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Medical Anthropology and Global Health
Anthropology 432
Weds 5:00-7:00 pm
Spring 2012
Kimber Haddix McKay, Professor
213 Social Sciences
Office hours: T/R 10-11:30
kimber.mckay@mso.umt.edu
Course Scope and Goals:
Anthropology 432 is a course designed to enhance student understanding of ‘global health’ from the perspective
of medical anthropologists and clinicians involved in health care delivery in many settings in the developing
world. Students will read broadly in medical anthropology, and will hear the real-life perspectives of health
development program designers, project managers, and clinicians.
By taking this course,
 Students will develop and practice their fluency in the basic terminology, methods, and analytical
frameworks of medical anthropology
 Students will interact with local clinicians involved in medical service delivery in developing world
settings
 Students will interact with local epidemiologists involved in understanding disease processes and
disease natural histories worldwide
 Students will interact with local medical researchers whose research addresses the obstacles to good
health and productive health-seeking behavior worldwide
Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:
 Identify and discuss the primary theoretical emphases of medical anthropology
 Identify and discuss the contributions made by medical anthropologists in applied and clinical settings in
the developing world
 Discuss the costs and benefits of medical missions abroad from both clinical and medical
anthropological perspectives.
Texts:
Hahn, R. Anthropology in Public Health, Oxford University Press, 1999.
Singer, M. and Baer H., Introducing Medical Anthropology, Altamira Press, 2007.
Moodle: Supplementary readings for Anthropology 447
For additional reference;
Merson, M., Black, R., and Mills, A., International Public Health, Jones and Bartlett Press, 2006.
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Requirements:

Class participation (and thus attendance) is mandatory. We expect you to have read the assigned
readings prior to the class for which they are assigned, and to be prepared to discuss them with your
peers. Making a few notes to yourself before class about points you find interesting in the readings will
help tremendously. Several times during the semester, your participation and preparation for class will
be evaluated with discussions, problem solving activities and the like. Keep in mind that if you miss a
class, you may not make up missed class work or attendance, which ultimately lowers your grade.

There will be three non-cumulative midterm exams and a cumulative final exam. These will be in-class
essay exams.

Your final grade will be calculated on the basis of attendance, class participation in discussions, and
your grades on three of the four exams. If you are satisfied with your grades on the three midterms,
you can skip the final exam.

Distribution of course grade:
Three exams
Attendance, participation, in-class assignments
Total
75%
25%
100%

Additional information:
o Please feel free to come to office hours, or to catch us before or after class with questions.You
may also schedule an appointment to meet outside of office hours.
o Make up exams – only with a documented health issue or with prior permission. If you cannot
come to an exam, you must tell us before on or on the day of the exam that you will be absent.
Make ups will be scheduled at our convenience within one week of the scheduled exam.
o Reserve readings are available on Moodle.
o If you’re taking this class pass/no pass, a pass > 69%.
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Graduate students will complete two additional assignments. The first is a scholarly research paper (1012 pages) that applies anthropological knowledge, theory and/or methods to a global health related issue
or topic. At a minimum, this paper will compare case studies in two sociocultural settings and will
include an introduction, literature review, presentation of the issue(s) or research question, discussion,
conclusion, and references to literature cited. The second assignment is a 20 minute professional
scholarly presentation based upon the research paper.

Plagiarism and misconduct: Honesty is required. Students found cheating, plagiarizing, “patch writing”
(writing by taking phrases or sections copied from a variety of sources, linked together with your
words), or giving false excuses will be dealt with strictly. Plagiarism is the subject of our first quiz, so if
you are unfamiliar with college expectations, please start with this webpage. Academic misconduct in
this class will be subject to an academic penalty (up to receiving a failing grade in this class) and/or a
disciplinary sanction by the University. All students need to be familiar with the Student Conduct Code.
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Disabilities Services: Students with disabilities will receive reasonable accommodations in this online
course. To request course modifications, please contact me as soon as possible. I will work with you and
Disability Services in the accommodation process. For more information, visit the Disability Services
website at http://www.umt.edu/dss/ or call 406.243.2243 (Voice/Text).
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Schedule:
Week/Date
1
Topic
Jan 27
Introduction
Reading/Notes
2
Medical Anthropology as a discipline: History
Singer and Baer Chpts 1-2
Why have a medical
anthropology and what do
medical anthropologists
do?
Medical Anthropology as a discipline: Case Studies
Hahn Chpt 1
Anthropology and public
health
Global Health: Determinants of Health
Singer and Baer Chpts 3-4
What is health and what is
ethnomedicine?
Feb 3
3
Feb 10
4
Feb 17
5
Feb 24
Discussion of readings to date, review, and in class
exam
6
March 3
Visiting Lecturer: Clinician with experience
practicing medicine in Africa
Singer and Baer Chpt 5
Plural medical systems
Visiting Lecturer: Clinician with experience
practicing medicine in Africa
Hahn Chpts 3-4
Anthropological methods
in mosquito net
interventions; Engaging
indigenous traditional
healers in the prevention of
AIDS and STDs
Visiting Lecturer: Clinician with experience
practicing medicine in Asia
Moodle: Nichter and
Nichter
Education by analogy
Visiting Lecturer: Clinician with experience
Singer and Baer Chpt 6
7
March 10
8
March 17
9
March 24
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practicing medicine in Asia
‘Health disparity, health
inequality’
10
March 31
Visiting Lecturer: Clinician with experience
practicing medicine in the Americas
Hahn Chpts 13-14
Mental health care and
traditional healing in
Puerto Rico; Participatory
research and public health
11
April 7
Discussion of readings to date, review, and in class
exam
12
April 14
Medical anthropological perspectives on problems
clinicians encounter in the field
Moodle: Montgomery
Efficacy of medical
missions
Solutions and future directions: Clinical perspectives
Moodle: Greene
HIV in Africa
Solutions and future directions: Anthropological
perspectives
Singer and Baer Chpt 7
Health and environment:
Toward a healthier world
13
April 21
14
April 28
15
May 5
Discussion of readings to date, review, and in class
exam (and course evaluation)
16
Monday: Final exam