NEW COURSE PROPOSAL FORM
PROPOSED BY: SOCIOLOGY/CRIMINAL JUSTICE STUDIES (DR. FRANK HUTCHINS)
PROPOSAL DATE: 8/25/11
I. COURSE INFORMATION
1. Course Title: The Anthropology of Mind and Body
Number: ANTH 310
You may propose a course number on the title line if you wish
2. Department of the Course:
Number assigned by Registrar
Psychology/Sociology
3. Course Level (circle one):
FR (100)
SO (200)
JR (300)
SR (400)
GRAD (500+)
Rationale for Course Level:
Medical anthropology is best grasped with a prior knowledge of
anthropological concepts, or some exposure to cross-cultural issues in health and healing. The 300-level
designation indicates that this is above introductory level material, and will hopefully appeal to students
with sufficient academic background to understand some of the complex relationships between
culture/nature/health. This particular approach considers both physical and mental health as understood,
experienced and responded to from cultural positions. It offers students in sociology, psychology, health
sciences, and other majors an opportunity to integrate a cross-cultural, globally oriented course into their
academic experience.
4. Credit Hours: 3
If this course deviates from the standard course schedule and credits (3hrs per week, 14 weeks, 3 credits),
you must provide a rationale.
Rationale for Credit Hours:
5. Prerequisites and/or Restrictions (e.g. majors only), if any:
instructor
Junior/Senior status or permission of
6. Describe the method of delivery (e.g. lab, online, etc):
Classroom, on campus
7. Course Fee, if any:
None
Note: course fees are set annually and apply on an academic year cycle beginning in fall.
8. When will this course first be offered?
as SOC 341 Special Topics)
9. Instructor:
Spring 2012 (Course taught previously as IDC 301 and
Dr. Frank Hutchins
Attach instructor’s CV for first-time, part-time faculty.
10. Frequency (e.g. every spring):
Every Spring
11. Typical Section Size (how many students):
20
12. Is it graded on the A-F grading scale, or is it Pass/Fail only? A-F grading scale
13. Is the course repeatable as an elective (e.g. is it a topics course)?
No
14. If this course can be cross-listed, indicate dept and number of other course:
1
No cross-list
15. Catalog Description: The Anthropology of Mind and Body introduces students to concepts in medical
anthropology. Medical Anthropology is a subfield of anthropology that draws upon social,
cultural, biological, and linguistic anthropology to better understand those factors which
influence health and well being (broadly defined), the experience and distribution of illness, the
prevention and treatment of sickness, healing processes, the social relations of therapy
management, and the cultural importance and utilization of pluralistic medical systems. A unique
aspect of this class is that it includes mental health as a focus of cultural inquiry, making it
especially attractive to psychology students (13 of 16 students who took the class as SOC 341 in
Spring 2011 were Psychology majors).
II. RATIONALE, CURRICULAR IMPACT, AND ASSESSMENT
1. Rationale for the introduction of the course: This course is one of several courses that will form the
core of anthropology offerings at Bellarmine. This core grows out of the current QEP, and campus-wide
efforts to offer more internationally themed courses to our students. The core itself is formed around
topics that are relevant for, and complementary to, the Bellarmine curriculum. These include religion,
environment and sustainability, and health sciences. The course will also increase anthropology classes
available to students in the proposed Anthropology Minor.
2. What is the curricular impact of this course (e.g. change major or minor requirements, add additional
hours to the major, replace an existing requirement, etc.)?
The only curricular impact is that it
offers more social science choices to students, and contributes to our efforts to further globalize our
curriculum.
3. Procedures used to establish that this course avoids substantial duplication with other courses:
Occasionally, there are IDC courses in cross-cultural health issues, but these are not regular
offerings, and not strictly anthropological.
4. List all departments or programs affected by this addition (include descriptions of communications
with chairs/directors of these depts):
The primary impact on other departments is that this course
increases the options for social science electives. It also provides a course for psychology majors that
addresses cross-cultural issues in physical and mental health which is currently not provided in the
curriculum. It also provides a cross-cultural option to students in health sciences.
