ANTH 230 - Medical Anthropology

Credits: 3
Lecture Contact Hours: 3
Description: This course provides a survey of medical anthropology - the study of disease, illness and health from a cross-cultural perspective. Anthropological concepts and methods offer a unique perspective on interactions of cultural frameworks, lived experiences and health care institutions. This course highlights a biocultural approach; including topics such as cultural change, globalization, adaptation, social inequality, nutrition and public health. Examples from around the world and over time illustrate the commonalities and diversity among cultural constructions about what it means to be sick or well.

Prerequisites: None
Corequisites: None
Recommended: None

Course Category: Liberal Arts | Social Science
This course counts toward Schoolcraft’s General Education Requirements.
This course counts toward a Michigan Transfer Agreement General Education Requirement.

This Course is Typically Offered: Winter
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Course Competencies

Apply the key concepts, theories and perspectives of medical anthropology.
Compare various cultural constructions of mental, spiritual and physical health; illness; and healing.
Outline lived experiences of health, illness and disability for individuals and social groups.
Explain the impact of human adaptive strategies on nutrition and health.
Outline how social inequalities and structural discrimination impact disease, disability and health.
Compare public health practices and institutions across a variety of cultures.
Interpret the impact of change, including globalization, on the origin, distribution and treatment of disease.
Apply medical anthropology to past and contemporary case studies involving disease and health care.
Evaluate the future challenges to human health and the promises of medicine.