PHILOSOPHY AND PUBLIC HEALTH: GLOBAL AND LOCAL Fall 2008
Dr. Christine A.
James
PHIL 4800 A Philosophy and Public
Health TR 2:00pm-3:15pm WH
104 CRN 80774
This syllabus is available online, and may be updated, at http://teach.valdosta.edu/chjames/PhilosophyPublicHealthFall2008.htm
Office: 110 Ashley Hall
Office Hours: TR 9:15am-11:00am,
MW 3:15pm-4:45pm and after classes and by appointment as needed.
Telephone: 259-7609
Mailbox: Philosophy Department Office
Fax: 259-5011
E-mail address: chjames@valdosta.edu
Course
content: This course provides an introduction to philosophy and public
health. Public health is an area of
health care that involves elements from many other disciplines including
medicine, life and environmental sciences, economics, law and ethics. Public
health is concerned with health in its broadest sense, and the health of groups
or populations, not just individuals. These factors mean that this area of
health care involves many interesting conceptual, empirical and ethical issues.
This course will explore a variety of issues in the growing field of philosophy
and public health, including questions like these: What is 'public
health'? What is the role of traditional
ethical theory in public health decision making? What is the current understanding of human
rights and individual rights in the public health literature? How is 'public health' related to 'population
health'? How does the public health
community now view its own history, from Germ Theory, to the
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
Philosophy courses at
http://www.valdosta.edu/academic/VSUGeneralEducationOutcomes.shtml
The Learning Outcomes for our PHIL 4800 are:
1. To understand the distinctions among the various philosophical approaches to public health, including the historical nature of public health as an academic field.
2. To recognize how philosophical inquiry applies to ‘real-world’ circumstances and to specific case studies in public health literature.
3. To become conversant with the history of public health, as well as specific examples of the issues of race, class and gender as they influenced public health’s development.
4. To recognize and define different world views, adopting a reasonably viable one and justifying it in a philosophically informed way that emphasizes critical reasoning and argument.
5. To demonstrate the ability to discuss, in both oral and written discourse, the philosophical issues explored in the course.
6. To be familiar with what academic philosophy is, and to understand how it can be applied to daily life as well as specific careers.
Members
of the faculty in Philosophy and Religious Studies have verified that these
outcomes are in line with the outcomes of the course as it is taught at peer
institutions in the State System of Georgia.
These course-specific
learning outcomes contribute to the departmental
1. To encourage an
understanding of central issues, topics and philosophers in the history of philosophy,
from the ancient to the modern periods.
2. To develop
students’ abilities to think, write, and speak critically and logically.
3. To enable
students to challenge their own ideas and to develop self-understanding in the
context of a diverse range of ideas which inform contemporary controversies and
social conflict.
4. To enable
students to engage in independent philosophical research, and to be responsible
for communicating their understanding of the issues researched and developed,
including a working familiarity with current research methods.
5. To
incorporate philosophical positions in oral and written
6. To critically outline and analyze a philosophical question.
Requirements: Class participation and attendance, two
written examinations, two papers, various WebCT Vista
assignments and discussions. Pop Reading
Quizzes may also be given during the semester.
Required Texts:
Public Health Law
and Ethics: A Reader,
Selected readings and academic journal articles as noted in the
syllabus, usually by Adobe .pdf
Be sure to do the reading before the
class for which it is assigned. Please bring the relevant book(s) and/or
article(s) with you to class, along with a designated notebook and some pens.
(In addition, Philosophy and
Religious Studies faculty encourage you to use Andrea A. Lunsford, St.
Martin’s Handbook, 5th ed. which was required in ENGL 1101 and 1102
courses. These books are available for purchase at the VSU Bookstore. The St.
Martin’s Handbook is shelved under ENGL 1101 and 1102.)
How grades will be
calculated:
A = 100 - 90% Class
participation, attendance = 20%
B = 89 - 80% 2 Exams at 20%
each = 40%
C = 79 - 70% 2 Papers at 20%
each = 40%
D = 69 - 60% Total = 100%
F = 59 - 0%
Please note that I am not obligated to accept late work or to
allow “make up” work after the date an assignment or exam or paper is completed
by the other members of the class.
