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| Unit name |
The Politics of HIV/AIDS in Africa |
| Unit code |
SPAI30001 |
| Credit points |
20 |
| Level of study |
H/6
|
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
|
| Unit director |
Dr. Payne |
| Open unit status |
Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department |
School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies |
| Faculty |
Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
Description including Unit Aims
HIV/AIDS is no longer 'simply' a health or development issue - arguably it now lies at the heart of the 'African Crisis'. However, while images of the pandemic have served to reinforce a one-dimensional outsider view of sub-Saharan Africa as a continent rife with pestilence and disease, war and misery, the reality is, as ever, far more complex. This unit provides a socio-political context for the spread of HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa, considering the root causes and continuing proliferation of the pandemic. It assesses both internal (gender inequalities, patriarchy, poverty, poor governance, indigenous knowledge systems) and external (intellectual property rights, globalisation, skewed donor programmes, low levels of aid) contributing factors. The views of African 'AIDS dissidents' including former South African president Thabo Mbeki are analysed and weighed-up: freedom of expression versus harm. Finally, the course considers approaches to HIV/AIDS governance and management that have seen some success where they have been employed and how these might be applied more generally.
Intended Learning Outcomes
- Awareness of the scale of the problem facing Africa at the start of the 21st century.
- Ability to identify, critique and defend different stakeholder positions with regard to HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention.
- Understanding of the complexity of the problems facing policy makers attempting to stay the pandemic.
Teaching Information
Option 1 – A 1hr lecture and 2 hour seminar
Option 2 – A 3 hr seminar
The following methods will be outlined and used in the seminars:
- Listening and speaking in discussion
- Note taking
- Essay writing
- In- seminar debate
- Independent research
- Seminar presentation
Assessment Information
- Seminar presentation (formative)
- 1500-2000 word essay (summative) - 40%
- 2-hour, unseen exam (summative) - 60%
The assessment methods for this unit are designed to ensure that students engage, in-depth, across the unit syllabus as a whole. In so doing, they will cover learning objectives 1, 2 and 3. Specifically:
- While not a formal part of summative assessment, each student makes a seminar presentation on a topic of choice, drawn from each seminar session. A feedback sheet is returned to the student by the end of the same week giving detailed guidance on improving academic content and presentation skills.
- Students choose from a list of essay questions, linked to the seminar themes. Students are NOT permitted to write their essay on the same topic on which they presented, in order to maximise engagement across the syllabus. The essay, while being classificatory in its own right, is preceded by individual guidance and summative support given during office hours. Students are encouraged to identify essay topics early to maximise this support. The student receives a prompt feedback sheet following the classificatory essay given detailed guidance on academic content and writing style.
- The final classificatory exam is preceded by a summative mock examination. The exam is ‘blind’ in order to encourage students to revise across the syllabus. A feedback sheet is promptly returned to the student giving detailed guidance on academic content, exam technique and writing style.
Reading and References
- Barnett, Tony and Whiteside, Alan, AIDS in the Twenty-First Century: Disease and Globalization (Basingstoke, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002).
- Claton, Garson J, AIDS in Africa: A Pandemic on the Move (New York: Nova Science Publishers, 2005).
- De Waal, Alexander: AIDS and Power: Disease and Democracy in Africa (New York: Zed Books, 2006).
- Cross, Sholto and Whiteside, Alan (eds), Facing Up to AIDS: The Socio-Economic Impact in Southern Africa (Basingstoke, St. Martin's Press, 1996).
- Farber, Celia, Serious Adverse Events: An Uncensored History of AIDS (Hoboken, NJ: Melville House Pub, 2006).
- Iliffe, John, The African AIDS Epidemic: A History (Oxford: James Currey, 2006).
