Fall 2013 courses for the GMS Masters Program in Medical Anthropology & Cross-Cultural Practice open to SPH students

in Fellowships
April 12th, 2013

The following courses will be offered in the Fall 2013 semester, through the MA Program in Medical Anthropology, in the Division of Graduate Medical Sciences at BUSM. For any SPH student interested in cross-registering for one of these courses, please remember that although none of these courses is yet pre-approved for MPH credit:

  • Full-time MPH students are welcome to enroll in anything they desire at BU, so long as they are registered for 12 credits or more of approved MPH courses in the same semester. 
  • Part-time students, however, pay out of pocket if they remain registered for a class that is not specifically pre-approved for transfer credit for their degree program.  For example, if MA 640 were not approved for MPH credit and a part time MPH student signed up for the class, he or she would have to pay for it out of pocket – financial aid could not be applied
  •  Students must earn a B or better in a course, in order to be able to transfer credits of approved, non-SPH classes.
  • Students must complete at least 40 credits of SPH numbered courses for their SPH degree; a maximum of 8 credits on non-SPH, approved graduate credits may be applied to the MPH degree.

Individual MPH students interested in any of these classes will have to go through the transfer credit process before registering.  The form and policy are at http://sph.bu.edu/registrar/forms. For further questions, contact the Registrar, Chris Paal (cpaal@bu.edu).

GMS MA 700 – History and Theory of Medical Anthropology (Part I; Part II is offered in the Spring)  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 (llaird@bu.edu). 3 cr (Students who need a fourth credit should contact the instructor about adding a single directed study credit.), Fall sem. M 9:30-12:20 (Medical Campus)

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 (deweiner@bu.edu). 3 cr (Students who need a fourth credit should contact the instructor about adding a single directed study credit.), Fall sem. W 9:30-12:20 (Medical Campus)

GMS MA 620 – World Religions and Healing  This course examines interdisciplinary approaches to the study of world religions and healing. Introduces healing worldviews, strategies, and practices 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. Draws on source materials from history, religious studies, and medical anthropology. Focus is on these traditions in the United States. 4 cr. Barnes (lbarnes@bu.edu). M 3:00-5:50 (Charles River Campus) 

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. Barnes (lbarnes@bu.edu). 3 cr (Students who need a fourth credit should contact the instructor about adding a single directed study credit.), Fall sem. W 5:00-8:00 pm

GMS MA 680 – Culture, Migration, and Mental Health  Prereq: consent of instructor. This medical anthropology course explores different ways in which mental health and illness are constructed by and for those who migrate across national, cultural, and other borders. We will examine the historical development of the fields of psychology, psychiatry, and social work in the context of Western societies, in parallel with the anthropological study of ritual, violence, ecstatic and possession experiences in non-Western societies. We then explore debates in cross- cultural mental health care that bring these historical disciplines into dialogue, particularly in the context of programs for the treatment of refugee and immigrant mental health. The intersection of political, economic, religious, and gender issues in the construction of mental health will also be considered. Laird (llaird@bu.edu). 3 cr. (Students needing a 4th credit should speak with the instructor about adding a single-credit directed study), Fall sem. Thurs 3:30-6:30 pm.

If students have questions about the classes themselves, they can contact any of the instructors: