Syllabus and Reading List

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ANTH 2136: World Perspectives on Health
FALL 2019
M/W 10:30-12:20
AC 314



"The poorest parts of the world are by and large the places in which one can best view the worst of medicine and not because doctors in these countries have different ideas about what constitutes modern medicine. It's the system and its limitations that are to blame." Paul Farmer
"Anywhere you have extreme poverty and no national health insurance, no promise of health care regardless of social standing, that's where you see the sharp limitations of market-based health care." Paul Farmer


An Exploration of Medical Anthropology

Fall 2019

M/W 10:30-12:20
Professor Laurie Greene

Office Hours: t/th12:30-1:130 
                       m/w 12:30-1:30 
                       or by appointment

 Contact Information:
Office: AC-224g (Atlantic City Campus)
Campus phone: 609.761.1251 (no messages please)
Cell phone: 609.214.6596 (emergencies only)
Email: laurie.greene@stockton.edu (please put "Anth 2136" in subject line)

This semester we will be exploring the burgeoning field of medical anthropology. Medical anthropology is a new discipline which starts with two insights; 

  • first, that cultural premises which are often unconscious or difficult to recognize shape the way that we understand health and healing practices (illness and health are an “imposition of human meanings on naturally occurring processes”), 
  • and second, that disease patterns, social norms, and socio-economic arrangements are intrinsically related (social factors determine disease patterns). 
It is part and parcel of medical anthropology that it is applied. Its concerns are not just for an understanding of the concepts and occurrences of health and illness cross culturally, but also in critical efforts that aim to make health and wellbeing available to everyone, not just those who hold power.

In order to understand these concepts, we will be looking at the juxtaposition of Western “traditional” medicine and those medical practices which are considered “alternative” or “complementary”. We will explore the effects of globalization on the definition of mental health and mental illness and see how Western, mainly American mental illness is spreading across the globe. We will look at how natural processes are transformed into pathologies as we explore birth, aging and death across cultures and look at the role of the medical anthropologist as activists through a community engagement project focusing on HIV/AIDS ethnographies in our community.

ETHNOGRAPHIC FIELDWORK: "HIV/AIDS in the Era of Treatment"

"We have to design a health delivery system by actually talking to people and asking, 'What would make this service better for you?' As soon as you start asking, you get a flood of answers." Paul Farmer

"Anthropology, Activism and Inequality"--Anthropology in general, and medical anthropology in particular has an activist agenda. Anthropologists have an ethical obligation to those who they study and in medical anthropology this has been translated to "health equity"-the rights of all individuals everywhere to live healthy and fulfilling lives free from violence, be it physical or "structural". The greatest proponent of this position has been medical anthropologist/doctor Paul Farmer. In his ground-breaking works (Infectious Inequalities, Pathologies of Power, AIDS and Accusation), Farmer describes illness as a disease of poverty, and implements models for alleviating disease and suffering in the poorest places in the world.

Community Engagement:
Our anthropological experiences this semester will focus on "infectious inequalities" within our communities by understanding the "cultural underpinnings" surrounding health and wellbeing inequality in our community. This ethnographic "fieldwork" will aim to tell the "story" of those who live with HIV/AIDS and those who provide services and contribute to finding "local solutions". This fieldwork will work to collect ethnographic interviews within the LGBTQ community locally and with the institutions which currently provide them services. Through an analysis of these ethnographic interviews we will outline challenges, needs and provide potential solutions to limited access to adequate healthcare for LGBTQ youth.

Texts:
(1) Exploring Medical Anthropology (Joralemon)-prentice hall (3rd edition)
(2) Wise before Their Time (Richardson and Bolle 2017)-Glenmore Press
(3) The Anthropology of AIDS: A global perspective (Patricia Whelehan 2009) -University Press of Florida
(4) *Anthropology of Alternative Medicine (Ross)-Bloomsbury Academic-excerpts
         *This will not be a reading, but a summary discussion
(5) *Crazy Like Us (Ethan Watters) -Simon & Schutster (group assignments)
(6) *LGBTQ Health Issues, Excerpts- These will be useful for your ethnographic research and interviewing
                Overview of Issues & Research
                 Healthcare Preferences of LGBTQ Youth
                 Family Acceptance for LGBTQ Youth
                 Emory Google Survey
                 Beyond Family Rejection
*You do not have to purchase these texts, however, you may be required to read and analyze excerpts from these books as part of group work and presentations.