5. How will the instructional costs of the course will be covered (Is another course being dropped from
the schedule? Will the course require a new hire? Are student enrollments sufficient throughout this
department’s curriculum to justify the addition of another course?)
This class requires no additional
faculty. It is a course that has been taught previously as IDC 301 and SOC 341, most recently in Spring
2011.
6. New resources needed (library holdings, technology, equipment, materials, etc): I have for the past
three years, with the assistance of the library staff, been adding anthropology and geography materials to
the library offerings. I will continue to do this.
7. Does the course fulfill a General Education requirement?
YES
X
NO
 If yes, which Gen Ed requirement?
 Which of the Gen Ed learning outcomes (see Course Catalog for a list) does it address?
 4. Comparative understanding of the world’s peoples, place, and cultures. 6. Familiarity with
principles and practices in the social sciences. 9. Critical thinking skills. 10. Facility in oral and
written communication.
8. Can the course fulfill a requirement:
 for the departmental major?
 for the departmental minor?
X
X
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YES
YES
NO
NO
 for requirements in other depts/programs?
YES
X
NO
Include a specific explanation if “yes” for any (e.g. it fulfills an upper-level major elective requirement, or
it is a required course for the minor, or it is required for pre-med, etc). This course can be used to
fulfill the electives requirements for minors and majors needing sociology or social science credits. It can
also be used to fulfill requirements in the proposed Anthropology Minor.
9. How does this course address the department’s stated learning outcomes?
The following Sociology/CJS outcomes are addressed by this course:
1. Demonstrate a fundamental grasp of classic and contemporary theories of society and
their origins with the founders of the discipline.
2. Conduct an independent research project.
3. Present an independent research project.
4. Demonstrate proficiency with fundamental data manipulation tools and methodologies.
5. Apply sociological theories to real world settings.
This course will introduce students to theories in medical anthropology, human geography, cross-cultural
psychology, and cultural anthropology, which are part of the larger body of social science theory. The
course will also help students develop research and writing skills. Through our readings and field trips,
we will connect anthropological theories to real world settings. This course also helps students i dentify
connections between theory and research in the construction of scientific knowledge.
III. REVIEWS AND APPROVALS
1.
Department Action:
Approved
Department Chair Signature:
2.
Date:
Proposal must be reviewed by the Registrar and Library Director before submission to the
College or School (an email can be attached in lieu of these two signatures).
Registrar Reviewed
Library Director Reviewed
3.
Not Approved
Signature:
Signature:
College/School Action:
Date:
Date:
Approved
Dean’s Signature:
Not Approved
Date:
4.
Faculty Council Coordinating Committee Review: As stated in Chapter 2 (University
Governance System), all course, program, and curricular issues, having first been sent to the
Faculty Council Coordinating Committee after School approval, will be sent to the
Undergraduate Affairs or Graduate Affairs Committee.
5.
Educational Affairs Committee Action:
Approved
Not Approved
Note: If not approved by Educational Affairs committee, then proposal should proceed to Faculty
Council for review and recommendation.
Undergraduate/Graduate Ed Affairs Chair Signature: ___________________________
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(circle one)
Date of Ed Affairs Committee Action:
___________________________
***Ed Affairs Chair will forward final proposal to the Registrar for permanent archival***
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Spring 2011
SOC 341F The Anthropology of Mind & Body
Dr. Frank Hutchins
Classroom: LIBR B10
Class Time: MWF 1-1:50 p.m.
