This course is a survey introduction to advanced topics in the social scientific and humanistic study of health and medicine as it relates to culture. It is a discussion-based course focusing on theoretical and methodological questions in medical anthropology research and applied work in the health field. We begin by addressing how to employ ethnographic research to illuminate critical concerns about the social, political, economic, environmental, and historical context of embodiment, health, disease, illness experience, and therapeutic efficacy. Throughout this course, students will be exploring a selection of the wide range of subject matter and geographic regions that encompass medical anthropology. We will begin with the cultural conventions of biomedicine situated in the West and then incorporate some of the healing practices and medical afflictions around the world studied by medical anthropologists. Overall, the thematic topics include: theories of disease causation and healing efficacy; medicalization and the scientific gaze; production of medical knowledge; mental health; public health discourse and risk; the internationalization of pharmaceutical research; the possibilities and perils of new medical technologies; emergent forms of everyday health practices; the ethics of medical tourism; and health inequities. The objective is to provide an overview of theoretical and applied social scientific approaches to the study of culture, health, and medicine.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:

Upon Successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. Demonstrate a critical appreciation of the key concepts and approaches in medical anthropology.
   
2. Demonstrate and apply the importance of culture in health related work.
   
3. Engage in health work and understand the likely social, cultural, political and economic factors influencing health, illness and sickness.
   
4. Reflect critically on their own experiences of health, illness and sickness in the light of the concepts and methods introduced in this course.