Universität Wien

233044 SE Digital Health Governance (2022S)

Exploring digital practices and governance in the context of health, medicine, and the body

5.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 23 - Soziologie
Continuous assessment of course work

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 25 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Monday 07.03. 14:45 - 16:45 Seminarraum STS, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/6. Stock, 1010 Wien (Kickoff Class)
  • Monday 14.03. 14:45 - 16:45 Seminarraum STS, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/6. Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Monday 21.03. 14:45 - 16:45 Seminarraum STS, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/6. Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Monday 28.03. 14:45 - 16:45 Seminarraum STS, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/6. Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Monday 04.04. 14:45 - 16:45 Seminarraum STS, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/6. Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Monday 25.04. 14:45 - 16:45 Seminarraum STS, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/6. Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Monday 02.05. 14:45 - 16:45 Seminarraum STS, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/6. Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Monday 09.05. 14:45 - 16:45 Seminarraum STS, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/6. Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Monday 16.05. 14:45 - 17:45 Seminarraum STS, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/6. Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Monday 23.05. 14:45 - 16:45 Seminarraum STS, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/6. Stock, 1010 Wien

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

Internet platforms, apps, artificial intelligence (AI), and social media not only help to distribute political content, but their technical infrastructures, algorithms, and business models are political in their own right. This particularly applies to the health context, where digital data, knowledge, and services may become a matter of life and death, as we have seen just recently with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. But how are digital technologies developed, used, and governed in different social, cultural, and political contexts? The seminar Digital Health Governance aims at answering this question by focusing on the context of health, medicine, and the body. The following questions will be addressed: How do global technology companies enter local health contexts by providing health information, fitness apps, and online genetic testing? How are these digital tools used and what does the increasing “commodification” and “datafication” of health imply? How can patients get empowered by using online health information and what challenges arise in terms of surveillance and “fake news”? What rules and regulations are needed to govern digital health technologies, moderate medical online content, and work towards more open and just digital technologies? And how can we compare Digital Health Governance in global, European, and local contexts and analyze their relation to cultural values and political regimes?

To answer these questions, students will learn how to critically engage with literature on Digital Health Governance and how to relate it to particular case studies. Starting from students’ own experiences with digital health technologies, we will discuss digital practices, health-related data, and privacy aspects preparing the ground for the exploration of Digital Health Governance from different angles. Each unit will be composed of a brief introduction into the topic by the lecturer, discussions based on compulsory literature, and an empirical case study presented by student groups (based on suggested readings and a particular “case study”). This study can serve as groundwork for the term paper, in which each student will individually develop a concept for a small empirical project by combining the seminar literature with a small-scale “study” - e.g. analysis of a health website, platform, or COVID-19 dashboard, interview with users, discourse analysis of a small media, policy, or social media sample discussing health-related controversies etc. The main aim of the seminar is to collectively learn how to combine theoretical concepts with empirical research, how to give and get feed-back on students’ projects, and how to outline a small empirical study embedded in the seminar literature. Ongoing discussions of written assignments and oral presentations will help students to write their term papers. Teaching and readings are in English and students must be able to write and present their assignments in English.

Assessment and permitted materials

To pass the seminar, students are expected to complete the following tasks:

• Regular attendance and participation in class. Four hours of the seminar can be missed. Please inform the lecturer about your absence beforehand.
• Reading all of the obligatory literature and active involvement in discussions.
• Oral presentation of empirical case study based on reading materials; individually or in groups depending on number of participants (see “case study texts” in seminar schedule): read one of the texts provided and connect it with an empirical case related to the text. Start with a brief summary of the main arguments of the text, explain why you liked or disliked the text, and make a connection to a recent case/ public debate etc. (e.g. a health platform, fitness app, data infrastructure, business model, regulatory framework etc).
• “Elevator talk” of research project (individually or clustered in groups, depending on number of participants): Present your research project in 5 minutes. Formulate your main research questions, use seminar literature to argue why your research questions are important, outline (or conduct, if you like) empirical work (e.g. analysis of a small selection of policy or newspaper articles, online materials, interviews (1 or 2), (self-)experiments etc) and argue what your research project can contribute to the scientific community and policymakers/ wider society.
• Writing of two short assignments (see assignment 1: “self-experiment” in seminar schedule) and brief concept of your research project (see assignment 2: “concept for term paper”). Both assignments are written individually (1-2 pages, handed in via Moodle).
• Writing of term paper on projects developed in class: Introduction, literature review, outline of (or conducted) empirical work (e.g. interview/s, couple of media, policy, or social media materials, controversy analysis, policy analysis of particular institution, legal framework, or civil society activism etc), conclusions with academic and policy recommendations (8-10 pages, handed in via Moodle).

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

The grading of the course is based on the separate assessment of different tasks on a scale of 1-5. Feedback will be provided after oral presentations of case studies (group work) and elevator talks (individually), as well as on the two written assignments during discussions in class. Individual feedback can be provided any time upon request.

Reading of seminar literature and
active involvement in discussions 25% assessed individually

Oral presentation of case study
and “elevator talk” 25% assessed as group work (or
individually; depending on number of students)

Written assignments 1 & 2,
seminar paper on concept of research project 45% assessed individually

Delivery of texts on time and formal criteria
(citation, layout, ...) 5% assessed individually

Minimum requirements

To successfully complete the course, a weighted average of at least 4,5 is required.

Examination topics

Reading list


Association in the course directory

Last modified: Th 20.01.2022 16:48