HEALTH AND ILLNESS ANTHROPOLOGY

The course is taught in English and is addressed to students of the MA programme in Cultural Anthropology, Ethnology and Ethnolinguistics (ACEL). It is an optional module for all curricula.
Students enrolled in other programmes are required to write to the lecturer for a preliminary assessment of their general competence in Cultural Anthropology and the identification of an appropriate programme.

The course aims at promoting the following skills:
1) reading of scientific texts, synthesis of complex concepts and themes, critical reading and oral expression;
2) understanding the political, economic and sociocultural dimensions of health and illness;
3) combining critical analysis of central topics in Anthropology of Health with debates in contemporary social theory.

Though no particular prerequisites are required, it is advisable that students possess a basic knowledge of the main theoretical approaches and research methods characterising Social and Cultural Anthropology.
Students enrolled in other programmes are required to write to the lecturer for the assessment of their general competence in Cultural Anthropology and the identification of an appropriate programme.

We will discuss themes that have been at the center of analysis in the social sciences, such as modernity/coloniality, the Anthropocene, power/knowledge, and inequality, and in particular: medical pluralism and knowledge production; biomedical culture and practice in different contexts; coloniality and global health; inequality and epidemics.
Faced with the current polycrisis (environmental, financial, pandemic, genocidal, and so on) - that is, a planetary crisis in which life itself is at stake - one might ask: how do these crises relate to the imperative of growth and consumption, recurrent epidemics, and suffering? Taking up Kohn's suggestion of "an anthropology beyond the human," we ask in particular whether an anthropology of health centered on the relationality between humans and beings other than the human could contribute to addressing the problems that concern not only humans, but life itself.

The readings you are expected to prepare before each class will be indicated in a more detailed syllabus.
For more general readings:

Pizza, Giovanni, Antropologia medica. Saperi, pratiche e politiche del corpo, Carocci 2005.

MEDICAL PLURALISM AND COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE MEDICINES
Muela, J. 2011. The Straw that breaks the Camel’s Back: Redirecting Health-seeking Behaviour Studies on Malaria and Vulnerability. Medical Anthropology Quarterly 25(1).
Hörbst, V., R Gerrets, P. Schirripa. 2017.Revisiting Medical Pluralism. L’Uomo, n. 1, pp. -26
Babu, P. , M. Shankar, M. Babu. 2016. Complementary and Alternative Medicine an overview. American Journal of Oral Medicine and Radiology.

BIOMEDICAL CULTURES AND PRACTICES
Rhodes, L. 1996. Studying Biomedicine as a Cultural System. In C. Sargent and
Th. Johnson (eds). Medical Anthropology: Contemporary Theory and Methods. Westport: Praeger.
Berg, M. and A. Mol. 1998. Differences in Medicine: an Introduction. In M. Berg and A. Mol. Differences in Medicine: unraveling practices, techniques, and bodies. Duke: Duke University Press.

DECOLONIZING GLOBAL HEALTH
Prince, R. 2014. Navigating “Global Health” in an East African City. In R. Prince and R. Marsland (eds) Making and Unmaking Public Health in Africa: Ethnographic and Historical Perspectives. Athens: Ohio University Press.(208-231).
Adams, V. N. Burke & I. Whitmarsh. 2014. Slow Research: Thoughts for a Movement in Global Health. Medical Anthropology 33.
Biehl, J. 2021. Descolonizando a saude planetaria. Horizontes Antropológicos 59

INEQUALITY, EPIDEMICS AND BLAME
Briggs, Charles 2004. “Theorizing Modernity Conspiratorially: Science, Scale, and the Political Economy of Public Discourse in Explanations of a Cholera Epidemic. American Ethnologist 31 (2).

Farmer, P. 2001. Infections and Inequalities: the Modern Plagues. Berkeley: University of California Press. (ch 10 The Persistent Plagues: Biological Expressions of Social Inequalities)

ANTHROPOLOGY BEYOND THE HUMAN?
Brown, H., A. Nading. 2019. Introduction: Human-Animal Health in Medical Anthropology. Medical Anthropology Quarterly 33 (1).
Keck, F. and Ch. Lynteris. 2018. Zoonosis: Prospects and Challenges for Medical Anthropology. Medical Anthropological Quarterly 5 (3).

During the course, students are required to introduce the topic of the day by presenting, in small groups, a review of one article/chapter (suggested by the professor and made available in moodle) which introduces the theme, encouraging questions and generating a debate with colleagues. The class will then proceed by exploring the questions raised in the presentation and debate, moving progressively toward theoretical analysis.
The final exam will be a discussion on a term paper based on a topic addressed during this course (max 15 pages double space).

oral

A score lower than 18 is considered insufficient and the student will need to repeat the exam.

A. Scores in the 18-22 range will be awarded for:
- Limited knowledge of the subject matter.
- Difficulty in collecting and/or interpreting data, and forming independent judgments.
- Limited communication skills, especially concerning the use of discipline-specific language.

B. Scores in the 23-26 range will be awarded for:
- Fair knowledge and applied understanding of the subject matter.
- Fair ability to collect and/or interpret data, and form independent judgments.
- Fair communication skills, especially concerning the use of discipline-specific language.

C. Scores in the 27-29 range will be awarded for:
- Good or very good knowledge and applied understanding of the subject matter.
- Good or very good ability to collect and/or interpret data, and form independent judgments.
- Appropriate communication skills, especially concerning the use of discipline-specific language.

D. A score of 30 will be awarded for:
- Excellent knowledge and applied understanding of the subject matter.
- Excellent ability to collect and/or interpret data, and form independent judgments.
- Fully appropriate communication skills, especially concerning the use of discipline-specific language.

E. "Cum laude" (with honors) will be awarded for:
- Excellent knowledge and understanding of the subject matter.
- Strong judgment and communication skills.
- Demonstrated commitment throughout the course.
- Ability to integrate course content in a personal and original way.

The course is taught through lectures, audio-visual materials, class discussion and group presentations of selected articles.

The professor receives the students in his office located in the Department of Humanities (Malcanton Marcorà) upon appointment arranged by email.

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Human capital, health, education" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development