An Anthropological and Transformational Approach to Alternative and Complementary Medicine

Catalog description

This introductory course will introduce integrative medicine, a type of medical therapy and care that combines conventional medical treatment with complementary and alternative therapies through the lens of medical anthropology. Medical pluralism refers to how patients and caregivers use multiple treatments in a pluralistic medical landscape where there is a co-existence of multiple medical systems. Integrative medicine seeks to integrate complementary and alternative medicine in a pluralistic landscape of practice. Students will also learn about diverse global ethnomedical systems. The course will familiarize students with the scientific study of complementary and alternative medicine in relation to conventional biomedicine, following anthropology's comparative and holistic approach, using narrative methods. Meets Doing Social Science and Designated Written Communication requirements. P: Understanding Social Science course, Contemporary Composition course.