Ideas and Society
Overview
This unit introduces students to the relationships that exist between scientific ideas and society. Students will investigate the historical development of science as a cultural phenomenon, a sub-culture within the broader culture of society, to from an understanding of how scientific knowledge interacts with and influences the development of societies and their politics
Requisites
Learning outcomes
Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:
- Understand the difference between documentary historical evidence (primary sources), and works of theoretical explanation or interpretation (secondary sources)
- Draw upon primary and secondary sources to understand ideas underlying social, political and intellectual movements studied, and their implications for the periods studied
- Understand and correctly use appropriate terms for the eras, movements, ideologies and philosophies studied
- Describe important ways in which evolutionary theorising in either the environmental, social, psychological, health or life sciences has transformed conceptions of nature and humanity
- Understand implications of ideas and theories studied for 21st century conceptions of nature, humanity, society, health, and the future
- Research and write, a clear, scholarly, well-structured, well-argued, correctly referenced, historical essay, and be able to reflectively explain and evaluate the process of inquiry undertaken
- Plan and deliver a spoken presentation on an Ideas and Society topic to initiate and guide class discussion by means of thought-provoking questions
Teaching methods
Hawthorn
| Type | Hours per week | Number of weeks | Total (number of hours) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Online Directed Online Learning and Independent Learning | 2.00 | 12 weeks | 24 |
| Face to Face Contact (Phasing out) Tutorial | 2.00 | 12 weeks | 24 |
| Face to Face Contact (Phasing out) Workshop | 2.00 | 12 weeks | 24 |
| Unspecified Learning Activities (Phasing out) Independent Learning | 6.50 | 12 weeks | 78 |
| TOTAL | 150 |
Assessment
| Type | Task | Weighting | ULO's |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essay | Individual | 35 - 55% | 1,2,3,4,5,6 |
| Journal | Individual | 30 - 40% | 1,2,3,4,5,6 |
| Presentation | Individual | 15 - 25% | 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 |
Content
Historical emergence, development and interrelation of scientific ideas of nature, evolution, humanity, health, and ecological interdependence;
The rise of modern science and its permeation of modern culture;
Contemporary world-views as products of those developments;
How culture and societies have been transformed by ideologies of progress;
How current socio-political debates concerning environment, ecological change, and health, are part of an historical trajectory which can be traced back to the 17th and 18th centuries.
Study resources
Reading materials
A list of reading materials and/or required textbooks will be available in the Unit Outline on Canvas.