ETHNOMEDICINE

ANTHROPOLOGY 376/PUBH 497-49 Dr. Pamela Erickson

Spring 2006 Office: 431 Beach Hall

Wednesdays: 5:30-8:30 p.m. Phone: 860-486-1736

AG 078 UCHC pamela.erickson@uconn.edu

This course examines medical systems in cultural context. Topics include: major medical systems, traditional medicine, complementary and alternative medicine, healers, the meaning of illness and curing, cultural interpretations of illness and disease, illness and social control, relationship of medical systems to other social institutions, the impact of biomedicine on traditional and alternative medical systems. The course will be conducted in seminar format. Active participation and contribution to class discussion are expected of all students.

Assignments and Evaluation

Your grade will be based on preparation for and participation in class (35%), a midterm paper (15%), and a term paper (50%). There will be no formal examinations.

Class Participation: Students will be evaluated for their familiarity with required readings, their preparation and leadership on individually assigned readings, and their general class participation.

Midterm Paper: A short (5-page) description of an alternative therapy of your choice is required as well as an oral presentation in class on March 15.

Term Paper: A paper about 15-20 pages in length (typed, double spaced) is required. Each student will select an ethnomedical topic for research (e.g., medical beliefs and practices of a particular cultural group, analysis of healing system in cultural context, field research on an "alternative" healing system, etc.). Papers may be based on library research, field research, or a combination of the two. Please clear your topic with me by March 15. Papers are due one on April 28 when summaries of the research projects will be presented in class.

BOOKS AND READINGS

Required Books

Alvord, Lori Arviso and Elizabeth Cohen Van Pelt 1999. The Scalpel and the Silver Bear. The

First Navajo Woman Surgeon Combines Western Medicine and Traditional Healing.New York: Bantam Books.

Arvigo, Rosita 1994. Sastun. My Apprenticeship with a Maya Healer. San Francisco, CA: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

Baer, Hans A. 2001. Biomedicine and Alternative Healing Systems in America: Issues of Class, Race, Ethnicity, and Gender. University of Wisconsin Press.

Brady, Erika 2001. Healing Logics. Culture and Medicine in Modern Health Belief Systems. Utah State University Press.

Fadiman, Anne 1998. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux.

Helman, Cecil G. 2001. Culture, Health and Illness. London: Arnold Publishers.

Jakobsen, Marete Demant 1999. Shamanism. Traditional and Contemporary Approaches to the Mastery of Spirits and Healing. New York and Oxford: Berghahn Books.

Kunow, Marianna Appel 2003. Maya Medicine. Traditional Healing in Yucatán. University of New Mexico Press.

Konner, Melvin 1988. Becoming a Doctor. A Journey of Initiation in Medical School. New York: Penguin Books.

Magner, Lois N. 1992. A History of Medicine. New York: Marcel Dekker, Inc.

Required Readings

Readings marked with an asterisk (*) are available in the Library.

CLASS SCHEDULE

1. January 18 Organizational Meeting

2. January 25 Introducing Medical Anthropology

MEDICAL SYSTEMS

3. February 1 The Scope of Ethnomedicine

4. February 8 Ancient Medical Systems

5. February 15 Biomedicine - Historical Developments

6. February 22 Biomedicine as a Cultural System

7. March 1 Complementary and Alternative Medicine

8. March 8 Spring Break NO CLASS

9. March 15 Student Presentations on Alternative Therapies

10. March 22 Culture and Medicine - Healing

11. March 29 Shamanism

TRADITIONAL MEDICINE - EXAMPLES

12. April 5 Navajo

13. April 12 Maya

14. April 19 Hmong

15. April 28 Student Presentations

TERM PAPERS DUE

READINGS

1. January 18 ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING

Introduction & course mechanics

Free listing – what causes disease

2. January 25 INTRODUCING MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY

Helman, Cecil G.

Chapter 1. Introduction: The Scope of Medical Anthropology

Chapter 4. Caring and Curing: The Sectors of Heath Care,

Chapter 5. Doctor-Patient Interactions.

Chapter 14. New Research Methods in Medical Anthropology

3. February 1 THE SCOPE OF ETHNOMEDICINE

*Erickson, Pamela I. ND What is Ethnomedicine?

*Engebretson, J. 1998. A Heterodox Model of Healing. Alternative Therapies 4(2): 37-43.

