Module description
This module is an advanced exploration of drugs and culture. It uses historical, anthropological, sociological, and science studies approaches to provide students with both information and analytical tools to grapple with the intersections of drugs and culture in society. Attending to the whole life cycle of drugs – from production to consumption, and how those intersect – provides opportunities to think creatively about how drugs matter culturally, moving beyond common sense and simplistic pro and con answers to social and policy questions.
Over the course of the semester, we will read broadly about of a variety of drugs, including those that straddle medicine and recreation, as well as those that are unquestionably on one side (e.g. antiretrovirals) or the other (e.g. heroin). We will be attentive to how expert knowledge about drugs are produced, and how drugs are enrolled in narratives of health and danger in broader public spheres. Each student will choose one drug to analyse in depth, with small assignments building toward a final essay that considers that particular drug in cultural context.
Assessment details
- 1 x Reading Journal (0%)
- 1 x 2,500 Word Essay (100%)
Learning outcomes
- To be exposed to a range of key themes in the scholarship of drugs and culture, ranging from the construction of clinical trials to pharmaceuticalization to the “War on Drugs”
- To use the scholarship of drugs and culture as a window into broader scientific and cultural questions
- To gain in-depth knowledge about a particular drug of interest
- To develop research skills
- To hone writing skills to produce a polished research paper
Teaching pattern
One weekly one-hour lecture and one weekly one-hour seminar.