The student will be able to:

1. Describe the history of the field of medical anthropology and how it is organized today, including career paths.
2. Compare and contrast theories and methods utilized by researchers and practitioners within the field of medical anthropology.
3. Recognize the role of culture, biology, and ecology in the origins and social construction of illness or disease and in the culture specific production of health.
4. Describe symptoms, diagnosis, and therapies of different medical systems across cultures.
5. Distinguish between the training, and contrast the authority, of healing professionals in biomedical and other non-Western medical systems.
6. Evaluate the impact of globalization on health, disease, healing, and health systems.
7. Identify the role culture plays in the response of health systems to infectious diseases and global pandemics.
8. Recognize the impact of the environment and climate change on health.
9. Evaluate the role of applied medical anthropology in national and international health development programs and the development of public health policy.
10. Develop intercultural sensitivity and skills that promote cultural competency in a healthcare setting.

1. Introduction to medical anthropology
   1. Medical anthropology as a subfield in a four-field anthropological approach
   2. The historical development of medical anthropology
   3. Medical anthropology today: an applied approach
2. Theory and methods in medical anthropology
   1. Sociocultural, biocultural, and ecological theories
   2. Introduction to ethnographic fieldwork theory and methods, including the analysis and interpretation of data
3. Role of culture, biology, and ecology on concepts of health, illness, and healing
   1. The concept of culture
   2. Evolutionary and ecological perspectives on disease
      1. Human biological variation
      2. Changing indicators of health from foraging societies to industrialized societies
      3. Models of ecology, culture, and health
   3. Social construction of disease and illness categories
      1. Perceptions of internal and external body
      2. Beliefs concerning mutilation of the body
      3. The social production of health and treatment
      4. Culture-bound syndromes
   4. The diversity of responses to infectious disease and global pandemics
4. Medical systems across cultures
   1. Power and organization in medical systems across cultures
      1. Resource control and decision-making
   2. Health disparities and inequality
5. Healing roles across cultures
   1. Characteristics, authority, and training of healers
   2. Shamanism in a cross-cultural perspective
6. Health and the environment
   1. Medical ecologies
   2. Infectious diseases and pandemics in a globalized world
   3. Health and climate change
7. Applied medical anthropology
   1. Contributions in formulation of public policy
   2. Work of applied specialists to world health problems and health inequities resulting from globalization
8. Cultural competency in health care
   1. Cultural and linguistic barriers resulting in health disparities
   2. Cultural competency history and policy
   3. Practice of cultural competency skills

Not applicable.

In-class objective examinations, including multiple-choice, completion, matching items, and true/false
In-class and out-of-class writing assignments, including essays and short papers
Oral presentations and/or papers presenting individual or group research or fieldwork
Assessment of participation in class discussions and exercises

Classroom lectures and discussion using language of anthropology
All-class and small group discussions
Instructor-guided interpretation and analysis
Collaborative learning and small group exercises
Individual or group presentations of major projects followed by in-class discussion and evaluation

Wiley, Andrea S., and John Allen. Medical Anthropology: A Biocultural Approach, 4th ed.. 2020.

Singer, M., H. Baer, D. Long, and A. Pavlotski. Introducing Medical Anthropology: A Discipline in Action, 3rd ed.. 2019.

1. Reading assigned texts, articles, or handouts, and studying class notes.
2. Doing various homework, including writing reading response essays and short papers.
3. Preparing an oral presentation or written research paper based on individual or group research or fieldwork.
4. Conducting research based on secondary sources.
5. Conducting ethnographic fieldwork in a local setting.