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Unit outline_

CISS6004: Health and Security

Semester 2, 2020 [Normal day] - Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney

This unit assesses the political and security significance of disease-related events and developments. Whether one contemplates historical experiences with smallpox, the contemporary challenges posed by diseases such as HIV/AIDS and SARS, or the risks arising from new scientific developments such as synthetic biology, it is clear that diseases exercise a powerful influence over civilised humankind. The unit concentrates on areas in which human health and security concerns intersect most closely, including: biological weapons; fast-moving disease outbreaks of natural origin; safety and security in microbiology laboratories; and the relationships between infectious disease patterns, public health capacity, state functioning and violent conflict. The overall aim of the unit is to provide students with a stronger understanding of the scientific and political nature of these problems, why and how they might threaten security, and the conceptual and empirical connections between them.

Unit details and rules

Academic unit Government and International Relations
Credit points 6
Prerequisites
? 
None
Corequisites
? 
None
Prohibitions
? 
None
Assumed knowledge
? 

None

Available to study abroad and exchange students

No

Teaching staff

Coordinator Adam Kamradt-Scott, adam.kamradt-scott@sydney.edu.au
Type Description Weight Due Length
Assignment Issue brief
Policy Report
30% Week 06
Due date: 29 Sep 2020 at 19:00
1500wd
Outcomes assessed: LO3 LO4 LO5
Assignment Research essay
Research Essay
50% Week 12
Due date: 16 Nov 2020 at 19:00
3500wd
Outcomes assessed: LO1 LO2 LO3 LO5 LO6
Online task Online quizzes
Online quiz
20% Weekly 10 min for 5 multiple choice questions
Outcomes assessed: LO1

Assessment summary

Detailed information for each assessment can be found on Canvas.

Assessment criteria

The University awards common result grades, set out in the Coursework Policy 2014 (Schedule 1).

As a general guide, a High distinction indicates work of an exceptional standard, a Distinction a very high standard, a credit a good standard, and a pass an acceptable standard.

Result name

Mark range

Description

High distinction

85 - 100

 

Distinction

75 - 84

 

Credit

65 - 74

 

Pass

50 - 64

 

Fail

0 - 49

When you don’t meet the learning outcomes of the unit to a satisfactory standard.

 

For more information see guide to grades.

Late submission

In accordance with University policy, these penalties apply when written work is submitted after 11:59pm on the due date:

  • Deduction of 5% of the maximum mark for each calendar day after the due date.
  • After ten calendar days late, a mark of zero will be awarded.

Academic integrity

The Current Student website provides information on academic integrity and the resources available to all students. The University expects students and staff to act ethically and honestly and will treat all allegations of academic integrity breaches seriously.

We use similarity detection software to detect potential instances of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breach. If such matches indicate evidence of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breaches, your teacher is required to report your work for further investigation.

Use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and automated writing tools

You may only use generative AI and automated writing tools in assessment tasks if you are permitted to by your unit coordinator. If you do use these tools, you must acknowledge this in your work, either in a footnote or an acknowledgement section. The assessment instructions or unit outline will give guidance of the types of tools that are permitted and how the tools should be used.

Your final submitted work must be your own, original work. You must acknowledge any use of generative AI tools that have been used in the assessment, and any material that forms part of your submission must be appropriately referenced. For guidance on how to acknowledge the use of AI, please refer to the AI in Education Canvas site.

The unapproved use of these tools or unacknowledged use will be considered a breach of the Academic Integrity Policy and penalties may apply.

Studiosity is permitted unless otherwise indicated by the unit coordinator. The use of this service must be acknowledged in your submission as detailed on the Learning Hub’s Canvas page.

Outside assessment tasks, generative AI tools may be used to support your learning. The AI in Education Canvas site contains a number of productive ways that students are using AI to improve their learning.

Simple extensions

If you encounter a problem submitting your work on time, you may be able to apply for an extension of five calendar days through a simple extension.  The application process will be different depending on the type of assessment and extensions cannot be granted for some assessment types like exams.

Special consideration

If exceptional circumstances mean you can’t complete an assessment, you need consideration for a longer period of time, or if you have essential commitments which impact your performance in an assessment, you may be eligible for special consideration or special arrangements.

Special consideration applications will not be affected by a simple extension application.

Using AI responsibly

Co-created with students, AI in Education includes lots of helpful examples of how students use generative AI tools to support their learning. It explains how generative AI works, the different tools available and how to use them responsibly and productively.

