Medical Anthropology

Catalog description

This course provides an introduction to the field of medical anthropology from an ecological, biocultural, and economic perspective. Drawing on readings and ethnographic sources, students will examine how anthropology and the social sciences have addressed issues of health in a global context. Students will begin the semester with an introduction to the study of health in anthropology. After discussing the basic theoretical frameworks, students will consider topics of nutrition, the life cycle, reproduction, and infectious disease. In the final portion of the course, students will focus on the health consequences of stress and culture change. One of the primary aims of this course is to illustrate how medical anthropology can be applied in real world settings, including during outbreak investigations, and in understanding patterns in population health.