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Health and Human Rights (POPH90244)
Graduate courseworkPoints: 12.5Dual-Delivery (Parkville)
About this subject
- Overview
- Eligibility and requirements
- Assessment
- Dates and times
- Further information
- Timetable (login required)(opens in new window)
Contact information
April
nicole.turner@unimelb.edu.au / katherine.gilbert@unimelb.edu.au
OR
Currently enrolled students:
- General information: https://ask.unimelb.edu.au
- Email: Contact Stop 1
Future Students:
- Further Information: https://study.unimelb.edu.au/
Overview
Availability | April - Dual-Delivery |
---|---|
Fees | Look up fees |
This interdisciplinary subject explores the meaning of the right to health (and supporting rights). The subject examines the principles and practical applications of a rights-based framework in law, policy, programs, and advocacy to further the health and well-being of diverse population groups, including children, women, indigenous people, people with mental illness, disability, and refugees and asylum seekers. It also considers the human rights framework in relation to global challenges including climate change, conflict, nuclear disarmament, and intellectual property laws. These case studies will be used to contrast human rights with dominant approaches to health policy and programs, and reflect on contemporary debates on the legitimacy, relevance, and utility of human rights. The subject will also explore the confronting linkages between rights violations and health harms, as well as rights infringements that improve public health.
The conceptualisation of health as a human right can be traced through the formation of the United Nations, the World Health Organization Charter, and the Alma Ata Declaration on primary health care. More recently, it has underpinned social mobilisation for the rights of people living with HIV and AIDS, of people living with disabilities, of LGBTIQ+ communities and individuals and of the movement pursuing universal health coverage. Drawing on these movements, the subject is grounded in the field of global health, which recognises the universality of human rights, and the global nature of the structural factors that influence the realisation of the right to health in both high- and low-income countries and their colonial or imperial origins. The subject will draw on case studies from Australia and elsewhere to examine the human rights obligations of nation states to their citizens and internationally, as well as the obligations of other political, economic, social, and cultural institutions. These case studies will draw on an interdisciplinary lens, encompassing international law, sociology, public health, and other fields. The subject is facilitated by a team of recognised experts in different areas of human rights and health. It aims to demonstrate the relevance of human rights principles to any sphere of health policy and practice, and inspire students on the possibilities for further investigation, action, and advocacy to advance both global health and human rights.
Health and Human Rights is a dual delivery block mode intensive subject. This means that the assessable material is delivered through self-directed online modules that students complete over a six-week period. The online modules offer flexibility in relation to the timing of when students complete them, or what hours of the day they may choose to study. However, allocated modules must be completed in time to allow effective participation in live interactive sessions that are linked with those modules. Live interactive sessions are held one day a week across the six-week period, in which module material is discussed with fellow students and lecturers. Students may choose to attend these live sessions online or face to face. Students are expected to commit approximately 80 hours to learning over the six weeks, comprised of learning modules, reading, discussion board activities, group work and live sessions. This six-week teaching period is followed by group work and independent learning towards three pieces of assessment to be completed over the following six weeks.
Intended learning outcomes
On completion of this subject, students should be able to:
- Apply human rights principles to diverse areas of health policy and programs in both an Australian and global context, acknowledging both the strengths and limitations of the Human Rights based approach;
- Interpret the relationships between human rights and health, demonstrating an appreciation of the potential for tensions between and need to balance competing rights, and distinguish between human rights and other normative approaches to health policy, programs and advocacy;
- Analyse the human rights dimensions of public health challenges in diverse contexts, and how these relate to diverse population groups, different types of health conditions, and global issues with important health implications;
- Demonstrate skills for advocating for public health policies and programs that reflect human rights principles in their design, implementation and evaluation.
Generic skills
- Apply critical thinking and analysis
- Apply problem-solving abilities
- Find, evaluate and use relevant information
- Persuasively argue a case using written and oral communication skills
- Undertake collaborate group work
Last updated: 31 January 2024
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
Corequisites
Non-allowed subjects
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.
Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home
Last updated: 31 January 2024
Assessment
Description | Timing | Percentage |
---|---|---|
Brief introductory post (2-4 minutes of audio/video or 200 word post)
| Week 2 | N/A |
Pre-recorded group presentation and written Q&A responses. Groups of 4-5 assessed as a group.
| 3 Days after the end of teaching | 20% |
Opinion Editorial
| 2 Weeks after the end of teaching | 20% |
Essay
| 6 Weeks after the end of teaching | 60% |
Last updated: 31 January 2024
Dates & times
- April
Coordinators Nicole Turner and Katherine Gilbert Mode of delivery Dual-Delivery (Parkville) Contact hours Total time commitment 170 hours Teaching period 15 April 2024 to 24 May 2024 Last self-enrol date 23 April 2024 Census date 3 May 2024 Last date to withdraw without fail 7 June 2024 Assessment period ends 5 July 2024 April contact information
nicole.turner@unimelb.edu.au / katherine.gilbert@unimelb.edu.au
ORCurrently enrolled students:
- General information: https://ask.unimelb.edu.au
- Email: Contact Stop 1
Future Students:
- Further Information: https://study.unimelb.edu.au/
Time commitment details
Remaining time commitment (140 hours): 12 hours daily required readings: • 2 hours a day x 6 days = 12 hours 31 hours for Group Work components consisting of: • 1 hour initial consultation with subject coordinator • 1 hour consultation with coordinator during the course • 6 x 2 hour group meetings = 12 • 12 hours independent work on group presentation = 12 hours (final presentation = to 1000 words) • 5 hours reading of designated text for group work 18 hours Discussion board activity: • 3 hours per day X 6 days, including blog posts (1000 words in total) and engagement with other students on discussion boards 6 hours Feedback/Feed forward on learning progress: • Subject coordinators / tutors available for 1 hr per day 73 hrs Independent Learning: • 68 hours for 3000 wd written assignment, both reading and drafting essay • 5 hours independent learning
What do these dates mean
Visit this webpage to find out about these key dates, including how they impact on:
- Your tuition fees, academic transcript and statements.
- And for Commonwealth Supported students, your:
- Student Learning Entitlement. This applies to all students enrolled in a Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP).
Subjects withdrawn after the census date (including up to the ‘last day to withdraw without fail’) count toward the Student Learning Entitlement.
Last updated: 31 January 2024
Further information
- Texts
Prescribed texts
A full set of prescribed readings and resource materials will be provided prior to the commencement of the subject.
- Related Handbook entries
This subject contributes to the following:
Type Name Course Master of Public Health - Available through the Community Access Program
About the Community Access Program (CAP)
This subject is available through the Community Access Program (also called Single Subject Studies) which allows you to enrol in single subjects offered by the University of Melbourne, without the commitment required to complete a whole degree.
Entry requirements including prerequisites may apply. Please refer to the CAP applications page for further information.
Last updated: 31 January 2024