* Nichter, M. (ed.) 1992/94. Anthropological Approaches to the Study of Ethnomedicine. Gordon and Breach Science Publishers.

Introduction, ix-xxii.

* Hahn, R. 1995. Three Theories of Sickness and Healing, pp. 57-75. In Hahn, R. A. 1995. Sickness and Healing. An Anthropological Perspective. Yale University Press.

* O'Connor, Bonnie Blair 1995. Alternative Medicine and the Health Professions. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Defining and Understanding Health Belief Systems, pp. 1-34.

4. February 8 ANCIENT MEDICAL SYSTEMS

Magner, Lois N. 1992. A History of Medicine. New York: Marcel Dekker, Inc.

pp. 1-151.

*Beinfield, H. and E. Korngold 1995. Chinese Traditional Medicine: An Introductory Overview. Alternative Therapies 1(1):44-52.

*Lad, V. 1995. An Introduction to Ayurveda. Alternative Therapies 1(3):57-63.

5. February 15 BIOMEDICINE

Historical Development and Rise to Dominance

Baer, Hans 2001. Biomedicine and Alternative Healing Systems in America.

pp. 1-49.

Magner, Lois N. 1992. A History of Medicine. New York: Marcel Dekker, Inc.

pp. 153-369.

* Canary, J.J. 1983. Modern Allopathic Medicine and Public Health, pp. 90-109. In Bannerman, R., J. Burton, and C. Wen-Chieh (eds.) 1983. Traditional Medicine and Health Care Coverage. Geneva: World Health Organization.

6. February 22 BIOMEDICINE AS A CULTURAL SYSTEM

Konner, Melvin 1988. Becoming a Doctor. A Journey of Initiation in Medical School. New York: Penguin Books.

* Hahn, R. 1995. Biomedicine as a Cultural System, pp. 131-172. In Hahn, R. A. 1995. Sickness and Healing. An Anthropological Perspective. Yale University Press.

* Rhodes, L. 1996. Studying Biomedicine as a Cultural System, pp. 165-180. In Sargent and Johnson 1996. Medical Anthropology. Contemporary Theory and Method, New York: Praeger.

7. March 1 ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE AND BIOMEDICINE

Baer, Hans 2001. Biomedicine and Alternative Healing Systems in America.

pp. 50-190.

*Kelner, Merrijoy, Beverly Wellman, Bernice Pescosolido, and Mike Saks (eds.) 2000. Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Challenge and Change.

Chapter 1. Introduction. Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Challenge and

Change, pp. 1-24.

8. March 8 SPRING BREAK - NO CLASS

9. March 15 Student Presentations MIDTERM PAPERS DUE

10. March 22 CULTURE AND MEDICINE - HEALING

Brady, Erika (ed.) 2001. Healing Logics. Culture and Medicine in Modern Health Belief

Systems. Utah State University Press.

Krippner, S. 1995. A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Four Healing Models. Alternative Therapies 1(1):21-33.

11. March 29 SHAMANISM

Jakobsen, Marete Demant 1999. Shamanism. Traditional and Contemporary Approaches to the Mastery of Spirits and Healing. New York and Oxford: Berghahn Books.

12. April 5 NAVAJO

Alvord, Lori Arviso and Elizabeth Cohen Van Pelt 1999. The Scalpel and the Silver Bear. The

First Navajo Woman Surgeon Combines Western Medicine and Traditional Healing.

* Kunitz, Stephen J. 1989 Disease Change and the Role of Medicine. The Navajo Experience.

Chapter 4. Traditional Navajo Health Beliefs and Practices, pp. 118-145.

* Kluckhohn, Clyde and Dorthea Leighton 1962. The Navajo.

Chapter 5. The Supernatural: Power and Danger.

Chapter 6. The Supernatural: Things to Do and Not to Do.

Chapter 7. The Meaning of the Supernatural.

Chapter 9. The Navajo View of Life.

* Cohen, K. 1998. Native American Medicine. Alternative Therapies 4(6): 45-57.

13. April 12 MAYA

Kunow, Marianna Appel 2003. Maya Medicine. Traditional Healing in Yucatán. University of New Mexico Press.

Arvigo, Rosita 1994. Sastun. My Apprenticeship with a Maya Healer. Harper San Francicso.

14. April 19 HMONG

Fadiman, Anne 1997. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down.

15. April 28 Student Presentations TERM PAPERS DUE