INTRODUCTION TO MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY

 

Anthropology 275

Syllabus, Fall 2004

 

 

Instructor:  Dr. Ann McElroy

Phone:  645-2414, extension 140

e-mail:  mcelroy@buffalo.edu

office hours:  Wed. 3-5, or by appointment

office:  376 Spaulding, Bldg 4, Ellicott Complex                                          

 

COURSE DESCRIPTION

 

Anthropology 275 introduces the field of medical anthropology to undergraduates.  The primary objective of the course is to think about health problems outside the framework of standard biomedical concepts, that is as ecological, evolutionary, and cultural systems rather than as merely products of disease dynamics.  A second objective is to compare various societies in terms of their patterns of health and disease, their ecological systems, and their beliefs about (and management of) illness, and to think about how changes in health care must incorporate local concepts of health and disease.  Thirdly, this course emphasizes the value of anthropological research methods in the study of health, including observational, qualitative, and ethnographic approaches.


 

BOOKS - available at the University Bookstore; all required.

 

1.  McElroy, Ann, and Patricia K. Townsend, Medical Anthropology in Ecological Perspective, 4th edition, Westview Press, 2004; do not use 3rd (1996) edition.  

2.  Dettwyler, Katherine, Dancing Skeletons: Life and Death in West Africa. Waveland, 1994.

3.  Luecke, Richard, A New Dawn in Guatemala: Toward a Worldwide Health Vision.  Waveland Press, 1993.

 

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

 

1.  Four short take-home papers (3-4 pp.) on course material, worth 10 to 20% of grade; questions will be distributed. Due dates for the papers are: Sept. 21, Oct. 12, Nov. 9, and Dec. 2.

2.  One final exam, in essay format, worth 30% of the grade. A study guide and sample questions for the final exam will be distributed through the semester.

 

COURSE STRUCTURE

 

Unit One  -- Methods and Perspectives in Medical Anthropology-- 

chapters 1 and 2 in McElroy/ Townsend, and all of Dettwyler’s Dancing Skeletons  -- take home paper, 10% of grade, plus unit one study guide given out

 

Unit Two – Human Adaptation, Demography and Disease Patterns—

chapters 3, 4, and 5 in McElroy/ Townsend--  take home paper, 20% of grade, plus unit two study guide given out

 

Unit Three – Stress and Coping  - 

chapters 6, 7, and 8, of McElroy/ Townsend and Parts 1 and 2 of Luecke, A New Dawn – take home paper, 20%,  plus unit three study guide given out

 

Unit Four – Applied Medical Anthropology –

chapters 9 and 10 of McElroy/ Townsend, and Part 3 of Luecke – take home paper, 20%, plus unit four study guide given out

    

Final Exam – sit down closed-book essay, worth 30% of grade.  Students will answer four questions, one from each unit.  Exam will be given the last week of classes, on Dec. 7 and 9.

 

POLICY ON ABSENCES AND LATE PAPERS

 

The best strategy for success in this course is regular attendance. If you register for this class, you agree to be in class 11:00 to 12:20 on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  You will undercut your own success in the course if you schedule medical and dental appointments, car repairs, volunteer work, out-of-town trips, or other activities at this time.  If you miss class due to illness, ask a T.A. or the instructor for help in catching up. 

 

Due dates for papers are listed in this syllabus.  Put these dates on your calendar. You must hand in your paper at the beginning of class on the due date to get full credit.  Papers sent by e-mail will not be accepted.  Late papers will have points taken off, but it is better to hand in a paper late than not at all.

 

The only legitimate excuse for missing an exam or submitting a paper late is illness or injury of yourself or a family member for whom you are responsible or a death in the family.  The reason for a late paper must be documented medically and signed by a doctor, nurse, dentist, or other responsible party (not your roommate). 

 

INCOMPLETES

 

Incompletes are not normally given in this class.  Plan to finish your assignments on time and to attend the final exam.  Students who have missed a large portion of classes and exams due to serious illness or injury may request an incomplete, which is normally made up by auditing the class the following year (fall semester only) and doing all assigned work.

 

LOST ASSIGNMENTS

 

Assignments submitted outside of class can get lost, or can be turned in at the wrong office, so the policy is that all work must be personally handed to the instructor or to the teaching assistant in class, on or before the due date, and checked off with your signature on a class roster.

 

VIDEOS, SLIDES, OVERHEADS, AND OTHER TEACHING MATERIALS

 

Instruction in this class is augmented with a variety of audiovisual materials.  Students are responsible for taking notes on these materials and incorporating them into papers and exam answers.  If you miss a film due to illness or late registration, the T.A. can help you schedule a viewing of most materials with other students.

