From Magic Mushrooms to Big Pharma: Anthropology of Drugs

Catalog description

This course considers the social, political, and medical issues associated with illegal and pharmaceutical drugs. Some of the topics we consider are debates over the commercialization and criminalization of hallucinogenic plants such as marijuana, the politics of antiretroviral distribution, the ethics of medical and ethnic tourism, the legacies of colonialism and botanical migrations, "biopiracy" and indigenous knowledge, and critiques of modern food production, including the "locavore movement" and opposition to genetically modified foods. Through it all, we consider how the ways people talk and write about these issues affect concrete realities in daily life. Enrollment limited to 20 juniors and seniors.