AN2104:04
Medical Anthropology
Townsville, Cairns
HECS Band 1
10 integrated learning sessions. Online Semester 2.
Staff: Dr R Bastin.
Using ecological, epidemiological, historical and structural-functionalist perspectives, this subject surveys the variety of medical systems human groups have developed through time to maintain the health of individuals. These perspectives are then contrasted with more current approaches to medical anthropology, including critical medical anthropology, the anthropology of the body, the anthropology of emotion and other poststructuralist approaches to health systems. This subject focuses strongly on regional health issues, drawing upon ethnographic examples situated in Indigenous Australia, the Pacific and Southeast Asia. The subject will be offered primarily online, with regular integrated learning sessions in which theoretical and ethnographic content is problematised through practical exercises.
Learning Objectives:
- locate the development of the Western biomedical system and ethnomedical systems within a broader ecological framework in which health systems are seen to be measures of societies’ adaptation to their environments;
- extend this ecological/functional perspective to a more meaningful conceptual framework which takes into account cultural differences between human groups;
- understand the variation in disease patterns and social responses to them, between human groups by reference to the cultural basis of the human condition;
- apply these perspectives to current issues in health across cultures, with particular reference to Aboriginal, Torres Strait Island and Papua New Guinea peoples;
- to enable the acquisition of the following generic skills: the ability to think critically, to analyse and evaluate claims, evidence and arguments; the ability to reason and deploy evidence clearly and logically; the ability to adapt knowledge to new situations; the ability to communicate effectively with a culturally diverse range of audiences; the ability to write logically, clearly and creatively; the ability to operate in an environment that is linguistically, culturally and socially diverse; the ability to adapt to an unfamiliar culture; the ability to access and employ online technologies effectively; the ability to use a variety of media and methods to retrieve, analyse, evaluate, organise and present information.
Assessment by two essays of not more than 2500 words (25% each); five assignments comprising multiple choice quizzes, short answer assignments and Internet exercises where appropriate (50%).