| Unit name | Global Health Diplomacy and Leadership |
|---|---|
| Unit code | SPOLM0088 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Nasrul Ismail |
| 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 |
None |
| School/department | School for Policy Studies |
| Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
Why is this unit important?
Contemporary global health challenges highlight the scale and complexity of the need for diplomacy and leadership. Health has become a critical element in the areas of international development, trade policy, foreign and security policy. The accelerated pace of globalisation has led to health issues transcending national boundaries, and there is a general acknowledgement that health challenges, ranging from regional conflicts to problems emerging from climate emergencies, cannot be resolved solely at the technical level. Rather, they require political negotiations and solutions which involve a wide range of actors.
Using systemic perspectives, you will have the space and opportunity to engage with experiential learning, in particular about how to lead, advocate, and create interventions and movements that challenge health inequalities and social injustice.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study?
You will develop a campaign strategy based on contemporary global health issues of your own choice. As such, you will consolidate learning from other units in an applied and practical way. You will also have the opportunity to tap into the academic, advocacy, diplomacy, policy and leadership expertise of this unit’s teaching team.
An overview of content
Using examples from global health campaigns, the unit promotes development of a wide range of skills. You will work with others in the development of an evidence-driven campaign strategy on a key global health issue. Along the way you will explore appropriate media channels for your campaign that target receptive audiences and consider how best to evaluate success while also reflecting on how to learn from your challenges. You will weigh up the value and effectiveness of different approaches to leadership alongside relevant diplomacy strategies.
You will interact with policy actors in the field, sharing their strategies of influence through applied diplomacy and leadership. You will harness skills to advocate for policy change across diverse settings, while reflecting on potential career pathways in the global health policy field.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit
Working independently and in a campaign team, you will obtain hands-on experience in designing a health policy campaign on a topic you are passionate about. You will develop key employability skills relevant to your career, including leadership, confidence building, problem-solving, researching, teamwork, communication, networking, and diplomacy (particularly in dealing with disputes and conflicts).
Learning outcomes
On successful completion of the unit, you will be able to:
This is an applied learning unit. Students are expected to work in their assigned group weekly to operationalise their health justice campaign. Each week’s lessons are structured to enable students to directly apply what they have learned to their campaign. Asynchronous preparation tasks (videos and readings) will be prepared ahead of your two-hour weekly workshops.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):
Weekly workshop tasks in class will receive verbal feedback, helping you to consider revisions for the elements you submit in your summative portfolio.
A 300-word presentation plan will be devised by your group ahead of the summative presentation, on which you will receive brief written feedback, helping to ensure that your work is on track with this unit’s learning outcomes.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
20-minute group presentation + a separately submitted 750-word individual reflection (50%) (meets Learning Outcomes 2 and 4)
Individual Learning Portfolio comprising 5 pieces from weekly tasks (max 2000 words) (50%) (meets Learning Outcomes 1, 3 and 4)
When assessment does not go to plan
Subject to university regulations for taught programmes, students may be offered the opportunity for reassessment of one or both pieces of summative assessment, dependent upon circumstances. If you are eligible to resubmit and where appropriate, you may submit an alternative assessment in a similar format as the original assessment.
The reassessment components will include:
10 minute individual presentation + 750 word individual reflection (50%) (meets Learning Outcomes 2 and 4)
Individual Learning Portfolio comprising 5 pieces from weekly tasks (maximum 2000 words) (50%) (meets Learning Outcomes 1, 3 & 4)
Students who fail one component of the summative assessment and are eligible to resubmit will only need to re-take the failed component.
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. SPOLM0088).
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.
