Medical Anthropology A200 G106 and E445 G 122...... MW Raintree B 207
Course Objective: Medical anthropology explores the interaction between health, culture and disease; examines other biomedical traditions in how they understand and treatment disease; and studies biocultural approaches to contemporary health problems.
Textbooks:
Instructor: Clarke Johnson DDS PhD Northwestern and the University of Chicago. Appointments: Visiting Lecturer in Anthropology IUN; Assistant Professor UIC College of Dentistry.
Office Hours: Mondays and Wednesdays 1:00 PM to 2:15 PM. My office space is Lindenwood 230. If the door is closed, check with the department office, room 214. You may leave a message with the department secretary; I check with her regularly when I am on campus. Your visit and conversation is always welcome.
Telephone: My office phone number is 981-5601. There is voice mail. When you leave a message, please leave a legitimate phone number. I will return your call. You may call me at home after 6:00 PM; however, I am often away. I am rarely at home during the day. The number is (815) 939-4242. In the event of no answer, leave a message after the fourth ring. Due to annoying telemarketers, be sure to identify yourself as from IUN!
Registration in E445: A library research paper of 'medium weight' is expected of you. It is a requirement for the E445 course. If you do NOT need a 400 level course and do NOT want to do a paper, then consider registration for A200. A list of suggested topics and details about the paper will be issued during the second class session.
Requirements: You are expected to attend class, watch the videos, and do the assigned readings. Lecture notes are important. The textbooks are at times not easy to read on your own. This makes class attendance especially important. There will be many short articles provided to you written by the instructor. A binder for them will be provided to you later.
Examinations: There will be three written examinations. The dates are listed in the Class Schedule. There will be no weekly quizzes; therefore, it is important that you keep up with the reading and lecture material each week. A study guide will be provided for each examination. The final will be comprehensive for the course.
Inclement Weather: In the event that IUN is officially closed or if class is cancelled, any scheduled examination will be given at the next scheduled class period. Official campus closings are announced on local and many regional radio and television stations. You may confirm closing of IUN by calling campus police, but don't tell them I told you to do that!
Incomplete: Department rules require that at least two-thirds of the required coursework be completed in order to qualify for the grade of incomplete instead of failure. Except for an extreme emergency, it is your responsibility to request an incomplete. Stay in touch with this instructor if circumstances make it impossible for you to complete the course.
Major Illness or Crisis: Let me know if something has happened in your life so that I may work with you in successful completion of this course.
Final Grade Breakdown for A200:
First Examination........................100 points
Second Examination...................100 points
Final Examination*.....................150 points
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Total........350 points
Final Grade Breakdown for E445:
First Examination........................100 points
Second Examination....................100 points
Final Examination*......................150 points
Term Paper................................150 points
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Total........500 points
*The final examination is comprehensive for the course. A study guide will be provided. Anthropology in the News: Articles that pertain to medical anthropology appear in the news frequently. Ebola, Hanta virus, Lyme disease and other dreaded infections are examples. If you see an article of interest, be sure to bring it in. Do record any program that might apply to this course. Many of my videos have come from to me courtesty of previous students.
Anthropology Club: There is an active anthropology club on this campus. Meetings are informative and your participation in club activities is welcome. Field trips in recent years have included the Cahokia site in southern Illinois and 'behind the scenes' at the Field Museum in Chicago. Announcements will be made in class.
Internet Access: The Anthropology Club and the Anthropology program here at IUN have active websites which you may access through the Indiana University or Indiana University Northwest home pages. This instructor maintains websites at
www.uic.edu/classes/osci/osci590
and
www.uic.edu/classes.orla/orla312
The first one listed above is extensive and you can 'click' on the Medical Anthropology to see articles from Spring, 1998. Both sites are continually being revised and updated. The second listed site is for dental and hygiene students at UIC.
Do I need a background in biology or medical science for this course? No.
The textbooks look difficult. Why have these been chosen? The text by McElroy and Townsend is the best single text available. Furthermore, it has been completely revised and updated for 1996. The 'reader' contains many articles that apply to what we are doing in class. In addition, you will receive many short articles written by the instructor. These cover relevant topics that are either not in the assigned texts or are inadequately covered in them.
Videos: These will correlate closely with the course content. When we discuss their content in class, take notes.
Week.......1 Aug 30, Sept 01 What is Medical Anthropology? Alternative and complementary medicine 1; allopathic and homeopathic medical systems; ethnomedicine and folk medicine; culture, health, and illness. TEXT pp xxi-xxiv and 7-11; READER pp 10-18; **Issue E445 topics! (Note that weeks 1 and 2 are a single unit.)
