Unit information: Anthropology and Global Health in 2020/21

Unit name	Anthropology and Global Health
Unit code	SSCM30003
Credit points	10
Level of study	H/6
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director	Professor. Lambert
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	Bristol Medical School
Faculty	Faculty of Health Sciences

Description including Unit Aims

This unit aims to develop knowledge and understanding of the roles of culture, social structure and political economy in shaping global health problems and interventions by introducing students to anthropological approaches to global health and bioethics.

Intended Learning Outcomes

• Appreciate the importance of taking local and organizational culture, social structure and social processes into account in the design and appraisal of health interventions and in the interpretation of evidence concerning their effectiveness
• Understand the value of involving local communities to facilitate effective health-related behavioural and social change
• Recognise the role of medical pluralism and non-biomedical practices in health care provision
• Be aware of sociocultural and ethical considerations in undertaking clinical trials and other types of health research in resource-poor settings
• Be able to utilise simple anthropological concepts in accounting for diverse perspectives on health and medical interventions

Teaching Information

This unit will be taught in the form of workshops using a variety of teaching methods including lectures, presentations, small group work, debates and seminars.

Assessment Information

Formative assessment: Group presentations in week 5 based on allotted readings

Summative assessment: 2500-3000 word individual essay

Reading and References

General background/preparatory reading

Biehl J, Petryna A. (2013). When people come first: Critical studies in global health. Princeton University Press. [Electronic and hard copies in UoB library]

Farmer P, Kim JY, Kleinman A, Basilico M. (2013). Reimagining global health: An introduction. Berkeley etc: University of California Press. [in UoB library]

Good, B et al (eds.). (2010). A reader in medical anthropology: Theoretical trajectories, emergent realities. Malden etc.: Wiley-Blackwell.

Hahn R, Inhorn M (eds.). (2009). Anthropology in public health: Bridging differences in culture and society [2^nd ed.] New York & Oxford: Oxford University Press. [in UoB library]

Inhorn M, Brown, P. (1997). The anthropology of infectious disease: International health perspectives. Amsterdam: Gordon & Breach. [in UoB library]

Lambert H. (2012). ‘New medical anthropology’, in The Sage handbook of social anthropology [Vol 2]. Fardon R. et al (eds), pp.352-364. Los Angeles etc: Sage. [e-version in UoB library]

Lock M, Nguyen V-K. (2011). An Anthropology of Biomedicine. Wiley-Blackwell

Nichter M. (2008). Global Health: why cultural perceptions, social representations and biopolitics matter. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.

Pool R, Geissler W. (2005). Medical anthropology. Open University Press [Understanding Public Health series] [copy available in UoB library]