Introduction to Medical Anthropology

General

Prefix

ANTH

Course Number

175

Course Level

Undergraduate

Department/Unit(s)

Anthropology

College/School

College of Liberal Arts

Description

Anthropological approaches to health, illness, sickness and disease. Biocultural aspects of illness and health across cultures and through time. Critical examination of disparities in contemporary health and healthcare.

Credits

Credit Hours

Min

Max

Repeatable

Goals and Diversity

MN Goal Course

Yes

MN Goal Designation(s)

05, 08

Cultural Diversity

Learning Outcomes

Outcome

Examine diverse human societies by focusing on cultural behaviors related to health, illness and disease.

Outcome

Provide critical analysis of contemporary US and global systems of health inequality.

Outcome

Contextualize their own experience (personally and/or in their own cultural community) with health, healing, disease, and illness.

Outcome

Apply and critique a variety of cultural perspectives on health and disease.

Outcome

Examine the relationships of health issues in their own societies to those of people and cultures elsewhere in the world.

Outcome

Describe similarities and differences in health, healing, disease, and illness across cultures with a focus on comparing different kinds of societies.

Outcome

Analyze specific health-related issues that occur globally.

Outcome

Reflect on and articulate how an anthropological perspective on global health issues helps them understand and develop their individual roles and responsibilities in a global society.

Course Outline

Content #1: 10% Intro. to Medical Anthropology including research methods and concept of human biocultural diversity. Content #2 10%: Definitions, comparative approaches, and analytical frameworks of key concepts of health/disease/ sickness/illness; Meaning and of illness use of illness narratives. Content #3 10%: Comparative study of healers/healing across cultures. Content #4 20%: Anthropological study of health and illness through the lifespan, including reproduction, birth, childhood, adulthood, and aging. Content #5 10%: Relationship of food/nutrition to health and disease through time and across contemporary cultures. Content #6 10%: Stress, trauma, and mental illness from a comparative cross-cultural perspective. Content #7 15%: Biocultural study of infectious disease. Infectious disease through time. Anthropological approaches historic and contemporary epidemics and pandemics. Content #8 15%: Intro. to inequality and structural violence; contribution of these to health disparities in diverse cultural settings