INTHE4113 – Introduction to Medical Anthropology: key concepts and perspectives
Course description
Course content
This course introduces anthropological perspectives on health, illness and medicine, and explores the interactions between biology, society and culture. It aims to present a contextual and comparative approach in which cultural and social dimensions of health-related issues are emphasized, and placed within broader political and historical processes. It will also offer a people-centered approach to understanding global health policies and interventions.
Through lectures and group work we will make extensive use of examples from mainly Africa, Asia and Norway. Four themes will be central to the course:
- cultural and social constructions of health, disease, illness and the body, and the role of medical pluralism.
- the significance of power relations and inequality in the global distribution of health and illness.
- the globalization of biomedical technologies,
- the social, cultural and political implications of global health policies.
The course is taught over five days, through lectures and extensive use of seminars.
Learning outcome
Knowledge
You will learn about anthropological perspectives and approaches to topics such as:
- Social and cultural aspects in analysis of