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Introduction to Medical Anthropology


Dozent/in Dr. Garima Yadav
Veranstaltungsart Proseminar
Code HS261488
Semester Herbstsemester 2026
Durchführender Fachbereich Ethnologie
Studienstufe Bachelor
Termin/e wöchentlich (Di), ab 15.09.2026, 14:15 - 16:00 Uhr, 4.B47
Umfang 2 Semesterwochenstunden
Turnus wöchentlich
Inhalt This course offers a comprehensive introduction to medical anthropology, examining how health, illness, and healing are shaped by cultural, social, and political forces. Students will explore a wide range of medical systems and practices, from biomedicine to ethnomedicine, investigating how different societies understand the body, disease, and treatment. Through case studies and theoretical frameworks, the course highlights the role of historical, economic, and structural forces in shaping global health, and emphasises the importance of cultural context in medical knowledge and practice. Spanning 15 lectures, the course covers key themes including the cultural construction of the body, medical pluralism, the politics of medicalization, health inequalities and structural violence, gender and reproductive health, mental health across cultures, infectious disease and epidemics, biotechnology, environmental health, and the ethics of global health interventions. Students will engage in critical debates about biomedicine's universalizing claims, health inequalities, and the ethical dilemmas surrounding global health practice.
Schlagworte Gender/Diversity
Voraussetzungen Students are expected to complete the readings and participate in classroom discussions. Every student is required to send two questions for each class that show the engagement with the readings which would be discussed in the class. 85% attendance is necessary.
Sprache Englisch
Anmeldung ***Important*** In order to acquire credits, it is mandatory to register for the course via the UniPortal. Registration opens two weeks before and ends two weeks after the start of the semester. Registrations and cancellations are no longer possible after this period. The exact registration dates can be found here: http://www.unilu.ch/ksf/semesterdaten
Abschlussform / Credits Aktive Teilnahme / 4 Credits
Kontakt garima.yadav@doz.unilu.ch
Literatur • Scheper-Hughes, N., & Lock, M. M. (1987). The mindful body: A prolegomenon to future work in medical anthropology. Medical Anthropology Quarterly, 1(1), 6–41.
• Farmer, P. (2004). An anthropology of structural violence. Current Anthropology, 45(3), 305–325.
• Kleinman, A. (1988). The Illness Narratives: Suffering, Healing, and the Human Condition. Basic Books.
• Conrad, P. (2007). The Medicalization of Society: On the Transformation of Human Conditions into Treatable Disorders. Johns Hopkins University Press.
• Biehl, J., & Petryna, A. (Eds.). (2013). When People Come First: Critical Studies in Global Health. Princeton University Press.