Medical Anthropology and Cross-Cultural Practice:
2010-2011 Courses
FAQ about these courses for Carles River Campus studentsFAQ about these courses for BUSM students
Directions and Map
Fall 2011
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.
(See FAQ for how to arrange for a 4th credit: http://www.bu.edu/bhlp/Education/Masters/ FAQ/faqCRC.htm)
Laird 3 cr, 1st Sem, M 1:00-4:00 PM
GMS MA 710 Medical Anthropology & 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.
(See FAQ for how to arrange for a 4th credit: http://www.bu.edu/bhlp/Education/Masters/ FAQ/faqCRC.html
Weiner 3 cr, 1st sem., T 9:30AM-12:20 PM
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.
(See FAQ for how to arrange for a 4th credit: http://www.bu.edu/bhlp/Education/Masters/ FAQ/faqCRC.html
Weiner 3 cr, 1st sem., M 2:00-4:50PM
GMS MA 742 Medical Anthropological and Qualitative Data Analysis
Prereq: Permission of instructor. Examines strategies for analyzing medical anthropology 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.
(See FAQ for how to arrange for a 4th credit: http://www.bu.edu/bhlp/Education/Masters/ FAQ/faqCRC.html
Barnes 3 cr. 1st sem, W 9:30AM- 12:20PM
GMS MA 610 Reading Ethnography in Medical Anthropology This seminar will read medical anthropological texts analytically. Starting with a review of the debates, going through selected classic ethnographic studies, the seminar will explore ethnographies that address different cultural meanings of human experiences of suffering and affliction, including illness and violence. Students will engage in studying the methodology, theoretical underpinnings, writing, and social positions represented in these ethnographies.
(See FAQ for how to arrange for a 4th credit: http://www.bu.edu/bhlp/Education/Masters/ FAQ/faqCRC.html
Laird 3 cr, 1st sem., Th 9:30-12:20 AM
GMS MA 620 World Religions and Healing An introduction to approaches to healing integral to Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, Christian, Muslim, African, African-descended, Latin American, Chinese, Native American traditions, and to some of the outcomes of their interactions, in relation to the experience of affliction and suffering.
Barnes. 4 cr, 1st sem, M 9:30-12:20 AM
GMS MA 640 The Cultural Formation of the Clinician: Its Implications for Practice
This course will provide a context for exploring and reflecting on one's own cultural formation in relation to such topics as gender, sexual orientation, race, class, religion, body size, and other areas where there are the greatest risks for health disparities through unexamined bias. The course examines the values one brings into one's practice as a care provider, and how the interaction of both influence one?s personal and professional life, including responses to diverse patient cultures. Offered through M.A. program in Medical Anthropology.
(See FAQ for how to arrange for a 4th credit: http://www.bu.edu/bhlp/Education/Masters/ FAQ/faqCRC.html
Barnes 3 cr, 1st sem, W 5:00-8:00 PM
GMS MA 691 A1 - Directed Study in Medical Anthropology: Prereq: Permission of instructor. Laird 1 cr. 1st sem.
GMS MA 691 B1 - Directed Study in Medical Anthropology: Prereq: Permission of instructor. Barnes 1 cr. 1st sem.
GMS MA 691 C1 - Directed Study in Medical Anthropology: Prereq: Permission of instructor. Weiner 1 cr. 1st sem.
Spring 2012
GMS MA 701 History and Theory of Medical Anthropology (Part II)
Prereq: Permission of Instructor. 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.
(See FAQ for how to arrange for a 4th credit: http://www.bu.edu/bhlp/Education/Masters/ FAQ/faqCRC.html
Laird 3 cr, 2nd sem. M 1:00-4:00 PM
GMS MA 770 IRB Proposal Development and Writing
Prereq: Permission of 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.
See FAQ for how to arrange for a 4th credit: http://www.bu.edu/bhlp/Education/Masters/ FAQ/faqCRC.html
Weiner 3 cr, 2nd sem, W 9:30-12:30
GMS MA 786 Final Project Writing Seminar
Prereq: Consent of 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.
(See FAQ for how to arrange for a 4th credit: http://www.bu.edu/bhlp/Education/Masters/ FAQ/faqCRC.html
Barnes 3 cr, 2nd sem, W 9:30-12:30
GMS MA 622 Religion and Public Health
This course will explore relationships between religion and health in the context of public health projects. We will examine historical developments, examples of faith-based public health organizations, and current research on “religious health assets,” both locally and internationally.
