Introduction to Medical Anthropology

ANTHRO 1821 Subject & Catalog Number

Description

This course introduces students to the foundational topics, theoretical perspectives, and practical applications of medical anthropology. Medical anthropologists examine the role that cultural beliefs and practices, social and economic contexts, and modes of governance play in shaping patterns of health and disease, illness experiences, diverse healing practices, and health outcomes across different communities. Common topics include medical pluralism and diverse healing traditions, moral experience and stigma, illness narratives, structural violence, familial and professional caregiving, chronicity, the phenomenology of pain, mental health and wellbeing, and the political economy of health. Drawing on core ethnographic texts and films, the course will situate these topics, perspectives, and applications within the intellectual history of the field and its current trends. Seeking to link theory to practice, students will also explore the field’s complex relation to biomedicine, serving both as a source of critique of its limitations as well as a contributing discipline to its efforts to prevent suffering and deliver care. It is intended primarily for undergraduate students interested in health, culture, and society.