Course Syllabus
Athabasca University
Anthropology (ANTH) 499
Medical Anthropology (Revision 1)
Revision 1 closed, replaced by current version.
Delivery mode: Individualized study with
video component* or grouped study.
*Overseas students, please contact the University Library before registering in a course that has an audio/visual component.
Credits: 3 - Social Science.
Prerequisite: ANTH 275 and a minimum of three senior-level credits in anthropology are recommended.
Centre: Centre for Work and Community Studies
ANTH 499 has a Challenge for Credit option.
Overview
ANTH 499 introduces students to the cultural basis of illness and curing. The course is concerned not only with how non-Western societies perceive and treat illness in populations without immediate access to major medical facilities, but also with how such knowledge of non-Western practices can inform the management of our own health problems. The course addresses the meaning of sickness, the nature of relationships between patients and healers, the morality of illness, the effects of culture on emotional states, and the role of bio-environmental data in assessing health care needs.
Outline
The course consists of the following seven units.
Unit 1: Introduction to the Field of Medical Anthropology
Unit 2: The Role of Culture in Medical Systems
Unit 3: Ancient Medical Systems
Unit 4: The Healer and the Diagnostic Process
Unit 5: The Patient and Culturally Constructed Emotional States
Unit 6: Cultural Perspectives on Menstruation
Unit 7: Native American Healing in a Plural Medical Context
Evaluation
To receive credit for ANTH 499, you must achieve a minimum grade of at least a “D” (50 percent) on the overall course work. However, you must achieve a minimum grade of at least 60 percent on the final research paper. The weighting of the composite grade is as follows:
| Telephone quiz | Essay | Research Paper | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20% | 35% | 45% | 100% |
To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University's online Calendar.
Course Materials
Textbooks
Martin, Emily. 1992 (1987). The Woman in the Body: A Cultural Analysis of Reproduction. Boston: Beacon Press.
Ohnuki-Tierney, Emiko. 1986. Illness and Culture in Contemporary Japan. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Payer, Lynn. Medicine and Culture: Varieties of Treatment in the United States, England, West Germany, and France. New York: Penguin Books.
Young, David, Grant Ingram, and Lise Swartz. Cry of the Eagle: Encounters with a Cree Healer. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Other materials
The course materials also include an Athabasca University-produced student manual, study guide, and a reader.
Special Course Features
Athabasca University Library has copies of the following videotapes that students are expected to view as part of this course.
Cowan, Richard. 1978. Eduardo the Healer. University Park, PA: Penn State Audio-Visual Services.
Asch, Timothy, Linda Connor, and Patsy Asch. 1980. Jero Tapakan: Stories from the Life of a Balinese Healer; The Medium is the Masseuse: A Balinese Massage. Watertown, MA: Documentary Educational Resources.
Asch, Timothy, Linda Connor, and Patsy Asch. 1980. A Balinese Trance Seance; Jero on Jero: A Balinese Trance Seance Observed. Watertown, MA: Documentary Educational Resources.
If students do not have access to video equipment or are otherwise unable to view the videotapes, they must complete the book option by reading the following two books which may be obtained from Athabasca University Library.
Connor, Linda, Patsy Asch, and Timothy Asch. 1986. Jero Tapakan: Balinese Healer; An Ethnographic Film Monograph. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Cowan, Richard, Douglas Sharon, and S. Kaye Sharon. 1982. Eduardo el Curandero: The Words of a Peruvian Healer. Richmond, CA: North Atlantic Books.