WK Topic Learning activity Learning outcomes
Week 01 Introduction to Security Studies Online class (0.5 hr)  
Global Health Security Theory and Concepts Online class (0.75 hr)  
Tutorial Discussion Tutorial (1 hr)  
Week 02 Pestilence in World History Online class (0.75 hr)  
Tutorial Discussion Tutorial (1 hr)  
Online Drop-In Session Forum (0.5 hr)  
Week 03 Key Global Health Actors Online class (0.75 hr)  
Tutorial Discussion Tutorial (1 hr)  
Week 04 Pandemic Influenza Online class (1 hr)  
Tutorial Discussion Tutorial (1 hr)  
Week 05 Coronaviruses Online class (0.75 hr)  
Tutorial Discussion Tutorial (1 hr)  
Online Drop-In Session Forum (0.5 hr)  
Week 06 Malaria Online class (0.5 hr)  
HIV/AIDS Online class (0.5 hr)  
Tuberculosis Online class (0.5 hr)  
Tutorial Discussion Tutorial (1 hr)  
Week 07 Antimicrobial resistance Online class (0.75 hr)  
Tutorial Discussion Tutorial (1 hr)  
Online Drop-In Session Forum (0.5 hr)  
Week 08 Armed conflict and health Online class (0.75 hr)  
Tutorial Discussion Tutorial (1 hr)  
Week 09 Civil-Military Health Cooperation Online class (0.75 hr)  
Tutorial Discussion Tutorial (1 hr)  
Week 10 Dual Use Research of Concern Online class (0.75 hr)  
Tutorial Discussion Tutorial (1 hr)  
Online Drop-In Session Forum (0.5 hr)  
Week 11 Biological Weapons Online class (0.75 hr)  
Tutorial Discussion Tutorial (1 hr)  
Week 12 Biological Preparedness, Governance and Response Online class (0.75 hr)  
Tutorial Discussion Tutorial (1 hr)  

Attendance and class requirements

  • Attendance: According to Faculty Board Resolutions, students in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences are expected to attend 90% of their classes. If you attend less than 50% of classes, regardless of the reasons, you may be referred to the Examiner’s Board. The Examiner’s Board will decide whether you should pass or fail the unit of study if your attendance falls below this threshold.
  • Lecture recording: Most lectures (in recording-equipped venues) will be recorded and may be made available to students on the LMS. However, you should not rely on lecture recording to substitute your classroom learning experience.
  • Preparation: Students should commit to spend approximately three hours’ preparation time (reading, studying, homework, essays, etc.) for every hour of scheduled instruction.

Study commitment

Typically, there is a minimum expectation of 1.5-2 hours of student effort per week per credit point for units of study offered over a full semester. For a 6 credit point unit, this equates to roughly 120-150 hours of student effort in total.

Required readings

Please note: All readings for this unit can be accessed through the Library eReserve, available on Canvas.

Module 1: Introduction to Security Studies

  • Barry Buzan and Lene Hansen (2009) The Evolution of International Security Studies. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge: 8-20 (Chapter 1).
  • Barry Buzan and and Lene Hansen (2009) The Evolution of International Security Studies. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge: 187-225 (Chapter 7).

Module 2: Global Health Security Theory and Concepts

  • Colin McInness (2015) The many meanings of global health security. In Routledge Handbook of Global Health Security, edited by Simon Rushton and Jeremy Youde. Routledge, Abingdon: 7-17.
  • Simon Rushton (2020) Security and Health. In Oxford Handbook of Global Health Politics, edited by Colin McInnes, Kelley Lee and Jeremy Youde. Oxford University Press, Oxford: 123-142.
  • Michael Stevenson and Michael Moran (2015) Health security and the distortion of the global health agenda. In Routledge Handbook of Global Health Security, edited by Simon Rushton and Jeremy Youde. Routledge, Abingdon: 328-338.

Module 3: Pestilence in World History

  • Ronald Barrett, et al (1998) Emerging and Re-Emerging Infectious Diseases: The Third Epidemiologic Transition. Annual Review of Anthropology 27: 247-271.
  • John Frith (2012) The History of Plague - Part 1. The Three Great Pandemics. Journal of Military and Veterans’ Health 20(2): 11-16.
  • Alexandra Minna Stern and Howard Markel (2004) International Efforts to Control Infectious Diseases, 1851 to the Present. Journal of the American Medical Association 292(12): 1474-1479.

Module 4: Key Global Health Actors

  • Sophie Harman (2016) The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Legitimacy in Global Health Governance. Global Governance 22(3): 349-368.
  • Adam Kamradt-Scott (2016) WHO’s to Blame? The World Health Organization and the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Third World Quarterly 37(3): 401-418.
  • Katerini Storeng and Antoine Puyvallée (2018) Civil society participation in global public private partnerships for health. Health Policy and Planning 33(8): 928-936.