Office Location: Pasteur Hall 170
Office Hours: MWF 11-noon
Phone Number: 272-8393
Email: fhutchins@bellarmine.edu
Course Description: This course is a cross-cultural introduction to medical
anthropology, one of the fastest growing sub-fields within cultural anthropology. The course will
introduce students to the variety of ways that people from different cultures experience sickness
and healing, and the way they understand their bodies as physical and spiritual entities within a
larger universe. We will look at different disease theories, and also at how political and
economic structures affect the quality and availability of health care. These issues will be
discussed in greater detail as we think critically about the human body, read an ethnography
about a midwife in Mali, and consider the influence of Western mental health paradigms on nonWestern people and institutions. Finally, we will turn to the local community to investigate ways
that health care professionals are dealing (or not) with a culturally diverse population. The course
will draw periodically on my fieldwork in the Andes and Amazon, but will also devote some
sessions to other healing traditions.
Course Methodology: We are a relatively small class, which is a good environment
for discussion and debate. The first part of class (up to spring break) will be a combination of
PowerPoint lectures, short films, and discussion. When we begin the Fadiman book, we will rely
more on discussion, with an occasional film or film section to help us better enter Hmong
culture. The assignments will help us leave the comfort of our own cultural systems with the goal
of understanding how people from other cultures might experience and react to illness episodes.
Required Texts:
1) Culture and the Human Body, by John W. Burton
2) Monique and the Mango Rains: Two Years with a Midwife in
Mali, by Kris Holloway
3) Crazy Like Us: The Globalization of the American Psyche, by
Ethan Watters
Course Requirements and Grading Scale: Your final grade is based on
how many points you accumulate out of 1000 points possible. Grades are based on a standard
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scale, so that 900-1000 points is equivalent to 90-100 points on the scale below, 800-899 is
equivalent to 80-89.9, etc. Following is a more detailed breakdown of course requirements:
Exams (600 points total): There are two exams during the semester and a final exam.
Group Presentations (400 points total):
First Presentation: This presentation is built upon sets of chapters from Monique and the Mango
Rains. Students will use journal entries to reflect on cultural and structural issues that arise in
their respective chapters. These will then be analyzed and presented to the class.
Second Presentation: For this presentation, each group will be assigned a chapter from Crazy
Like Us, and asked to discuss main points by connecting the issues in the chapter with points
raised in the handout article on cross-cultural psychiatry. Various theories, approaches, and
diagnostic tools from the article should be used to critically analyze the book chapter. Key
materials in each chapter should be divided among group members, with each person writing a
minimum 3-page paper that covers a particular aspect. These papers will then be made into a
presentation, which will take place on the dates indicated in the syllabus.
GRADING SCALE:
A+ 98-100
A 92-97.9
A- 90-91.9
B+ 88-89.9 C+ 78-79.9
B 82-87.9 C 72-77.9
B- 80-81.9 C- 70-71.9
D+ 68-69.9 F 0-59.9
D 62-67.9
D- 60-61.9
Learning Outcomes and Assessment Strategies
Learning Objective
Gen Ed Objectives
Assessments
Students will think and write
critically about the relationships
between culture and biology in
terms of health and healing
Critical thinking;
Comparative understanding
of the world’s peoples,
places and cultures
1)
2)
3)
4)
Students will cultivate a
relativistic, as opposed to an
ethnocentric, cultural perspective
Comparative understanding
of the world’s peoples,
places and cultures
1) Writing assignments
2) Class Discussions
3) Presentations
Students will better understand
ethnographic research methods
Familiarity with the
principles and practices of
the social sciences
1) Writing assignments
2) Class Discussions
Students will learn to articulate
positions and develop reflective
arguments
Facility in oral and written
communication
1)
2)
3)
4)
NOTE: Dates for tests and assignments are tentative and may change
Important Dates:
