CPT-31006 Integral Approaches in Communication, Health and Life Sciences

Course

Credits 6.00

Language of instruction:

English.

Assumed knowledge on:

BA or BSc in Social Science.

Contents:

Current societal challenges include environmental degradation, climate change, antimicrobial resistance and ageing societies. These challenges are inherently complex and many different scientific and professional disciplines are trying to understand and solve them from their own perspective. These different perspectives can lead to heated debates about “the right way” to solve things. How can we move forward with research and action on these issues, while taking into account different disciplines and stakeholder perspectives?
Working on transdisciplinary societal issues is core to the MSc program Communication, Health and Life Sciences. Students therefore need to learn about existing paradigms and strategies for change that have significance for these type of issues. By using Integral Theory to analyse complex societal issues, we learn about different starting points and how to take into account the perspectives of different stakeholders and disciplines. Students will also apply Integral Theory to analyse and assess existing interventions.
In order to navigate within this inter- and transdisciplinary landscape, students need to become aware of their own knowledge and attitudes by means of a reflection paper.

Learning outcomes:

After successful completion of this course students are expected to be able to:
- explain the paradigm shift from mono-, via inter- to transdisciplinary thinking applied to the field of Communication, Health and Life Sciences;
- explain different types and modes of strategies for change and their significance to complex societal issues;
- apply Integral Theory to analyse a complex societal issue from different disciplinary and stakeholder perspectives;
- assess existing interventions for a complex societal issue using Integral Theory;
- critically evaluate the suitability of Integral Theory, and underlying/embedded theories, in understanding complex problems and evaluating interventions for change;
- reflect upon their own knowledge, skills and attitude in relation to the concepts, theories and paradigms covered in this course.

Activities:

Throughout the course students will take part in a group assignment that consists of two parts.
First, students apply Integral Theory to analyse a complex societal issue. This involves the identification and integration of insights from different disciplines and stakeholders, based on a review of scientific literature and analysis of complementary sources (e.g. focus groups and media).
Second, students analyse a set of existing interventions for the selected societal issue, and evaluate its strengths and weaknesses against the background their earlier integral analysis.
Weekly tutorials are organised to practice the skills needed for the assignment.
Weekly lectures focus on paradigm shifts, Integral Theory, theories about societal transformation, and strategies for orchestrating change in complex settings.
These lectures serve as conceptual and methodological input for the group assignment. As part of the group assignment, students are assigned to write an individual reflection about their own attitudes, skills and preferences in relation to the concepts, paradigms and insights of the course.

Examination:

This course is assessed by a written exam (50%) and a group assignment (50%). The group assignment includes the writing of an individual reflection for which students receive a “pass” or “fail”. Passing this individual reflection is one of the conditions for successful completion of the group assignment.
All grades should be at least a “pass” or 5.5 to complete the course.

Literature:

A reading list of articles will be made available through BlackBoard.