Module 5: Pandemic Influenza

  • Adam Kamradt-Scott (2020) The Politics of Pandemic Influenza Preparedness. In Oxford Handbook of Global Health Politics, edited by Colin McInnes, Kelley Lee and Jeremy Youde. Oxford University Press, Oxford: 531-550.
  • Peter Doshi (2011) The elusive definition of pandemic influenza. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 89(7): 532-535.
  • Christian Enemark (2009) Is pandemic flu a security threat? Survival 51(1): 191-214.

Module 6: Coronaviruses

  • Noah Peeri, Nistha Shrestha, Siddikur Rahman et al (2020) The SARS, MERS and novel coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemics, the newest and biggest global health threats: what lessons have we learned? International Journal of Epidemiology (published 22 February 2020) 1-22, https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyaa033
  • Mely Caballero-Anthony (2005) SARS in Asia: Crisis, Vulnerabilities, and Regional Responses. Asian Survey 45(3): 475-495.
  • Esam Azhar, David Hui, Ziad Memish et al (2019) The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). Infectious Disease Clinics of North America 33(4): 891-905.

Module 7: Malaria

  • Nicholas Knowlton (2015) Malaria and security: More than a matter of health. In Routledge Handbook of Global Health Security, edited by Simon Rushton and Jeremy Youde. Routledge, Abingdon:163-174.
  • Richard Feachem, Ingrid Chen, Omar Akbari, et al (2019) Malaria eradication within a generation: ambitious, achievable, and necessary. Lancet 394(10203): 1056-1112 (NB: please read as much as you can, but especially Section 4 on biological challenges to eradication – pages 1074-1077)

Module 8: HIV/AIDS

  • Colin McInnes and Simon Rushton (2010) ‘HIV, AIDS and Security: Where are we now?’ International Affairs 86(1): 225-245.
  • Peter Fourie (2015) AIDS as a security threat: The emergence and the decline of an idea. In Routledge Handbook of Global Health Security, edited by Simon Rushton and Jeremy Youde. Routledge, Abingdon: 105-117.

Module 9: Tuberculosis

  • Christian Enemark (2013) Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis: Security, Ethics and Global Health. Global Society, 27(2):159-177.
  • Marco Schito, Debra Hanna and Alimuddin Zumla (2017) Tuberculosis eradication versus control. International Journal of Infectious Diseases 56: 10-13.

Module 10: Antimicrobial Resistance

  • Anna George (2019) Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) in the Food Chain: Trade, One Health and Codex. Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease 4(1): 54, https://doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed4010054
  • Didier Wernli, Peter Jørgensen, Stephan Harbath et al (2017) Antimicrobial resistance: The complex challenge of measurement to inform policy and the public. PLoS Med 14(8): e1002378. https://doi.org/10.1371
  • Catherine Yuk-pin Lo and Nicholas Thomas (2018) The macrosecuritization of antimicrobial resistance in Asia. Australian Journal of International Affairs 72(6): 567-583.

Module 11: Armed Conflict and Health

  • CJL Murray, AD Lopez, N Tomijima et al (2002) Armed conflict as a public health problem. BMJ 324: 346. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.324.7333.346
  • Riyadh Lafta and Maha Al-Nuaimi (2019) War or health: a four-decade armed conflict in Iraq. Medicine, Conflict and Survival 35(3): 209-226.
  • Preeti Patel, Fawzia Gibson-Fall, Richard Sullivan et al (2017) Documenting attacks on health workers and facilities in armed conflict. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 95(1): 79-81.

Module 12: Civil-Military Health Cooperation

  • Kenneth Bernard (2013) Health and National Security: A Contemporary Collision of Cultures. Biosecurity and Bioterrorism 11(2): 157-162.
  • Michaud, J., Moss, K., Licina, D., Waldman, R., Kamradt-Scott, A., Bartee, M., Lim, M., Williamson, J., Burkle, F., Polyak, C., et al (2019). Militaries and global health: peace, conflict, and disaster response. The Lancet, 393(10168), 276-286.
  • Adam Kamradt-Scott and Frank Smith (2020) Military Assistance during Health Emergencies. In Oxford Handbook of Global Health Politics, edited by Colin McInnes, Kelley Lee and Jeremy Youde. Oxford University Press, Oxford: 197-216.

