Spring 2024 – Medical Anthropology

Medical Anthropology: Culture, Illness and Healing (#35162)

Welcome to the online Anth 137 page! Thank you for your interest in this asynchronous online course. Below is general information about this course.

Course Description

This course is a cross-cultural survey of health, illness and healing in small-scale societies as well as modern societies from a cultural, biological, and ecological perspective. Topics covered include perceptions of the body, perceptions of disease, life phases, culture-specific syndromes, healing practices, healers, nutrition, and healing and medical systems. Catalog and SLO information. This course satisfies CSU Area D Social Sciences, and the required lower division for CSUSM in Anthropology.

Text Requirements

There will be two texts to purchase.

  1. Wiley, Andrea. 2017. Medical Anthropology. 3rd ed. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780190634216
  2. Fadiman, Anne. 2012. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 9780374533403

Course Requirements

This is an asynchronous class.  We will not be meeting at a certain time each week as a class online.  To take this online course you need to have regular access to a reliable computer(s) and also have a backup in case problems arise.

General Course Work

The general course work will consist of weekly readings from the texts and articles posted on Canvas, weekly online quizzes, discussion board forums and/or films, and exams.

Adding/Crashing the Course

If you are on a waitlist and/or would like to add the course (#35162), please send me an email by Monday, January 29.

Accessing the Course

If you are enrolled, you should be able to access this online course by Monday, January 29.  I will send an e-mail notifying you when the course is available.

Thank you for taking the time to review the information. Please feel free to contact me if you have questions. I look forward to working with you this coming fall semester.

Have a wonderful day.