Politics and Society (MCLb043), Autumn Semester 2022

Part of a series of courses on core competences in business and data management, this Master’s course wants to empower students to be able to “examine critically the fundamental assumptions underlying the politics and culture of today’s Western-style democracies, and, in particular, explain how these assumptions affect the actual practices of today’s Western-style democracies and the professional practices of life scientists”. Also, students learn how to be able to “explain how global political issues affect the professional practices of life scientists” and to debate “in a structured, critical, and ethical manner […] the dilemmas and assumptions encountered in the study of local and global politics and culture and their effects on the professional practices of life scientists.”[1]

This course consists of centralised readings and materials available online to all students and two hours of local coachings per week over a period of seven weeks wherein the material is discussed in more depth. In these local coachings, we’ve focussed on questions surrounding consent in society in general and life-science research in particular. We also explored questions surrounding the relationship between the state and the individual, particularly with regard to the right to free speech, and the history and impact of globalisation on politics, society, and science.

While the course had been designed by Ian Jennings, he focussed almost exclusively on the centralised parts of the course, leaving me to teach my group as I saw fit.

Readings

The students had to read parts of Skloot, Henrietta (2010). The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. New York NY: Random House; the chapters on ‘Policy for Science’ and ‘Science for Policy’ in Briggle, Adam, and Mitcham, Carl (2012). Ethics and Science: An Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; the chapters on ‘Autonomy’, ‘Consent’, ‘Democracy’, ‘Authoritarianism’, ‘Freedom’, ‘Human Rights’, ‘Liberal Democracy’, ‘Populism’, ‘Equality’, ‘Freedom’, in Heywood, Andrew (2000). Key Concepts in Politics. London: Palgrave Macmillan; several chapters from Clapham, Andrew (2015). Human Rights: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press; several chapters from Steger, Manfred B. (2017). Globalization. A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press; several extracts from Runciman, David (2018). How Democracy Ends. London: Profile Books; as well as several newspaper articles.

Students’ Assignments

In addition to their weekly readings, all students had to write an individual essay (500 words) on a choice of topics; write a final exam; and participate in three group debates on the different topics of this course. Ian Jennings graded both the essay and the final exam, and I graded the students’ performance during the debates.

Local Coachings

For seven consecutive weeks, I met with my students to discuss and debate the three main themes of this course. After an introductory meeting where I explained the format of the course, the requirements, readings, and procedures, and some general information about Henrietta Lacks, the HeLa cells, and the relationship between individual rights and the common good, we had two classes each on consent, free speech, and globalisation. The first of these always consisted of a brief input by me followed by several in-class assignments and discussion topics in order to prepare the students for the debates which took place a week later in the second class.

Feedback & Evaluation

The students very much liked the course, particularly the clear structure, flexibility, and the opportunity to gain debate skills. They appreciated our collective definitions of key terms, my introductions to the subject, and the way in which some of their beliefs were challenged. However, they wished that there had been more preparation on how to debate well and more extensive introductions to the different topics. (NB: there was no formal, anonymous evaluation but a brief, 15-minute structured feedback round at the end of our last meeting.)

Licence

Unless otherwise indicated, all materials on this website can be used, adapted, and shared under the CC BY 4.0 licence, meaning you’re welcome to use anything you might find useful as long as you give credit.