Dr. Joan Stevenson

424/524 - Introduction to Medical Anthropology
Instructor: Dr. Joan C. Stevenson, AH 316, phone: 650-4787, e mail: jcstvnsn@cc.wwu.edu
Texts: Brown, PJ 1998 Understanding and Applying Medical Anthropology. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield. (B) Katz, P 1999 The Scalpel’s Edge: The Culture of Surgeons. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. (K) Trevathan WR, Smith EO and McKenna JJ 1999 Evolutionary Medicine. New York: Oxford. (TSM)
Skills Acquired: Critical reading skills, interpretation, and analysis of both primary and secondary sources of data, professional level writing skills for science writing, oral communication skills, in some cases, original data collection.
Objectives of Class: To introduce you to the many orientations which are considered to be part of medical anthropology and to sensitize you to the anthropological perspective when approaching health-related issues. You will also be encouraged to explore one topic in greater detail in the form of a professional level paper. Always be prepared to discuss the assigned readings for the week and your progress on your paper.
Week	Topic	B	TSM
1	History of Medical Anthropology Early Thinkers; Biocultural vs. Biomedical; Critical Medical Anth.	B:1, 3, 23, 24

2	The Multidisciplinary Perspective: Epidemiology and the Causal Web	B: 9, 10, 11, 22, 28	TSM: 5, 7
	Thurs: 10 abstracts*, (2 from Medline, PsycINFO or Science Citation Index)

3	Human Biology The Population Perspective/Demography	B: 2, 4, 5, 7, 8	TSM: 10, 12, 13,
	Thurs: 10 abstracts* (2 from AnthroLit or Social Science Citations if applic)

4	The Cultural Shaping of Health/Disease Ethnomedicine	B: 12, 15, 16, 19, 20	TSM: 4, 6, 9
	Thurs: 6 abstracts* (2 from PsycInfo if applic)

5	World View and Health	B: 26, 27, 29, 30, 32	TSM: 1, 2
	Thurs: Problem Statement & Outline
1--First, short week of class. *Provide abstracts of resources relevant to your paper. In addition, there should be 1-2 sentences describing how this relates to your paper. Use books AND articles!!! Use the WEB sparingly because little of the material there is refereed.

6	Reproduction: Menarche, Pregnancy, Couvade, Childbirth, Lactation etc.	B: 17, 37, 38, 39, 40	TSM: 3, 8, 11
	Thursday: Introduction and first few pages of paper

7	Life Cycle con’t., Aging	B: 6, 35, 36, 41, 42	TSM: 16, 17, 18

8	“Culture-Bound” Syndromes K: all of it The Role of Healer vs. Patient; Shaman/Diviners	B: 13, 14, 18, 21, 25, 26	TSM: 9, 14
	First Draft of Paper** (12-15 pgs w/o references for undergrads, 15-20 for grads but see below),

9	U.S. Health Care System; Group Therapy, Stress and Substance Abuse Studies Developing vs. Developed Nations	B: 31, 33, 34, 43, 44, 45	TSM: 15
	Tues: First draft of paper (whatever you’ve got) (I won’t read drafts after 11/22 and can only read one draft.)

10	Be prepared to informally discuss the highlights of your research.
	Note that the final draft of the paper is due the Monday of finals week by 5 p.m.
FINAL GRADE: 80% Term Paper 20% Participation and Attendance* You will receive commentary for every element of the process which results in the term paper, but only the first full draft and final product will be graded. Only the grade on the final draft will count in the class grade. The final draft of your paper is due Monday at 5 p.m. of finals week. Please arrange an incomplete if you can’t make that deadline. Grad Students: You are also encouraged to do a project (alone or with others) in place of a term paper but we need to discuss the limitations on that choice. *Discussion will comprise a part of the class and participation will be evaluated in terms regular attendance checks. 95% A, 90% B, 85% C, less D.

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