ATS2637: The Human Body and the International Marketplace

Essay 1: 30%
Essay 2: 40%
Exam (two hours): 30%

This was the last unit I chose for Semester 1 of my second year (in fact, I switched into it in about Week 2), and I'm glad that I did. It provides a fairly general overview of some major issues in bioethics, including prostitution, surrogacy motherhood, gene patenting, and the purchase and sale of human organs (which I found most interesting). There is also a major emphasis on a few key concepts which relate to most if not all of the topics, being commodification, exploitation and objectification.

Ryan is a very good lecturer; he is engaging, encourages further learning and is more than willing to meet outside of class to clarify any questions you may have. He also offered his services throughout the year to read essay plans, and provides very extensive feedback. I was a little concerned that I would be overwhelmed with some of the content (as I had never done any bioethics units), but a lot of it is intuitive. In fact, I guess that's a main objective of the unit - to challenge your intuitions.

This unit had pretty much my perfect assessment structure - two major essays (the first one was 30%, the second 40%), and then the exam. The exam was rather lengthy, but it covered a good range of material. There were five definition questions (choose 5 from 10), five short-answer questions (choose 5 from 10), and then one mini-essay (choose 1 from 3, if my memory serves me well (which it probably doesn't)).
I would recommend the unit to anybody who is interested in bioethics or philosophy. I think it's an excellent unit, and made better by virtue of Ryan and the tutors doing everything they can to improve the unit in the future. Another plus is that it falls under the brackets of Bioethics, Human Rights, Philosophy and International Studies (which I am using it for); a significant portion of the content relates to countries further to Australia.

Dr. Ryan Tonkens

No idea, but probably not necessary

4.5 out of 5

Yes

Nothing further to the Unit Reader (which is, obviously, essential)

2 hours per week (1x one hour lecture, 1x one hour tutorial)

2014, Semester 1

N/A