 

SEMESTER SCHEDULE AND READING ASSIGNMENTS 

 

UNIT ONE:  Methods and Perspectives in Medical Anthropology

 

Aug. 31            Introduction.  Read introduction and start chapter 1 of text (McElroy/Townsend)

Sept. 2             Medical ecology.  Finish chapt. 1, text

Sept. 7             Methods in medical anthropology.   Start chapt. 2, text;  Read chapt. 1-4 of Dettwyler (pp. 1-47)

                        slides on rigorous environments;  unit one study guide distributed 

Sept. 9             Ethnography and applied medical anthropology.  Continue chapt. 2, text; read chapt. 5, 6, 7 of Dettwyler (pp. 49-89)

 film on Netsilik Inuit

Sept. 14           Ecology and health.  Complete chapt. 2, text;  Read chapt. 8-14 of Dettwyler (pp. 91-164)

film: Quest for the Killers:  the Three Valleys of St. Lucia

Take-home questions given out.

Sept. 16           No class, Rosh Hashanah

                                   

 

Sept. 21           FIRST TAKE-HOME PAPER DUE at beginning of class. No e-mailed papers.

 

UNIT TWO:  Human Adaptation, Demography and Disease Patterns

 

Sept. 21           Evolution and disease.  Begin chapt. 3, text.

Sept. 23           Darwinian evolution and health.   Finish chapt. 3, text.

                        film:  The Brain Eater            Unit two study guide distributed.

Sept. 28           Human demography.   Begin chapt. 4, text

Sept. 30           Disease change in cultural evolution.    Continue chapt. 4, text.

                        film:  The Poisoned Dream – The Love Canal Nightmare. 

Oct. 5              Subsistence and nutrition.  Begin chapt. 5, text

                        film:  A Fistful of Rice

Oct. 7              Maternal and child nutrition.  Finish chapt. 5, text

film: Malnutrition in a Third World Community 

Take-home questions given out.

                       

Oct. 12            SECOND  TAKE-HOME PAPER DUE at beginning of class.  No e-mailed papers    

 

UNIT THREE:  Stress and Coping

 

Oct. 12            Evolution of human reproduction.  Begin chapt. 6, text. 

slides showing evolution of maternal pelvis, neonatal head size

 

Oct. 14            Environmental and cultural factors affecting pregnancy.  Finish chapt. 6

                        film:  We Know How to Do These Things: Birth in a Newar Village

                        Unit three study guide given out.

Oct. 19            Stress and disease.   Begin chapt. 7, text;   begin Luecke, chapts. 1-3.

Oct. 21            Stress and cultural change.  Continue chapt 7, text;  read Luecke, chapts. 4-6.

                        film:  Ishi in Two Worlds

Oct. 26            Culture contact and stress.  Finish chapt. 7, begin chapt 8, text.

                        slides on health effects of contact and modernization in the arctic

Oct 28             Migration and health change.  Continue chapt. 8, text. 

                        Film:  Becoming American.

Nov. 2             Medical Pluralism in the face of AIDS.  Finish chapt 8.

Nov. 4             Health Care Change.  Read Luecke, chapts. 7-9    

                        Film:  Healers of Ghana

                        Take-home questions given out.

 

NOVEMBER 9:  THIRD TAKE-HOME PAPER DUE at beginning of class. No e-mailed papers.

 

UNIT FOUR:  Applied Medical Anthropology

 

Nov. 9             Modernization, development, and health care. Begin chapt. 9, text; chapts. 10-12 of Leucke

Nov. 11           Health care disparities.  Continue chapt. 9, text;  read chapts. 13-15 of Luecke

                        film on health problems in Third World countries.  Unit 4 study guide distributed.

Nov. 16           Anthropological research on HIV/AIDS.  Finish chapter 9, text.

Nov. 18           An Anthropology of Trouble. Begin chapt. 10, text.  Read Luecke, chap. 16-18.      

Nov. 23           Anthropological roles in a time of terrorism and violence.  Continue chapt. 10, text.  Read chapts. 19-20 of Luecke.

                        Film:  The Talking Skull:  Forensic Anthropology

                        Take-home questions given out.

Nov. 25           NO CLASS  - Thanksgiving

Nov. 30           Applied Medical Anthropology.  Finish chapt. 10, text

                        Film: Anthropologists at Work:  Careers Making a Difference

 

DECEMBER 2:  FOURTH TAKE-HOME PAPER DUE at beginning of class.  No e-mails.

 

Dec. 2              21st Century Medical Anthropology – Issues and Applications

                        Final exam review.  Course evaluation.

Dec. 7              Final exam Part I, essay questions on Units One and Two

Dec. 9              Final exam Part II, essay questions on Units Three and Four