Courses

• GMS MA 682: Islamic Medicine and Healing
  This Medical Anthropology course explores the social history of medicine and healing traditions among Muslims: the role of the Prophet Muhammad as model and source of health and medicine; the emergence of classical Islamic medicine as synthesis of and innovation on Greek traditions; the influence of legal/moral traditions in regulating and preserving public health; the development of hospitals in the Muslim world; the influence of Sufi philosophy, practices, and the proliferation of shrines on healing traditions; the effects of emerging biomedical practice introduced from the West; the "revival" of Islamic medicine, and the emergence of alternative medicines. Laird. 3 cr, Fall sem. (Students who need a fourth credit should contact the instructor about adding a single directed study credit.)
• GMS MA 684: Social History of Chinese Medicine and Healing Traditions
  This Medical Anthropology course explores intersections between the therapeutic, the medical, and the religious, through the study of healing traditions in China. Includes the role of shamans and the persistence of traditions involving gods, ghosts, and ancestors; the emergence of classical medicine and canonical texts, together with the role played by Scholar- Physicians; the influences of Daoist approaches to healing, longevity, and alchemy; the introduction of Buddhist and Indian healing practices; the effects of an emerging biomedical practice brought in from the West; and the meanings of the revival of Traditional Chinese Medicine in the People's Republic of China. Barnes. 3 cr, Fall sem. (Students who need a fourth credit should contact the instructor about adding a single directed study credit.)
• GMS MA 691: Directed Study in Medical Anthropology
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: Permission of instructor
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: Permission of instructor Prereq: Permission of instructor *Directed Study*. Var cr, Fall sem.
• GMS MA 692: Directed Study in Medical Anthropology
  Prereq: Permission of instructor *Directed Study*. Var cr, Spring sem.
• GMS MA 700: History and Theory of Medical Anthropology (Part I)
  This course introduces the history of the field of medical anthropology and of theoretical orientations related to understanding and analyzing health and medicine in society and culture. Readings will exemplify interpretive strategies applied to health-related experiences, discourse, knowledge, and practice. Laird. 3 cr, Fall sem.
• GMS MA 701: History and Theory of Medical Anthropology (Part II)
  This course will address theoretical traditions in medical anthropology, focusing on orientations developed and applied within the field over the past two decades to interpretations of health-related phenomena. Laird. 3 cr, Spring sem.
• GMS MA 710: Medical Anthropology and Qualitative Research Methods and Design
  Introduction to methodology for ethnographic field research in medical anthropology, and qualitative research methods. This course examines issues in designing anthropological research, and reviews theoretical approaches to research ethics, designing research, framing questions and questionnaire design, and data collection techniques. Weiner. 3 cr, Fall sem.
• GMS MA 732: Applied Anthropology
  Prereq: Permission of instructor. Anthropology as a field has a long history of anthropologists applying their scholarship directly to addressing social issues and problems. This seminar will train students to engage in research, teaching and the practice of applied anthropology in academic and non-academic settings. It will review the history, methods, and approaches to this subfield. It will also examine the self-reflective and "engaged" dimensions, as well as related ethical challenges that are likely to arise as one undertakes the synthesis of theory and practice. Because approximately half of professional medical anthropologists serve in applied contexts, the seminar will also address the kinds of roles one might play outside of the academy.
• GMS MA 742: Medical Anthropological and Qualitative Data Analysis
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: Not open to undergraduates.
  Graduate Prerequisites: GMS MA 710, GMS MA 770, and Summer Fieldwork Directed Study credits (contact instructor for more information).
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: Not open to undergraduates. Graduate Prerequisites: GMS MA 710, GMS MA 770, and Summer Fieldwork Directed Study credits (contact instructor for more information). Examines strategies for analyzing anthropological data deriving from interviews and documents. In addition to reviewing different coding strategies and the rationales underlying them, the course will discuss topics such as approaches to managing textual data; the selection and application of epistemological and theoretical frameworks; narrative and discourse analysis; cognitive anthropology theory and methods; the use of grounded theory. Emphasizes the application of these strategies to the analysis and interpretation of data collected by the students as part of the course process. Barnes. 3 cr, Fall sem.
• GMS MA 770: IRB Proposal Development and Writing
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: Not open to undergraduates.
  Graduate Prerequisites: GMS MA 700-A1 or permission of the instructor.
  Prereq: GMS MA 700-A1 or permission of the instructor. Students will learn to write a medical anthropology research proposal and related Institutional Review Board Proposal, through the structure provided by the IRB of BUSM. We will address theory and methods related to the design and review process. Weiner. 3 cr, Spring sem.
• GMS MA 786: Final Project Writing Seminar
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: Not open to undergraduates.
  Graduate Prerequisites: GMS MA 710, GMS MA 770, and Summer Fieldwork Directed Study credits (contact instructor for more information), and GMS MA 742, or permission of the instructor.