Feb. 2 – Exam One
Mar. 4 – Exam Two
Mar. 7-11 – Spring Break
Apr. 21-25 – Easter Break
Apr. 28 – Study Day
May 2 – Final Exam (11:30-2:30 LIBR B10)
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Writing assignments
Exams
Class Discussions
Presentations
Writing assignments
Exams
Class Discussions
Presentations
Class Schedule
Jan. 7:
Introduction to course objectives and materials
Jan. 10:
The Anthropological Approach to Health and Healing
Readings: Introduction: The Scope of Medical Anthropology (handout)
PowerPoint Presentation: Introduction to Medical Anthropology
Jan. 12:
Thinking about the Human Body
Readings: Introduction in Culture and the Human Body
PowerPoint Presentation: De/Reconstructing the Human Body
Jan. 14:
Human Evolution and Human Culture
Readings: Chapter One in Culture and the Human Body
Jan. 17:
MLK Holiday
Jan. 19:
The Social Life of the Body
Readings: Chapter Two to page 35 in Culture and the Human Body
PowerPoint Presentation: Disciplining the Body
Jan. 21:
Culture and Biology
Readings: Chapter Two from 35-end in Culture and the Human Body
Jan 24:
Ethnicity, Identity and the Body
Readings: Chapter Three to page 61 in Culture and the Human Body
Film Segment: First Contact
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsNoWxwagUE&feature=related)
Jan. 26:
Manufactured Bodies
Readings: Chapter Three 61-end in Culture and the Human Body
Jan. 28:
Initiation and the Body
Readings: Chapter Four in Culture and the Human Body
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Jan. 31:
Initiation and the Body
Readings: Chapter Four in Culture and the Human Body
Film Segment: Coming of Age
Feb. 2:
Exam One
Feb. 4:
Culturalizing the Body: Birth
Film: At Highest Risk
Feb. 7:
Maternal and Infant Health in Developing Countries
PowerPoint Presentation: Managing Maternity in the Andes
Feb. 9:
Cultural Relativism
PowerPoint Presentation: Critical Cultural Relativism
Feb. 11:
Critical Medical Anthropology
Case Study: Cholera
Feb. 14:
Critical Medical Anthropology
Film: Unnatural Causes
Feb. 16:
Overview of Medical Anthropology in African Context
Readings: Introduction in Holloway
Feb. 18:
Introducing Monique
Readings: Chaps. 1-3 in Holloway
Group One
Feb. 21:
Monique and the Mango Rains
Readings: Chap. 4-6
Group Two
Feb. 23:
Monique and the Mango Rains
Feb. 25:
Readings: Chap. 7-9
Group Three
Monique and the Mango Rains
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Readings: Chap. 10-Postscript
Group Four
Feb. 28:
Wrap-up Discussion of Monique and the Mango Rains
Mar. 2:
Film: Birth of a Surgeon (Wide Angle production)
Mar. 4:
Exam Two - Essay
Mar 7-11:
Spring Break
Mar.: 14:
Film: Afflictions
Mar. 16:
Cross-cultural Psychiatry
Readings: Hand out
Mar. 18:
Cross-cultural Psychiatry
Guest Speaker
Mar. 21:
Introduction to Crazy Like Us
Readings: Introduction in Crazy Like Us
Mar. 23:
The Rise of Anorexia in Hong Kong
Readings: Chap. 1 in Crazy Like Us
Group One
Mar. 25:
The Rise of Anorexia in Hong Kong
Readings: Chap. 1 in Crazy Like Us
Mar. 28:
The Wave That Brought PTSD to Sri Lanka
Readings: Chap. 2 in Crazy Like Us
Group Two
Mar. 30:
The Wave That Brought PTSD to Sri Lanka
Readings: Chap. 2 in Crazy Like Us
Apr. 1:
The Shifting Mask of Schizophrenia in Zanzibar
Readings: Chap. 3 in Crazy Like Us
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Group Three
Apr. 4:
The Shifting Mask of Schizophrenia in Zanzibar
Readings: Chap. 3 in Crazy Like Us
Apr. 6:
The Mega-Marketing of Depression in Japan
Readings: Chap. 4 in Crazy Like Us
Apr. 8:
The Mega-Marketing of Depression in Japan
Readings: Chap. 4 in Crazy Like Us
Group Four
Apr. 11:
Conclusion to Crazy Like Us
Apr. 13:
Globe-trotting Germs
PowerPoint Presentation: The Global Petri Dish
Apr. 15:
Technology and the Body
Readings: Chapter Five to page 99 in Culture and the Human Body
Apr. 18:
Life, Death and Bioethics
Readings: Chapter Five 99-end in Culture and the Human Body
Apr. 20:
The International Organ Market
Apr. 21-25:
Easter Break
Apr. 27:
Wrap-up, Evaluation and Discussion of Final Exam
May 2:
Final Exam (11:30-2:30 LIBR B10)
Class Policies and Guidelines
UNIVERSITY MISSION: Bellarmine University is an independent Catholic university serving the
region, nation and world by educating talented, diverse students of all faiths and many ages, nations, and
cultures, and with respect for each individual’s intrinsic value and dignity. We educate our students