Syllabus and Reading List 
Podcast pre-term: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/this-podcast-will-kill-you/e/52990678 
·      Week 1: September 4“What’s so Cultural About Disease?”
o   Readings: Joraleson, Exploring Medical Anthropology, Chapter 1
HOME VIEWING: Positive Youth (Prime video---sorry...looking for another)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0095WK5L8/ref=atv_dl_rdr?autoplay=1 
·      Week 2: September 9-11, “Healers and Healing Professions”
o   Readings: Whelehan, The Anthropology of AIDS, Chapter 1
PRESENTATION: Rich Gulite, PRIDE division, AtlanticCare (9/11)
·      Week 3: September 16-18, “Anthropological Methods in the Study of 
              Sickness and Healing”
      o   Readings: Joraleson, Exploring Medical Anthropology, Chapters 2 and Richardson and Bolle, Wise Before Their Time Chapters 1
o   Readings: Ross, The Anthropology of Alternative Medicine, excerpts
PRESENTATION: Debbie Rosman, MANNA by the Shore(9/18)
PRESENTATION: Erin O'Hanlen, Service Learning (9/18)

 DUE: "The Anthropological Perspective": What will it bring to the study of AIDS/HIV in our community." (September 18)
  • Week 4: September 23-25: Epidemics and Plagues
    • Readings: Joraleson, Exploring Medical Anthropology, Chapter 3
    • Readings: Whelehan, The Anthropology of AIDS, Chapter 2
              PRESENTATION: Christina Cummings, The Nest (9/25)
  • Week 5: September 30-October 2, Biomedical Aspects of HIV/AIDS
    • Readings: Joraleson, Exploring Medical Anthropology, Chapter 4
    • Readings: Whelehan, The Anthropology of AIDS, Chapter 3
  • Week 6: October 7-9, Perspectives on Global Epidemics
    • Readings: Joraleson, Exploring Medical Anthropology, Chapter 5
              PRESENTATION: Khoa Bui', SJAA  (10/2)
      
    DUE: "Epidemics and Plagues: Cultural definitions of illness's that threaten us" (October 16th)
    • Week 7: October 16-18, Ethnography of HIV/AIDS
      • Readings: Richardson and Bolle, Wise Before Their Time Chapters 2
      • Readings: Whelehan, The Anthropology of AIDS, Chapter 4
    • Week 8: October 21-23, “Healers and Healing Professions”
      • Readings: Joraleson, Exploring Medical Anthropology, Chapter 6
                  PRESENTATION: Mortimer Spreng, AIDS and New York Avenue  (9/16)

    DUE: Ethnographic Reports #1 (November 6) Being Diagnosed with HIV/AIDS
    • Week 9: October 28 Sex and AIDS
      • Readings: Whelehan, The Anthropology of AIDS, Chapter 5
      • Readings: Richardson and Bolle, Wise Before Their Time, Chapters 3-5
    • Week 10: November 4-6 Drugs and AIDS
      • Readings: Whelehan, The Anthropology of AIDS, Chapter 6

    No Class October 30, Preceptorial Advising

         DUE: Ethnographic Reports #2 (November 13th) Learning to Live with HIV/AIDS


    •     Week 11: November 11-13, “Gender and AIDS-Women with HIV
      •      Readings: Whelehan, The Anthropology of AIDS, Chapter 7

    • DUE: Ethnographic Reports #3, (November 20) Relationships:Partners, Parents, Children and Friends
    •     Week 13: November 25-27: Socio-psychological Aspects of AIDS/Illness
      •     Readings: Whelehan, The Anthropology of AIDS, Chapter 9
      •     Readings: Watters, Crazy Like Us Excerpts (groups to be assigned
      • Etnographis Reports: group presentations November 27

    •     Week 14: December 2-4 Cultural Perspectives on Health and Illness
      •     Readings: Whelehan, The Anthropology of AIDS, Chapter 10
               WORLD AIDS DAY DECEMBER 2

              DUE: Final Ethnographies due by December 16th (graduating seniors, December 14th)               Reflections on Living with AIDS/HIV

    Grading**:
    1. 2 Essays -40 points (20 points each)
    2. Group Presentations -30 points
    3. Ethnography Papers-60 points
    4. Class Preparation (readings and discussion) -20 points
    **Total of 150 points, extra credit points available only as assigned over the course of the semester. Grading scale ranking as follows:
    145 points A+
    140 points A
    135 points A-
    130 points B+
    125 points B
    120 points B-
    115 points C+
    110 points C
    105 points C-
    100 points D+
    95 points D
    90 points D-
    85 points F


    Comments

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