I also make no promises about extra credit items, although I will
routinely announce events on campus that can result in some extra credit points
for you.
Exams and Papers: The exams in our class will be “short answer” written exams. Usually I ask six questions and a complete
answer should be no less than four complete sentences. These exams are “objective” in the sense that
the answers can be directly related to class discussions and the textbook.
Here are some extra links, if you would like to use outside sources and secondary source material:
http://books.valdosta.edu/gal1.html (click on “Full Text Journal Title
List”) and
http://www.valdosta.edu/library/learn/guides/philosophy.shtml
The direct link for the database
(Academic Search Complete)
http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zbac (Click on Academic Search Complete to open the first page with the search box.)
Attendance Policy: I do care that you
attend class regularly. As you know, VSU
policy is that missing 20% of class meetings results in an automatic grade of
“F”. Faculty can also institute added
attendance policies in their syllabi. Our class will have a 10% rule for
absences. You can miss up to 10% of the
class meetings with no grade penalty. 10%
of our 30 class meetings is 3. On
absence number 4, your final grade for the course will be reduced by one whole
letter grade; on absence number 5, your final grade for the course will be
reduced by two whole letter grades; on absence number 6, you will automatically
fail the course. Be considerate of your
fellow students – don’t be late, and don’t leave your cell phones and pagers
on. Note that if you are regularly late
to class, or leave class early, I will begin to count each as an absence. Please note that this policy makes no
distinction between excused and unexcused absences.
Special Needs:
Students
requiring classroom accommodations or modification because of a documented
disability should discuss this need with me at the beginning of the
semester. If you are such a student, but
you are not registered with the Access Office, you should contact them
too. Students requesting classroom accommodations or
modifications because of a documented disability must contact the Access Office
for Students with Disabilities located in room 1115 Nevins Hall. The phone
numbers are 229-245-2498 (voice) and 229-219-1348 (tty).
Participate!
Once you
arrive at class, make an effort to get involved in the conversation. Don’t
hesitate to ask questions if you need clarification or would like more
information: if you are confused, it is likely that others are too! The
participation percentage you receive will depend on a variety of factors,
including (but not limited to) the frequency and helpfulness of your
contributions to class discussions and the care you take when peer editing.
Pop
Reading Quizzes:
If I
notice that there are many students who are not keeping up with the reading, I
may periodically administer reading quizzes in class. These will not be
announced in advance. No “make-up” quizzes will be given, and a missed quiz will
result in a grade of zero. These quizzes
are a solid reward for attending class, participating, and keeping up with the
readings.
Online Discussions:
During
certain weeks of the semester, you also will be expected to participate
regularly in on-line discussions using WebCT Vista.
Use this opportunity to comment on the week’s readings, ask questions, raise
objections, and respond to what others have written or said in class.
To use
To log in
to Vista and the course “shell,” go to the VSU homepage and click on the words WebCT Vista in the upper right-hand corner.
Your username and password are the same as for your BlazeNet
e-mail account. For instructions on getting started, go to: http://www.valdosta.edu/vista and the
help pages at http://www.valdosta.edu/vista/guides/start/index.shtml
When
posting in an online bulletin board, like those in the Discussion area of WebCT Vista, you must (1) post at least one original
message of your own, (2) read all the messages posted by others, and (3)
respond substantively to at least one
message from another student. Your postings are due the same day as the
readings are listed in the schedule below (i.e., no later than 11:59 p.m. on
the relevant dates.)
Your
first message on a given topic should be about 200 words in length. That is
roughly the length of two medium-sized paragraphs (e.g., this one and the
next). Your second (response) posting can be about half that length, but it
should be substantive (i.e.,
involving serious content). Try not to simply repeat what others have said
already. Additional postings can be as long or as short as you desire. Be sure
to give the first message an interesting title in the “Subject” line. This will
help alert the rest of us as to what it will be about.
