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Academic Year 2002/2003

Health and Healing in Cross-Cultural Perspective
ANTH 246 SP

This course provides an introduction to medical anthropology, the study of how societies approach health and healing. We will examine variations in concepts of health, illness, and becoming and staying well in several parts of the world, including parts of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. We will also look at contemporary "biomedicine" as a cultural entity. We will look at cultural practices that encourage or inhibit disease, the influence of social institutions of health and illness, health and gender, and cross-cultural responses to diseases such as AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.

MAJOR READINGS

Katherine Dettwyler, DANCING SKELETONS
Anne Fadiman, THE SPIRIT CATCHES YOU AND YOU FALL DOWN
Paul Farmer, INFECTIONS AND INEQUALITIES
Byron Good, MEDICINE, RATIONALITY, AND EXPERIENCE
Margarel Lock, ENCOUNTERS WITH THE AGING
Ann McElroy and Patricia Townsend, MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY IN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

2 short papers, 1 mid-term exam, 1 term paper.

Unless preregistered students attend the first class meeting or communicate directly with the instructor prior to the first class, they will be dropped from the class list. NOTE: Students must still submit a completed Drop/Add form to the Registrar's Office.

COURSE FORMAT: Lecture/Discussion

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD    Credit: 1    Gen Ed Area Dept: SBS ANTH    Grading Mode: Graded   

Prerequisites: NONE Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-18-2003

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