through undergraduate and graduate programs in the liberal arts and professional studies, within which
students develop the intellectual, moral, ethical and professional competencies for successful living, work,
leadership and service to others. We achieve these goals in an educational environment committed to
excellence, academic freedom, and authentic conversations not dominated by particular political or other
single perspective and thus to thoughtful, informed consideration of serious ideas, values, and issues,
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time-honored and contemporary, across a broad range of compelling regional, national and international
matters. By these means, Bellarmine University seeks to benefit the public interest, to help create the
future, and to improve the human condition.
Attendance Policy
Students are expected to attend all classes. The instructor reserves the right to lower the final
grade or, in extreme cases, drop from the course any student with excessive absences.
The University requires students who will be absent from class while representing the University
to inform their instructors in two steps. During the first week of the course, students must meet
with each instructor to discuss the attendance policy and arrangements for absences related to
University-sponsored events. Second, students must provide the instructor with a signed Student
Absentee Notification Form, available via the student portal on the University intranet, at the
earliest possible opportunity, but not later than the week prior to the anticipated absence. The
Student Absentee Notification Form does not serve as an excused absence from class. Your
instructor has the final say about excused and unexcused absences and it is the student’s
responsibility to know and abide by the instructor’s policy.
Academic Honesty
I strongly endorse and will follow the academic honesty policy as published in the 2009-11
Course Catalog and in the 2009-10 Student Handbook. Both documents are available online via
mybellarmine.edu. Students and faculty must be fully aware of what constitutes academic
dishonesty; claims of ignorance cannot be used to justify or rationalize dishonest acts. Academic
dishonesty can take a number of forms, including but not limited to cheating, plagiarism,
fabrication, aiding and abetting, multiple submissions, obtaining unfair advantage, and
unauthorized access to academic or administrative systems. Definitions of each of these forms
of academic dishonesty are provided in the academic honesty section of the Student Handbook.
All confirmed incidents of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Senior Vice President for
Academic Affairs, and sanctions will be imposed as dictated by the policy. Penalties range from
failing an assignment or course to dismissal from the University, depending, in part, on the
student’s previous record of academic dishonesty. On the second offense during a student’s
academic career, the student will be immediately suspended for the semester in which the most
recent offense took place. On the third offense, the student will be dismissed from the
University.
Academic Resource Center (ARC)
Bellarmine University is committed to providing services and programs that assist all students in
further developing their learning and study skills and in reaching their academic goals. Students
needing or wanting additional and/or specialized assistance related to study techniques, writing,
time management, tutoring, test-taking strategies, etc., should seek out the resources of the ARC,
located on the A-level of the W.L. Lyons Brown Library. Call 452-8071 for more information.
Disability Services
Students with disabilities who require accommodations (academic adjustments and/or
auxiliary aids or services) for this course must contact the Disability Services
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Coordinator. Please do not request accommodations directly from the professor. The
Disability Services Coordinator is located in the Counseling Center, phone 452-8480.
SEVERE WEATHER: Refer to the current student handbook for details regarding changes in
schedule due to bad weather. Faculty will arrange class schedules to meet course objectives in
the event classes will be cancelled.
DISCLAIMER: The instructor reserves the right to alter portions of this syllabus when
inclement weather or other unforeseen circumstances require it.
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