When you
are ready to respond to someone else, do so by opening their message and
hitting the “Reply” button. This will create a “thread” that others can add on
to. Keep in mind that although it is fine to disagree with what someone else
has said, it is important to do so in a way that is polite and constructive. If
someone says something that makes you angry, pause and take a breath before
firing off a reply! You can preview your message before you send it, but once
you have hit “Post,” your message will no longer be editable.
Academic
Honesty:
Members
of the
http://www.valdosta.edu/academic/AcademicHonestyPoliciesandProcedures.shtml
http://www.valdosta.edu/academic/documents/ReportofAcademicDishonesty.doc
E-Mail:
VSU policy
mandates that all official communication by e-mail take place through VSU
e-mail accounts or through the WebCT Vista Mail
tool. Please check your VSU
(@valdosta.edu) e-mail account regularly.
Note: This syllabus is not a legal
contract; the content of this course is subject to revision by the professor.
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Schedule
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8/19 T |
Introduction to the class. For the next class, read the introductory document linked
below. Note, it is very helpful to
have access to Adobe Reader for the class materials. If you do not have Adobe Reader on your own
computer, the Odum Library computers have it, and
you can print for free. http://teach.valdosta.edu/chjames/phealth.pdf
http://teach.valdosta.edu/chjames/phealth.doc (Each date in the class after this one assumes that you will
have read that day’s assigned discussion reading before class.) What is Philosophy? Do
Philosophy majors get jobs related to that major? Here are two pages to answer that: |
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8/21 R |
Discussion of http://teach.valdosta.edu/chjames/phealth.pdf |
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8/26 T |
Discussion of Public
Health Law and Ethics, Gostin, editor, pages
1-19 “Public Health Law, Ethics, and Human Rights: Mapping the
Issues” Some paper tips: http://teach.valdosta.edu/chjames/somepapertips.htm |
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8/28 R |
Discussion
of PHLE, pages 1-19 http://teach.valdosta.edu/chjames/PublicHealthnotes.htm
also in WebCTVista |
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9/2 T |
Discussion of PHLE, pages 23-65 |
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9/4 R |
Discussion of PHLE, pages 23-65 |
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9/9 T |
Discussion of PHLE, pages 67-93 |
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9/11 R |
Review and Discuss PHLE, pages 67-93 |
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9/16 T |
Discussion of PHLE, pages 95-125 |
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9/18 R |
Review
and Discuss PHLE, pages 95-125 |
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9/23 T |
Dr. James will be in |
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9/25 R |
First Exam by WebCT Vista |
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9/30 T |
Discussion of PHLE, pages 127-158 |
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10/2 R |
Cases and Articles: http://teach.valdosta.edu/chjames/CommunicationattheCore.pdf
http://teach.valdosta.edu/chjames/LocalPublicHealthCost.pdf
ThePersonalDentalService handout |
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10/7 T |
First Paper Due Today Be ready to discuss your papers in class. |
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10/9 R |
Discussion of PHLE pages 295-333 |
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10/14 T |
Fall
Break, No Class |
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10/16 R |
Discussion of PHLE pages 295-333 |
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10/21 T |
Discussion of PHLE pages 335-375 Are you anticipating having a job
interview? Here’s a document that might help!
http://teach.valdosta.edu/chjames/jobsearch.pdf http://teach.valdosta.edu/chjames/jobsearch.doc |
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10/23 R |
Discussion of PHLE pages 335-375 http://teach.valdosta.edu/chjames/TeachingthePublicHealthCore.pdf
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10/28 T |
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10/30 R |
Discussion of PHLE
pages 377-412 |
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11/4 T |
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11/6 R |
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11/11 T |
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11/13 R |
Discussion of PHLE pages 415-445 |
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11/18 T |
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11/20 R |
Discussion of PHLE pages 447-485 |
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11/25 T |
(Dr. James will be in |
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11/27 R |
Thanksgiving
Break, no class |
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12/2 T |
Second Paper Due: Be ready to
discuss your papers in class. |
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12/4 R |
Review for Final Exam |
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The last official
class day for all Fall Semester classes is Monday 12/8.
