ANTH 311 - Medicine, Body and Culture

4 credit(s)
This course is an introduction to critical areas of inquiry in medical anthropology. By examining the socio-cultural dimensions of sickness and healing cross-culturally, we will explore how anthropologists have approached historical and contemporary problems in the global field of medicine. While our course trajectory will lead us to treat Western biomedicine as only one among many systems of meaning and authority, we will also spend some time deconstructing the often unspoken assumptions that govern this field, thereby complicating the notion that the latter is somehow insulated from the reach of culture. We will also focus on issues of power, inequality, and gender and health.

Core Requirement(s): Counts toward core requirements: Civic Engagement (2010-17 catalogs); International Perspectives, Diverse Perspectives, and Social Systems and Human Behavior.Prerequisite(s): ANTH 101, GSS 201, SOC-101, ANTH 140, SOC-217 or PH 101.