(See FAQ for how to arrange for a 4th credit: http://www.bu.edu/bhlp/Education/Masters/ FAQ/faqCRC.html
Laird 3 cr, 2nd sem. Th 9:30-12:30
GMS MA 630 Medical Anthropology and the Cultures of Biomedicine
This course examines biomedicine as a cultural system with multiple local and national variations worldwide, all of which have undergone changes over time. Topics will include the exploration of biomedicine as a cultural system, with cultural variations and different conceptual domains; processes of acculturation to biomedicine the medicalization of social realities; biomedical narratives; the patient-doctor relationship (including when the physician is the patient); understandings of interventions and the meanings assigned to them; and different ways of thinking about efficacy in relation to process and chronicity. The course will draw on ethnographic studies of biomedicine not only in the United States, but in other international settings.
(See FAQ for how to arrange for a 4th credit: http://www.bu.edu/bhlp/Education/Masters/ FAQ/faqCRC.html
Barnes 3 cr, 2nd sem, M 9:30-12:30
GMS MA 640 The Cultural Formation of the Clinician: Its Implications for Practice
This course will provide a context for exploring and reflecting on one's own cultural formation in relation to such topics as gender, sexual orientation, race, class, religion, body size, and other areas where there are the greatest risks for health disparities through unexamined bias. The course examines the values one brings into one's practice as a care provider, and how the interaction of both influence one?s personal and professional life, including responses to diverse patient cultures. Offered through M.A. program in Medical Anthropology.
(See FAQ for how to arrange for a 4th credit: http://www.bu.edu/bhlp/Education/Masters/ FAQ/faqCRC.html
Barnes 3 cr, 2nd sem. W 5:00-8:00
GMS MA 626 Native Health, Healing and Medicine
This course examines Native American and Alaskan Native health conditions and associated systems of healing. Students will investigate historical and contemporary Native perspectives of illness, disease, and wellness. Emphasis will be placed on the socio-cultural impact of national and local health policies upon Native physical, social, emotional, and spiritual bodies. Readings will draw on medical anthropology ethnographic, Public Health, epidemiologic, biomedical, nursing, and Native studies.
(See FAQ for how to arrange for a 4th credit: http://www.bu.edu/bhlp/Education/Masters/ FAQ/faqCRC.html
Weiner 3 cr, 2nd sem. T 3:00-6:00
GMS MA 692 A1 - Directed Study in Medical Anthropology Prereq: Permission of instructor. Laird 1 cr. 2nd sem.
GMS MA 692 B1 - Directed Study in Medical Anthropology Prereq: Permission of instructor. Barnes 1 cr. 2nd sem.
GMS MA 692 C1 - Directed Study in Medical Anthropology Prereq: Permission of instructor. Weiner 1 cr. 2nd sem.
Fall 2012
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.
(See FAQ for how to arrange for a 4th credit: http://www.bu.edu/bhlp/Education/Masters/ FAQ/faqCRC.htm)
Laird 3 cr, 1st Sem, M 1:00-4:00 PM
GMS MA 710 Medical Anthropology & 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.
(See FAQ for how to arrange for a 4th credit: http://www.bu.edu/bhlp/Education/Masters/ FAQ/faqCRC.html
Weiner 3 cr, 1st sem., T 9:30AM-12:20 PM
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.
(See FAQ for how to arrange for a 4th credit: http://www.bu.edu/bhlp/Education/Masters/ FAQ/faqCRC.html
Weiner 3 cr, 1st sem., M 2:00-4:50PM
GMS MA 742 Medical Anthropological and Qualitative Data Analysis
Prereq: Permission of instructor. Examines strategies for analyzing medical anthropology 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.
(See FAQ for how to arrange for a 4th credit: http://www.bu.edu/bhlp/Education/Masters/ FAQ/faqCRC.html
Barnes 3 cr. 1st sem, W 9:30AM- 12:20PM
GMS MA 640 The Cultural Formation of the Clinician: Its Implications for Practice
This course will provide a context for exploring and reflecting on one's own cultural formation in relation to such topics as gender, sexual orientation, race, class, religion, body size, and other areas where there are the greatest risks for health disparities through unexamined bias. The course examines the values one brings into one's practice as a care provider, and how the interaction of both influence one?s personal and professional life, including responses to diverse patient cultures. Offered through M.A. program in Medical Anthropology.
(See FAQ for how to arrange for a 4th credit: http://www.bu.edu/bhlp/Education/Masters/ FAQ/faqCRC.html
Barnes 3 cr, 1st sem, W 5:00-8:00 PM
GMS MA 682: Islamic Medicine and Healing
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. Offered through the MA program in Medical Anthropology.