Week........2 Sept 06, 08 Ecology of Health and Disease. No Monday Class! Yanomamo,; adaptation; ecology and health; Alternative and complementary medicine II; folk & humoral medicine; Arctic adaptation. TEXT Ch 1 pp 1-27; READER pp 108-117and pp 251-258.(Note that weeks 1 & 2 are a single unit)
Week........3 Sept 13, 20 Research in Health Problems. Kuru, a model in interdisciplinary cooperation: clinical, epidemiological cultural and social data; disease etiologies in non-Western medical systems. TEXT Ch 2 pp 31-69; READER pp 98-107**E445 Topic is due next week!
Week........4 Sept 20, 22 Genes, Culture, and Adaptation. Malaria: disease as an adaptation; cystic fibrosis, Tay Sachs; high altitude, coping strategies, high altitude; herpes simplex virus; HIVand AIDS. TEXT Ch 3 pp 73-117, but skip pp113-115 on FGM; READER pp 77-92,and 313-315 and333-342 **E445 Turn in Topic!
Week........5 Sept 27, 29 Changing Patterns in Birth and Death I. Culture as environment; population; infant survival; population pyramid; Darwinian medicine; discordance hypothesis; the damaged self. Study guide issued for Exam 1. **Exam next week! TEXT Ch 4 pp 119-137. READER pp 20-37 & 322-333.
Week........6 Oct 04, 06 Written Examination #1 on Monday, October 4th.
Wednesday: Changing Patterns of Birth and Death II. The Black Death, an inevitable epidemic; paleopathology;life and death amongst foragers, early farmers; mummies. TEXT Ch 4 pp 137-165. READER pp 59-69; **E445 Bibliography is due next week!
Week........7 Oct 11, 13 Infectious Disease; Ecology and Economics; Nutrition I. 'Thrifty Genes' and beyond; late onset diseases; genes; biotechnology; drug resistance; viruses and gene splicing; related topics. TEXT Ch 5 pp 169-179; READER pp 46-57 ** E445 Bibliography is now due!
Week.......8 Oct 18, 20 The Ecology and Economics of Nutrition II. Subsistence farming, nutrition in tropical farmers, herders, peasant farmers, non-food, oral rehydration therapy. TEXT Ch 5 pp 179-200; READER pp 415-422; 389-401 **The next exam is coming soon!
Week........9 Oct 25, 27 Nutrition and Health in the Life Cycle. Nutrition:medicine, infant feeding, kwashiorkor, coca chewing, coca leaf imports; marasmus; growth; over nutrition. breast feeding; the mind and immunity. TEXT Ch 6 pp 203-234. READER pp 38-45 & 401-411.
Week........10 Nov 01, 03 Stress, Illness, and Healing. Selye and a model for the general adaptation syndrome; Cannon's concept of the stress response; culture bound syndromes; altered states and entoptic visions; stress and its management; psychiatry; hallucination and culture. TEXT Ch 7 pp 237-279. READER pp185-206. **Exam next week!
Week.......11 Nov 08, 10 Written Examination # 2 on Monday, November 8th.
Wednesday: The Placebo Phenomenon. Shamans, placebos and sham surgery; metaphore and symbolism in medical outcome; Mexican Spiritualism as non-medical health care sysem; the oldest known prescription.READER pp 70-86 and 118-137 and 169-182 **E445 Term paper is due next week!
Week.......12 Nov 15, 17 The Gift of Nature: Rainforest Pharmacology. Herbs and herbals; pharmacognosy; materia medica; ancient medicine; North American Indian medicine; rainforests; ethnomedical beliefs; folk remedies and lead poisoning; compliance; the socioeconomic gradient; why do some people get sick? READER pp 242-250 and 279-286. **E445 Term Paper due this week!
Week.......13 Nov 22, 24 The Health of Women; Aging; Scarification. Birth control in antiquity; should boys be cirumcised; female genital mutilation; body piercing; tattoos; trephination; cultural modification of teeth and the body.READER pp 158-168 and 343-387. An index for your articles will be provided soon.
Week.......14 Nov 29, Dec 01 Health Resources in Changing Cultures. Ishi; the consequences of acculturation and culture change; the Inuit experience; Asian refugees; Munchausen's syndrome; cross-cultural beliefs and health care; "New World Syndrome"; the Roseto effect. TEXT Ch 8 pp 281-323. READER pp 303-309. **Final Exam is in two weeks.
Week.......15 Dec 06, 08 The Costs and Benefits of Development. Nine to Nowhere; industrialization and health; schistosomiasis;world population growth and the 'birth dirth.' Trends in world population; children and hunger; the economics of having children. TEXT ch 9 pp 327-373; READER pp 92-98.**Final Exam is next week. A study guide for the final exam issued.
Week 16........Final Examination in our classroom at the usual scheduled time, Wednesday, December 15th.