. This late penalty will apply to written reports and recordings only. Late submission of time sensitive tasks (such as tests/exams, performance assessments/presentations, scheduled practical assessments/labs will be addressed by the unit convenor in a Special consideration application.

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Online take-home test 20% No Opens:24/3/2023 Closes: 03/04/2023
Reflective summaries 30% No (a) Mondays 23.55 Wks 2-11 (b) Fridays 23.55 Wks 2-11
Report on a health promotion campaign; health app or health-related legal or policy change 50% No 23.55 25/05/2023

Online take-home test

Assessment Type 1: Quiz/Test
Indicative Time on Task 2: 25 hours
Due: Opens:24/3/2023 Closes: 03/04/2023
Weighting: 20%

 

Students will take an online take-home multiple choice test. This test is an open book test. Refer to iLearn for further information.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • demonstrate an understanding of the ways in which health is understood and experienced across a range of contexts.
  • interrogate key concepts around health, showing an awareness of debates around definitions of these terms.
  • evidence engagement with and reflection on the process of learning.

Reflective summaries

Assessment Type 1: Reflective Writing
Indicative Time on Task 2: 25 hours
Due: (a) Mondays 23.55 Wks 2-11 (b) Fridays 23.55 Wks 2-11
Weighting: 30%

 

This assessment comprises of (a) a brief summary of key readings for each week submitted online before class and (b) reflective notes on the student’s contributions to peer learning and discussion submitted after class.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • demonstrate an understanding of the ways in which health is understood and experienced across a range of contexts.
  • communicate effectively and ethically in a range of contexts and modes of writing.
  • evidence engagement with and reflection on the process of learning.

Report on a health promotion campaign; health app or health-related legal or policy change

Assessment Type 1: Report
Indicative Time on Task 2: 40 hours
Due: 23.55 25/05/2023
Weighting: 50%

 

Students will write a report on a health promotion campaign, health app or health-related legal or policy change. Refer to iLearn for further information.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • outline a theoretically informed account of the relationship between forms of knowledge and experiences of embodied subjectivity and sociality.
  • apply key methods of critical analysis to evaluate social economic, legal and or medical practices which focus on bodily-being.
  • communicate effectively and ethically in a range of contexts and modes of writing.
  • evidence engagement with and reflection on the process of learning.

1 If you need help with your assignment, please contact:

  • the academic teaching staff in your unit for guidance in understanding or completing this type of assessment
  • the Writing Centre for academic skills support.

2 Indicative time-on-task is an estimate of the time required for completion of the assessment task and is subject to individual variation

Delivery and Resources

Lectures will be live online via zoom.  Automated captioning will be available.  Lectures will be recorded and links to recordings will be made as soon as possible after presented each week.  Please note that lectures in this unit are interactive and so it is highly valuable to attend "live" so you can participate in conversations and discussions during the lecture time.

For external students, tutorials will be live via zoom.

For internal students, tutorials will be face to face on campus (unless public health orders recommend otherwise).  Please check for announcements on ilearn before coming on campus.

If internal students are unwell  due to COVID exposure, you are welcome to attend an online tutorial.  Please do not attend face to face tutorials if you have any symptoms or test positive.  It is important not to expose staff and students and their loved ones to unnecessary health risks.  

 

More details of delivery and resources available on ilearn.

Unit Schedule

Topics include:

What is health? 

Medicalisation and demedicalisation

Mediating health

Health promotion

Biopower

Risk

Drinking

Sex

Men's Health

Disabling media

Mobile health

Eating and diet

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Students seeking more policy resources can visit Student Policies (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/policies). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.

To find other policies relating to Teaching and Learning, visit Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au) and use the search tool.

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/admin/other-resources/student-conduct

Results

Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

Academic Integrity

At Macquarie, we believe academic integrity – honesty, respect, trust, responsibility, fairness and courage – is at the core of learning, teaching and research. We recognise that meeting the expectations required to complete your assessments can be challenging. So, we offer you a range of resources and services to help you reach your potential, including free online writing and maths support, academic skills development and wellbeing consultations.

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

The Writing Centre

The Writing Centre provides resources to develop your English language proficiency, academic writing, and communication skills.

The Library provides online and face to face support to help you find and use relevant information resources. 

Student Services and Support

Macquarie University offers a range of Student Support Services including:

Student Enquiries

Got a question? Ask us via AskMQ, or contact Service Connect.

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/. 

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.

Changes from Previous Offering

Minor changes have been made to the reflection assignment.  In 2023 students are not required to submit a reflective assignment in Week 13, as they were in 2022.  Instead, to encourage discussion and participation in class and class-related activities, students will be asked to submit notes at the end of each week on the various ways in which they have contributed to class discussion or the understandings of peers.  There will be a range of ways of demonstrating these contributions to peer and collaborative learning.

Unit information based on version 2023.02 of the Handbook