Introduction to Medical Anthropology

Ant 295-02

Professor:  Maria Tapias (tapias@grinnell.edu)         Lecture:  Tues. 10-11:50

                  Goodnow Hall 203                                                  Thurs. 10-10:50

                  Phone:  269-3137                                                     Steiner 107  

Office Hours:  MW 4-5 and Th 11-1 and 2-4.  During office hours, please feel free to stop by without an appointment.  If you don’t want to have to wait during office hours however, please email me and we’ll set up a definite time to meet.

Course Description:  Medical anthropology is the fascinating field of anthropology that examines health, illness and healing across cultures.  In this course we will examine selected aspects of the study of health beliefs and behaviors in their social and cultural contexts.  Our bodies are often taken for granted as universal entities, but our readings will show that how we experience and interpret our bodies, health and illness is profoundly shaped by culture. 

Required Texts:

Cecil Helman  2000 Culture, Health and Illness Butterworth-Heinemann

Robert Murphy  1990  The Body Silent  Norton Books

Libbet Crandon-Malamud  From the Fat of Our Souls  U California Press

A. Fadiman 1997 The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down Farrar, Straus & Giroux

R.Rapp  2000 Testing Women, Testing the Fetus  Routledge Press

J. Justice  1986  Policies, Plans, & People  U California Press

Reserve Readings:  Two copies of the reserved readings will be in the library and one copy will be available in the Anthropology reading room, Third Floor, Goodnow Hall.

Course Organization and Requirements:

Organization

The class will be structured as a seminar.  I will occasionally lecture or lead a group activity but for the most part the class will rely heavily on active discussion of the articles, themes and books that we cover.  I have very high expectations of your performance and active participation in class.  The reading load is heavy so please make every effort to keep up with the readings and come willing to participate and engage with the issues!!

A note on discussions:  Discussions provide a forum for a collective reflection of the texts.  As we read the texts we will often engage with them and interpret them along our own experiences and personal backgrounds.  The reading one makes of a text will naturally vary across the class and that is what makes a discussion exciting!  Please come prepared to share your experiences and respect the experiences and readings of others.  You are here not only to learn from the professor and the readings but also from each other.  Your failure to participate is a loss to all of us!

I would like to encourage students with documented disabilities, including non-visible disabilities such as chronic diseases, learning disabilities, head injury, attention deficit/hyperactive disorder, psychiatric disabilities, to discuss with me, after class or during my office hours, appropriate accommodations.  You will need to provide documentation of your disability to the Associate Dean and Director of Academic Advising, Joyce Stern, located in the lower level of the Forum (x3702)

Requirements

1.  Class attendance and participation.  (10%)  You are expected to attend all classes and regularly participate in class.  Active participation means keeping up to date on the readings, participating in discussions or debates, as well as contributing to group work.  I will often ask for volunteers to do web searches, bring in examples that reflect the issues raised in the readings or help lead discussions.  I will take attendance at every class.  Each student is allowed 2 absences without suffering penalty.  Missing more than 2 classes will be reflected in a significant decrease in the participation grade.  Any assignment that is missed because of an UNEXCUSED absence will receive a zero.  Excused absences will still count towards your two, but you will be allowed to make up the assignments.  An excused absence is given only in the case of medical emergencies or a death in the family.  Notice must be provided through academic affairs.  You are responsible for viewing missed films and/or obtaining missed notes from one of your peers. 

2.     “Auto-ethnography”.  Illness experience paper and re-evaluation of the paper  (20%)  Due:  Jan 24 and  April 18^th.

3.     In class Mid-term exam.  March 12  (20%)

4.     Short reaction papers. (20%)  You will write two reaction papers during the semester.  These short papers are an opportunity for you to critically engage with readings that particularly excite you or make you think of something in a new way (either one of the books, except for Helman or a set of articles for a particular theme).  The paper may be written in standard format or if you wish you can write the paper in the form of a letter to the author or to someone else.  These short 2-3 page papers will give you an opportunity to informally reflect upon some of the themes of the course.  Papers will be graded √- √  or √+

5.     Final proposal and project (5% and 25% respectively).  You will write one final research paper for this class.  A brief 1-2 page proposal with a bibliography of the books or articles you intend to read is due on Feb 26^th , the final paper will be due on May 15^th.    You can set up an appointment with me to discuss possible research paper topics if you wish.

Reading Schedule