Medical Anthropology (315-0-1)

Instructors

Rebecca Seligman
847/491-7207
1810 Hinman Ave., Room #204, EV Campus

Meeting Info

ANTHRO Sem Rm 104 - 1810 Hinmn: Tues, Thurs 11:00AM - 12:20PM

Overview of class

How do Anthropologists understand and investigate the social and cultural contexts of health and illness? This course will examine the diverse ways in which humans use cultural resources to cope with pain, illness, suffering and healing in diverse cultural contexts. In addition, we will analyze various kinds of medical practices as cultural systems, examining how disease, health, body, and mind are socially constructed, how these constructions articulate with human biology, and vice versa. The course will provide an introduction to the major theoretical frameworks that guide anthropological approaches to studying human health-related behavior. Theory will be combined with case studies from a number of societies, from India, Japan, Brazil, and Haiti to the U.S. and Canada, enabling students to identify similarities across seemingly disparate cultural systems, while at the same time demonstrating the ways in which American health behaviors and practices are socially embedded and culturally specific. The course will emphasize the overall social, political, and economic contexts in which health behavior and health systems are shaped, and within which they must be understood.

Registration Requirements

Reserved for Juniors & Seniors

Learning Objectives

By the end of the course, students will be able to identify and evaluate core concepts and theoretical approaches in medical anthropology, be able to analyze the social, political, and economic factors that contribute to illness and healing, be able to evaluate the culturally specific elements of medical systems, and be able to synthesize diverse ideas, themes, and theoretical arguments from across course readings

Evaluation Method

Reaction papers, group presentation, and take-home final exam

Class Materials (Required)

No books
PDFs available on Canvas

Enrollment Requirements

Enrollment Requirements: PreReq: First year students are not allowed to register unless granted permission.