[ Wesleyan Home Page ] [ WesMaps Home Page ] [ WesMaps Archive ] [ Course Search ] [ Course Search by CID ]
Academic Year 2003/2004

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.

COURSE FORMAT: Lecture/Discussion

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

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

Prerequisites: ANTH101 OR SOC151 OR BIOL103 OR BIOL190 OR CHEM117 OR CHEM160 Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-19-2004

Contact wesmaps@wesleyan.edu to submit comments or suggestions. Please include a url, course title, faculty name or other page reference in your email

Copyright Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, 06459