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Medical Anthropology Special Lecture

Latest update: 12 July, 2017 (Wed)

[2016] | [2015] | [2014] | [2013]

1. Overview

For international health, especially for cooperation and development, understanding diversified cultural background is crucially important. Any aid without understanding tends to become a kind of cultural invasion, and it may result in tragic outcomes for the local people. This lecture thus outlines the basic concepts and methodologies of medical anthropology, followed by several examples.

2. Plan

The lecture is done in the first semester on Thursday, 14:40-16:10 at GSICS 206.

Since 2014, debates on the several topics has been held, where the basic information is given and the sides are assigned in the end of previous week. After the debate, voting to judge the winner is to be done using a voting sheet, then the next week's topic is explained.

• [6 April 2017] Overview: history of the medical anthropology concept (handout)
• [13 April 2017] What is health? Applied medical anthropology and health care (handout without copyrighted material)
• [20 April 2017] Disease, illness, sickness and the sick role (handout)
• [27 April 2017] Sick role and patient role in detail (handout)
• [11 May 2017] Cultural competence in health care (handout)
• [18 May 2017] No debate, lightening talks by all participants. Cultural systems models (handout)
• [25 May 2017] Debate on "Witchcraft and local health care in PNG" (handout for medical systems and medical pluralism/syncretism).
• [1 June 2017] Debate on the regulation of mass-media and/or internet use as a popular sector of medical systems under the situation of PHEIC; Handout for transcultural psychiatry and indigenous psychology (handout)
• [8 June 2017] Debates on responsibility of unhealthy behavior under Japanese cultural normalcy / Handout for traditional herbal medicine (handout)
• [15 June 2017] Debates on the pharmaceutical companies activity hiring "plant hunters" / Medical-ecological approaches to health (handout)
• [22 June 2017 / 29 June 2017] Political economy and critical medical anthropology (handout, no debate, lightening talks instead)
• [6 July 2017] Psychobiological dynamics of health (handout)
• [13 July 2017] Syamanic paradigm of ethnomedicine (handout)
• [20 July 2017] (Debate only, debate theme: Should physician assisted death be legalized in Japan? See, BMJ commentary, Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci., 1330: 94-100, 2014))

3. Evaluation

Based on presentation, discussion, and report.

4. Reference

Winkelman M (2009) Culture and Health: Applying Medical Anthropology. Jossey-Bass, John-Wiley and Sons. (Instructor Companion Site)

Debbie Newman, Ben Woolgar, ed. (2014) Pros and Cons: A Debater's Handbook. 19th ed., Routledge.

5. Office hour

For the students of the Graduate School of Health Sciences, Tuesday, 18:00-18:30, at Myodani campus E707. For the students of GSICS, Thusday, 16:40-18:00 at Frontier Building Room 717. Taking appointment is recommended.

6. Message to the students

Done in English.

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