Medical Anthropology In Global Perspective

Timetable

Collegium Historicum, ul. Uniwesytetu Poznanskiego 7 (Campus Morasko), room 2.20

Tuesday 12.30-14.00

The class starts on 8 October 2024

Module aim (aims)

Providing knowledge about subject and state of the art of medical anthropology
Providing knowledge about the main theoretical and methodological orientations in medical anthropology
Discussing terminology and concepts used in medical anthropology, and their value for analysis and interpretation
Developing ability of critical analysis and interpretation of biomedicine and processes of medicalization
Discussing practical applications of medical anthropology
Preparing for fieldwork in medical anthropology

Pre-requisites in terms of knowledge, skills and social competences (where relevant)

Advanced level of English language (ability to read, write, present and discuss)

Syllabus

Medical anthropology and global health - theories, discourses, approaches

The body – cultural definitions (size, shape, scarifications, clothing, boundaries, functioning, disability, artificial body)

Methodology of research on health, illness and curing

Illness and curing – medical pluralism, diagnosis,

Patient-doctor relations

Disease and illness

Health and lifestyle – healthism, daily practices, sport

Anthropology of food

Access to health care systems, medical tourism

Health and migration

Reading list

Bartoszko A., Penkala-Gawęcka D. (2011), ‘Medical anthropology in Poland’, Cargo 1-2: 128-135
Castaneda, H. (2009), Illegality as risk factor: A survey of unauthorized migrant patients in a Berlin clinic, Social Science & Medicine 68: 1552–1560.
Edmonds, A. (2007). ‘The poor have the right to be beautiful’: cosmetic surgery in neoliberal Brazil, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (N.S.) 13, 363-381
Helman C. (2001). Culture, Health and Illness. 4 ed. London: Arnold.
Kilshaw, S. (2007) 'Toxic Emissions: The Role of Semen in GWS Narratives', Anthropology & Medicine, 14: 3, 251-258.
Kleinman A, P. Benson (2006). „Anthropology in the Clinic: The Problem of Cultural Competency and How to Fix It.“ Plos Medicine 3(10): 1673-1676.
Kramer, A.M. (2010), Defending Biomedical Authority and Regulating the Womb as Social Space: Prenatal Testing in the Polish Press, European Journal of Women's Studies 17: 43-59.
Petryna A. (2009) When Experiments Travel: Clinical Trials and the Global Search for Human Subjects, Princeton: Princeton University Press.