  Prereq: GMS MA 710, GMS MA 770, and Summer Fieldwork Directed Study credits (contact instructor for more information), and GMS MA 742, or permission of the instructor. This seminar will train learners in the theory and practice of writing up medical anthropology research findings, and of writing ethnography. The course emphasizes analytical writing. Students will learn to identify and employ rhetorical and stylistic strategies and genre conventions. The class is structured as a seminar, emphasizing class discussion, workshops and peer- group work. Barnes. 3 cr, Spring sem.
• GMS MH 701: Counseling Theory
  Prereq: consent of instructor. This course provides an overview of major theoretical approaches to case conceptualization for counseling, including psychoanalytic, person-centered, cognitive-behavioral, and solution-focused theories. Students will begin to develop an understanding of the process for selecting appropriate counseling interventions, consistent with current research standards. Navalta. 3 cr, Fall sem.
• GMS MH 702: Professional Orientation & Ethics
  Prereq: consent of instructor. This course provides an overview of professional ethics governing the field of counseling, to include ethical decision-making, confidentiality and informed consent, competence and supervision, malpractice, self-care, and medical ethics. The course includes a careful review of the American Counseling Association and American Mental Health Counselors Association Codes of Ethics. The emphasis of the course is on application of ethical principles to ethical dilemmas commonly encountered in the field of counseling. Berger-Greenstein. 3 cr, Spring sem.
• GMS MH 703: Counseling Techniques
  Prereq: consent of instructor. This course provides an overview of the skills and styles needed for building healthy and therapeutic helping relationships, as well as techniques specific to a variety of psychological disorders and problems with living. Emphasis is placed on experiential exercises and skills-building, including interviewing and behaviors influencing the helping process. Berger-Greenstein, Brady. 3 cr, Fall sem.
• GMS MH 704: Group Work Dynamics & Process
  Prereq: consent of instructor. This course provides an overview of the basic principles of group counseling including the conception and design of group interventions, group dynamics and components, facilitation approaches, methods for recruiting and intervening with group members, and modalities through which groups are often conducted (i.e. psychodynamic, behavioral, support groups, and skills-based groups for special populations). Suvak. 3 cr, Fall sem.
• GMS MH 705: Psychopathology
  Prereq: consent of instructor. This course provides students with an introduction to the etiology, presentation, and treatment of major mental health disorders as classified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Students will become familiar with identifying and differentiating diagnoses across a range of clinical presentations. In addition, there will be discussion of strategies that may be applied when working with a variety of clients, beginning with the first contact and including the therapeutic process and treatment planning. Furlong. 3 cr, Fall sem.
• GMS MH 706: Social & Cultural Foundations
  Prereq: consent of instructor. This course provides an overview of the cultural context of relationships, issues, and trends in a multicultural society, in order to enable students to work effectively with people from varied racial, cultural and class backgrounds. The course is organized around the ethical responsibility of counselors to provide clients across a wide range of identities with meaningful and relevant clinical services, and the role of counselors in promoting overall health and wellness across cultures. A contemporary body of professional literature is explored, with an emphasis on self-awareness, knowledge of others, experiential learning activities, and multicultural counseling skills acquisition. TBA. 3 cr, Spring sem.
• GMS MH 707: Research and Evaluation
  Prereq: This course provides an understanding of research methods, statistical analysis, needs assessment, and program evaluation. There is an emphasis on the importance of research in advancing the counseling profession, varied approaches to research method, and the use of research to inform evidence-based practice. Landmark studies and current articles are used to illustrate applications. Students develop critical thinking skills for examining research information and its use for asking questions that extend knowledge, and for planning studies to address new questions. Freeburg. 3 cr, Spring sem.
• GMS MH 708: Human Growth & Development
  Prereq: consent of instructor. This course provides an overview of biological, psychological, and sociocultural aspects of individual and family development from conception through elder adulthood in a multicultural context. The course is taught from perspectives of cognitive science and behavioral systems as well as sociological, cultural, life span developmental, and comparative approaches. The focus of the course is on normative development; developmental disorders are used to elucidate normative developmental and adaptive processes in language, cognition, and behavioral self-regulation that will serve to introduce students to behaviors and concepts relevant to clinical practice with both children and adults. Joseph. 3 cr, Fall sem.
• GMS MH 709: Neuroscience for Mental Health Professionals
  Prereq: consent of instructor. The general objective of this course is to provide a foundation in the understanding of central nervous system structure and function and the relationship of brain and behavior tailored to the mental health professional. Special emphasis is on the neurobiology of mental illness and neurologic disease. The course is divided into two parts: Part I covers primarily the organization, structure and function of the nervous system, and Part II covers primarily the neurobiology of mental illness, normal aging, and age-related disease. Joseph. 3 cr, Spring sem.