(See FAQ for how to arrange for a 4th credit: http://www.bu.edu/bhlp/Education/Masters/ FAQ/faqCRC.html
Laird 3 cr, 1st sem., Th 9:30-12:30
GMS MA 684: Social History of Chinese Medicine and Healing Traditions
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. Primary sources, and secondary sources from history and medical anthropology.
(See FAQ for how to arrange for a 4th credit: http://www.bu.edu/bhlp/Education/Masters/ FAQ/faqCRC.html
Barnes 3 cr, 1st sem, M 9:30-12:30
GMS MA 691 A1 - Directed Study in Medical Anthropology: Prereq: Permission of instructor. Laird 1 cr. 1st sem.
GMS MA 691 B1 - Directed Study in Medical Anthropology: Prereq: Permission of instructor. Barnes 1 cr. 1st sem.
GMS MA 691 C1 - Directed Study in Medical Anthropology: Prereq: Permission of instructor. Weiner 1 cr. 1st sem.
Spring 2013
GMS MA 701 History and Theory of Medical Anthropology (Part II)
Prereq: Permission of Instructor. 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.
(See FAQ for how to arrange for a 4th credit: http://www.bu.edu/bhlp/Education/Masters/ FAQ/faqCRC.html
Laird 3 cr, 2nd sem. M 1:00-4:00 PM
GMS MA 770 IRB Proposal Development and Writing
Prereq: Permission of 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.
See FAQ for how to arrange for a 4th credit: http://www.bu.edu/bhlp/Education/Masters/ FAQ/faqCRC.html
Weiner 3 cr, 2nd sem, W 9:30-12:30
GMS MA 786 Final Project Writing Seminar
Prereq: Consent of 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.
(See FAQ for how to arrange for a 4th credit: http://www.bu.edu/bhlp/Education/Masters/ FAQ/faqCRC.html
Barnes 3 cr, 2nd sem, W 9:30-12:30
GMS MA 605 A Social History of Medical Pluralism in the United States
This course explores issues in the social history of medical pluralism in the United States. It examines relations between medical concepts, therapies, and currents in social thought, including the roles of class, race, and gender. Begins with the colonial period, and follows through the the present, with discussions of different meanings of complementary and alternative medicine. Primary source materials, as well as sources from history, medicine, and medical anthropology.
(See FAQ for how to arrange for a 4th credit: http://www.bu.edu/bhlp/Education/Masters/ FAQ/faqCRC.html
Barnes 4 cr, 2nd sem, M 9:30-12:30
GMS MA 640 The Cultural Formation of the Clinician: Its Implications for Practice
This course will provide a context for exploring and reflecting on one's own cultural formation in relation to such topics as gender, sexual orientation, race, class, religion, body size, and other areas where there are the greatest risks for health disparities through unexamined bias. The course examines the values one brings into one's practice as a care provider, and how the interaction of both influence one?s personal and professional life, including responses to diverse patient cultures. Offered through M.A. program in Medical Anthropology.
(See FAQ for how to arrange for a 4th credit: http://www.bu.edu/bhlp/Education/Masters/ FAQ/faqCRC.html
Barnes 3 cr, 2nd sem. W 5:00-8:00
GMS MA 650 Society, Healthcare, and the Cultures of Competence
Examines the history and current policies of health education, beginning with the notion of "competencies" as a basis for biomedical training and the development of a model that has been exported to other fields. Focuses on the conceptual formation of key “professional competencies” in medicine, acupuncture, and pastoral care. Readings include autobiographical accounts of medical students, physicians, chaplains, and acupuncturists.
(See FAQ for how to arrange for a 4th credit: http://www.bu.edu/bhlp/Education/Masters/ FAQ/faqCRC.html
Laird 3 cr, 2nd sem., Th 9:30-12:30
GMS MA 677 Topics in Medical Anthropology
This seminar develops a critique of topics in medical anthropological theory. It revisits significant legacies from classic anthropology, joining them with insights from current theory and ethnography, to analyze selected issues in medical anthropology. Each year, a specific topic serves as a focal point, and is examined through a variety of analytical frames employed in medical anthropology. The topic for 2013 is chronic illness.
(See FAQ for how to arrange for a 4th credit: http://www.bu.edu/bhlp/Education/Masters/ FAQ/faqCRC.html
Weiner 3 cr, 2nd sem, T 3:00-6:00
GMS MA 692 A1 - Directed Study in Medical Anthropology Prereq: Permission of instructor. Laird 1 cr. 2nd sem.
GMS MA 692 B1 - Directed Study in Medical Anthropology Prereq: Permission of instructor. Barnes 1 cr. 2nd sem.
GMS MA 692 C1 - Directed Study in Medical Anthropology Prereq: Permission of instructor. Weiner 1 cr. 2nd sem.