Module 13: Dual Use Research of Concern

  • Christian Enemark (2015) Life science research as a security risk. In Routledge Handbook of Global Health Security, edited by Simon Rushton and Jeremy Youde. Routledge, Abingdon: 130-140.
  • Jonathan Suk, et al (2011) Dual-Use Research and Technological Diffusion: Reconsidering the Bioterrorism Threat Spectrum. PLoS Pathog, 7(1): e1001253. doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1001253
  • Sabrina Engel-Glatter and Marcello Ienca (2018) Life scientists’ views and perspectives on the regulation of dual-use research of concern. Science and Public Policy 45(1): 92-102.

Module 14: Biological Weapons

  • William Rosenau (2001) Aum Shinrikyo’s Biological Weapons Program: why did it fail? Studies in Conflict and 24(4): 289-301
  • Gregory Koblentz (2015) Biological weapons and bioterrorism. In Routledge Handbook of Global Health Security, edited by Simon Rushton and Jeremy Youde. Routledge, Abingdon: 118-129.
  • James Revill and Catherine Jefferson (2013) Tacit knowledge and the biological weapons regime. Science and Public Policy, doi: 10.1093/scipol/sct090.

Module 15: Biological Preparedness, Governance and Response

  • Rebecca Katz and Erin Sorrell (2015) Preparedness and resilience in public health emergencies. In Routledge Handbook of Global Health Security, edited by Simon Rushton and Jeremy Youde. Routledge, Abingdon: 201-214.
  • Edna Moturi, Katherine Horton, Leila Bell et al (2018) PanStop: a decade of rapid containment exercises for pandemic preparedness in the WHO Western Pacific Region. Western Pacific Surveillance and Response 9(Suppl 1): 71-74.
  • Ralf Itzwerth, Aye Moa and Raina MacIntyre (2018) Australia’s influenza preparedness plans: an analysis. Journal of Public Health Policy 39(1):111-124.

Learning outcomes are what students know, understand and are able to do on completion of a unit of study. They are aligned with the University's graduate qualities and are assessed as part of the curriculum.

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

  • LO1. Develop an advanced knowledge, understanding and appreciation of how various global health issues intersect with national and international security concerns
  • LO2. Develop a sound knowledge base and a demonstrated ability to think critically about the key actors, institutions and challenges in global public health
  • LO3. Demonstrate an ability to construct and then describe complex public policy problems in a clear and concise manner for potentially diverse audiences
  • LO4. Demonstrate an ability to gather, consolidate and analyse evidence, and then apply this knowledge to develop possible policy solutions
  • LO5. Demonstrate an ability to gather and analyse evidence to organise and construct a coherent and persuasive written argument
  • LO6. Demonstrate an ability to think critically to assess complex public policy problems relating to health and security

Graduate qualities

The graduate qualities are the qualities and skills that all University of Sydney graduates must demonstrate on successful completion of an award course. As a future Sydney graduate, the set of qualities have been designed to equip you for the contemporary world.

GQ1 Depth of disciplinary expertise

Deep disciplinary expertise is the ability to integrate and rigorously apply knowledge, understanding and skills of a recognised discipline defined by scholarly activity, as well as familiarity with evolving practice of the discipline.

GQ2 Critical thinking and problem solving

Critical thinking and problem solving are the questioning of ideas, evidence and assumptions in order to propose and evaluate hypotheses or alternative arguments before formulating a conclusion or a solution to an identified problem.

GQ3 Oral and written communication

Effective communication, in both oral and written form, is the clear exchange of meaning in a manner that is appropriate to audience and context.

GQ4 Information and digital literacy

Information and digital literacy is the ability to locate, interpret, evaluate, manage, adapt, integrate, create and convey information using appropriate resources, tools and strategies.

GQ5 Inventiveness

Generating novel ideas and solutions.

GQ6 Cultural competence

Cultural Competence is the ability to actively, ethically, respectfully, and successfully engage across and between cultures. In the Australian context, this includes and celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, knowledge systems, and a mature understanding of contemporary issues.

GQ7 Interdisciplinary effectiveness

Interdisciplinary effectiveness is the integration and synthesis of multiple viewpoints and practices, working effectively across disciplinary boundaries.

GQ8 Integrated professional, ethical, and personal identity

An integrated professional, ethical and personal identity is understanding the interaction between one’s personal and professional selves in an ethical context.

GQ9 Influence

Engaging others in a process, idea or vision.

Outcome map

Learning outcomes Graduate qualities
GQ1 GQ2 GQ3 GQ4 GQ5 GQ6 GQ7 GQ8 GQ9

This section outlines changes made to this unit following staff and student reviews.

No changes have been made since this unit was last offered

Disclaimer

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