FINAL EXAM:
Our official exam
time is Wednesday, December 10 at 2:45pm-4:45pm in the usual room.
If you are not sure about
how the final exam times are assigned for your other courses, use this link,
and check the Final Exam Schedule on page 3 of the Registrar’s Fall 2008 Guide
document:
http://www.valdosta.edu/it/eas/sis/documents/Fall2008FinalExamSchedule.pdf
Special Pilot Project: Online Course Evaluations
This course is part of a pilot project this
semester, testing a new online Student Opinion of Instruction (SOI) form. Student evaluations are extremely important
in helping faculty members plan and revise their courses. Rather than completing these evaluations
during class time, students will need to access evaluation forms via BANNER and
complete them in a period from November 24-December 8, 2008 (the last class
day). You will only complete evaluations
online for the classes that are part of this pilot project; other classes may
still require you to complete a scantron form in
class. Please take the time to complete
this important evaluation (or opt out of providing an evaluation) during the
designated period. If you do not do so,
you will not be able to access the grade for this class, scheduled to be posted
on December 15, 2008.
The Administration
has not yet set up the online forms, and Dr. James will update the class with
instructions when they are available.
Tips for doing well
in Philosophy classes, adapted from a handout by Robert Scott
1. Read text with a pencil,
underline the important ideas and key concepts. Write down technical ideas, key
terms, key distinctions between two terms, definitions, diagrams, etc. to help
you remember them.
2. Write questions or
reactions you have to the text in the margin of the book. Ask about these questions in class, and keep
them in mind, since they may provide good points to make about that author in
papers you will write for class.
3. Read ahead to see the
ultimate objectives of the chapter and of the individual readings. Keep in mind the overall picture of the
chapters given in the introductory sections to each chapter in the book.
4. Work with the new
terminology frequently, and try to apply it to situations outside of
class. I would recommend flash cards to
help you memorize the meanings of new terms quickly.
5. For longer readings, be
sure to review the reading as a whole after you have read it
section-by-section. What was the main
question the author wanted to address? What were the answers? What concepts
were used to make the points?
6. When confronted with a
difficult reading or question, break it down into parts, and into individual
ideas. This will at least help to
clarify the question, even if it might not give the answer. And for philosophy, clarifying the question
is really half the battle!
7. Ponder an unsolved
problem and return to it every so often to see if it will give. Inspiration may happen at an unexpected time,
and the subconscious mind does work on problems even when we aren't consciously
aware of it.
8. Begin work on all the
class tasks early, and spread out your work over time so as to maximize your
chances for comprehending the readings accurately, memorizing the information,
and grappling with the questions for papers.
9. If you do need to meet
with an instructor outside of class, be sure to have your questions for the
instructor planned out ahead of time, to make the meeting as productive as
possible.
10. Always think about the
philosophical issues for yourself, rather than waiting to be told what to think
or believe.
11. Study for all exams on
a daily basis, for at least a week before the exam date. You will need to know
who said what, from memory.
12. Try to anticipate the
questions that will be asked on an examination beforehand. Questions may come from the readings or from
lectures and class discussions, but in either case, certain terms and concepts
will be emphasized more than others.
13. Listen carefully to
different points of view, and actively respond (when you read, when you are in
class, and when you write your philosophy papers)!
14. Philosophy involves
skills, like learning to appreciate a good debate, learning to imagine the
world differently than we assume it to be, and appreciating the world with a
sense of wonder.
Richard Amesbury’s tips about
writing in Philosophy and Religious Studies:
(1) A
really great website for students about how to write academic papers is
maintained by the Dartmouth Writing Program:
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/materials/student/toc.shtml
In addition
to lots of helpful general information, it has special pages on "Writing
the Religion Paper" and "Writing the Philosophy Paper."
(2) A great
website that explains the importance of critically evaluating web resources --
always a problem area for students – is maintained by Robert Harris:
http://www.virtualsalt.com/evalu8it.htm
(3) A third
thing I'm planning to do this semester is to require students to own a copy of
the
Dr. Richard
Amesbury