Health and Healing Across Cultures

Catalog description

A cross-cultural examination of health and healing. Through lecture, discussion of the readings, case studies, and film presentations, students will explore the biological and sociocultural factors that affect health, illness, disease, and healing, both now and in the past. Students will also examine the impact of the healer and supernatural belief systems on the process of healing. In addition to the evaluation of the cultural health aspects of Africans, African-Americans, Hispanics/Latinos, Haitians, and the Hmong, these populations will also be compared to the general American population in terms of overall health and access to health care.