| Unit name | Health Law and the Body |
|---|---|
| Unit code | LAWDM0133 |
| Credit points | 30 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Miss. Mollie Cornell |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
Not applicable |
| School/department | University of Bristol Law School |
| Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
Why is this unit important?
Health Law and the Body examines literature on bodies and embodiment and the application of theory and concepts to practical issues in medicine and health. The body plays a central role in health and medicine and this unit engages with literature from a range of disciplines in order to understand how law manages, disciplines, and governs the body and bodily material. The unit critically engages with how race, sex, gender, (dis)ability, embodiment, autonomy, and property inform our understandings of the body and what this means for questions of regulation and governance across a range of practical issues such as abortion, organ donation, embryo research, vaccination, pregnancy loss, surrogacy, or biotechnology. Given the centrality of the body to health this unit provides an exciting opportunity to engage critically with how we understand the body, challenge some of the normative assumptions that underpin law and regulation, and consider further directions for health law and policy.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study?
For students on the Health, Law, and Society LLM, it is an optional unit studied in TB2 that will allow you to engage in critical debate and discussion of a range of issues in health law and policy by providing you with the tools to challenge normative assumptions about how the body and bodily material are understood and conceptualised. As such it will also be relevant to students on other pathways who are interested to learn more about the medicine in medicine and health law.
An overview of content
The unit aims to embed knowledge and critical understanding of the body and bodily material in health law. Each topic will involve the introduction of different theoretical and conceptual literatures and apply these literatures to a specific topic. The theoretical focus across the unit starts with literature on embodiment and bodily integrity moving on to consider race, sex and gender, (dis)ability, and property. Topics which may be covered include abortion, organ donation, embryo research, vaccination, pregnancy loss, surrogacy, or biotechnology. This is a non-exhaustive list and in keeping with a research led approach to teaching topics may change depending on the areas of research activity of staff members teaching on the unit. Topics will always have a health or medicine focus.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit?
This unit will advance your substantive and critical knowledge and understanding of the body in health law and medicine. Students will be equipped to critically assess the legal frameworks that regulate and contain bodies and bodily material and the legitimacy of different approaches.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the unit, a successful student will be able to:
Your learning on the unit is achieved through mixed methods of teaching and learning, incorporated in lectures, guided independent reading and exercises, and seminars. The unit aims to enable you to attain, synthesise, and critically engage with ranging materials and ideas. As such, you will receive clear framing and guidance in lectures and teaching materials. This will enable you to undertake your own independent reading and study. Your learning will be secured through preparation for, and participation in, fortnightly seminars where you will: discuss and debate critical questions; check and advance your understanding; engage in tasks that promote breadth and depth of understanding.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):
Each topic will introduce different theoretical and conceptual literature which will be debated and discussed in seminars. Seminar preparation will involve consideration of specific questions on the readings assigned. In addition each topic will focus on a specific issue and preparation for the seminar will involve a specific task designed to further your understanding of this issue. In addition, there is a 500-word formative exercise, to be submitted approximately half way through the unit. This comprises an outline plan for a Law Reform Project. This does not contribute to your final grade. Rather, it enables you to practise and apply the skills required for the summative task. You will receive individual feedback on your plan, as well as broader general feedback and coursework preparation and writing guidance.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
The unit is assessed by a single, 4,000-word Law Reform Project. This is a structured body of work that allows you to demonstrate attainment of all the unit’s learning outcomes. The Law Reform Project has three main parts. Overall you: identify and problematise a specific area of health law pertaining to the human body or bodily material; propose and detail a law reform; and justify the adoption of the proposed reform using appropriate source and materials. Detailed guidance concerning this structure is provided within the unit materials.
When assessment does not go to plan:
When a student fails the unit and is eligible to resubmit, the unit will be reassessed on a like-for-like basis, and the student will ordinarily be permitted to submit revised work.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. LAWDM0133).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The assessment methods listed in this unit specification are designed to enable students to demonstrate the named learning outcomes (LOs). Where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, schools will make reasonable adjustments to support a student to demonstrate the LO by an alternative method or with additional resources.
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
