HIV/AIDS and anthropology

What to Jot about: observations impressions personal feelings tentative explanations behaviors body language sketches of places words (vocabulary) scents, sounds Students need to make a distinction between what they OBSERVE and how they INTERPRET what they observe (keep them separate---the whats and the whys) How to do it: be flexible, what you planned on taking notes on may be less interesting than what is in front of you be sensitive to people  include informants in jottings/interact frame what you are doing in a positive and non intrusive way  be selective about when to take notes Ethics ensure confidentiality (pseudonym or coding) and omit sensitive information be upfront about what you are doing What to write terse, evocative phrases short quotes or phrases hat seem important (note time on recording) maps and sketches gestures, flavors, shouts, whispers, and all first impressions distinguish between WHAT you saw and tasted and heard ...

THOMAS CSORDAS " the body is not an OBJECT to be studied in relation to culture, but is to be considered as the SUBJECT of culture, or in other words, the existential ground of culture". eliminates the Platonic distinction between MIND & BODY (dualism) MONISM: The body is the place where all understanding happens-culture is interpreted through the body. no distinction between mind and body. an infants growth into a social person happens through gradual experience, by taking in tastes, touching the textures, inhaling the smalls, viewing the sights, and walking the walks of the world into which we are born. We are the sum total of these continuing experiences. SYNESTHESIA: Looking at the senses and healing Ability to experience one sense as another SESELELAME (Anlo)-sense awareness that straddles the supposed divide between cognitive perception, and physical sensation: hearing, tasting, smelling, understanding, obeying, sexual arousal, heartache, passion, inspi...

In 1978 Susan Sontag wrote  Illness as Metaphor , a classic work described by  Newsweek  as "one of the most liberating books of its time." A cancer patient herself when she was writing the book, Sontag shows  how the metaphors and myths surrounding certain illnesses, especially cancer, add greatly to the suffering of patients and often inhibit them from seeking proper treatment. By demystifying the fantasies surrounding cancer, Sontag shows cancer for what it is -- just a disease.  Cancer, she argues, is not a curse, not a punishment, certainly not an embarrassment  and, it is highly curable, if good treatment is followed. "Susan Sontag's  Illness as Metaphor  was the  first to point out the accusatory side of the metaphors of empowerment that seek to enlist the patient's will to resist disease.  It is largely as a result of her work that the how-to health books avoid the blame-ridden term  'cancer personality'  and speak mo...

Cultures define illness and other unexplained "misfortunes" through metaphors. The nature of these metaphors determines how illness will be perceived and treated. How has the United States made sense of HIV/AIDS and how has this impacted the lives of those who have contracted the disease? Consider: (1) the impact of the mechanical and military metaphors (2) the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS (3) the designation of risk groups for HIV Minimum: 5 paragraphs Rubric 100% total  Opening and closing paragraphs introduction (5 points) introductory paragraph with poor structure and introduction of thesis-2 introductory paragraph with adequate structure, but weak thesis-4 introductory paragraph with adequate structure and thesis-6 introductory paragraph with good structure and adequate thesis-8 introductory paragraph with good structure and clear thesis-10 conclusion (5 points) concluding paragraph with poor structure and summary of evidence illustrating thes...

TYPES OF SPIRIT ANIMISM-belief in unique spirit beings which animate the world SYMPATHETIC MAGIC CONTAGIOUS MAGIC ANIMITISM-belief in one force that animates the world mantra: vital force (magic) of words RITUAL in which magical and spiritual elements are invoked, relies on the POWERS OR PERSUASION, FELICITY and NORMATIVELY rather than requiring proof like in science. MANA (Pacific Islands) impersonal spiritual substance which may be present in all things (animalistic force), and which concentrates in persons of high social standing, who can share its powers and benefits with others. grows with generosity and warfare diminished through arrogance, anger and selfish deeds ILLNESS AS RITES OF PASSAGE (Van Gennep) sees severe illness as a transformative journey (especially for chronic, life threatening illnesses), where sufferers experience a deathlike loss of their former selves and then a transformed sense of self change in spirit ALTERED STATES SHAMANS: ...

ACTUP The AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power

Epidemiology is the study of disease Incidence rate : number of new cases in a given period Prevalence : How widespread the disease is in a population Epidemic : diseases that appear suddenly and spread rapidly Pandemic : disease that is global Endemic : when a disease is stable and prevalent in a population Acute : sudden onset Chronic : gradual onset Terminal : deadly-only 25% of the population worldwide receives treatment AIDS specific Concepts: Face of AIDS : profile or common pattern of who is infected relative to incidence. shifted over the years from MSM to Latina and AA women and adolescents.  MSM (men who have sex with men) MTF (male to female transmission) ARV (Anti-retroviral therapy) HAARTHIV/AIDS Anti-retroviral therapy) AIDS in the US Three waves 1980---white msm 1983-1990--msm, minorities, iv drug users 2003: nonwhite women and adolescents Cofactors (varied and culturally specific) ethnocentrism views of women indigenous vie...