ANTH 2038 - Anthropology of Health and Medicine
North Terrace Campus - Semester 1 - 2025
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General Course Information
Course Details
Course Code ANTH 2038 Course Anthropology of Health and Medicine Coordinating Unit Anthropology and Development Studies Term Semester 1 Level Undergraduate Location/s North Terrace Campus Units 3 Contact Up to 3 hours per week Available for Study Abroad and Exchange Y Prerequisites At least 12 units of Level I Undergraduate Study Incompatible ANTH 2003, ANTH 3003 Assessment Workshop participation, Short answer assignment, blog post or presentation, essay Course Staff
Course Coordinator: Dr Susan Hemer
Course Timetable
The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from .
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Learning Outcomes
Course Learning Outcomes
- To develop an understanding of key concepts and methods in medical anthropology
- To prompt students to engage respectfully in contemporary debates that relate to health and healthcare
- To introduce and develop students’ abilities to locate health and illness in historical, social and cultural contexts
- To analyse biomedicine and other medical systems as cultural phenomenon, and to critically analyse notions of health and medicine in our own society and our own lives
- Develop students’ research, digital and analytical skills on a topic of interest in the field of medical anthropology
University Graduate Attributes
This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attribute(s) specified below:
University Graduate Attribute Course Learning Outcome(s) Attribute 1: Deep discipline knowledge and intellectual breadth
Graduates have comprehensive knowledge and understanding of their subject area, the ability to engage with different traditions of thought, and the ability to apply their knowledge in practice including in multi-disciplinary or multi-professional contexts.
1 & 3 Attribute 2: Creative and critical thinking, and problem solving
Graduates are effective problems-solvers, able to apply critical, creative and evidence-based thinking to conceive innovative responses to future challenges.
5 Attribute 3: Teamwork and communication skills
Graduates convey ideas and information effectively to a range of audiences for a variety of purposes and contribute in a positive and collaborative manner to achieving common goals.
2 & 5 Attribute 4: Professionalism and leadership readiness
Graduates engage in professional behaviour and have the potential to be entrepreneurial and take leadership roles in their chosen occupations or careers and communities.
2 & 5 Attribute 5: Intercultural and ethical competency
Graduates are responsible and effective global citizens whose personal values and practices are consistent with their roles as responsible members of society.
3 Attribute 6: Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural competency
Graduates have an understanding of, and respect for, Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander values, culture and knowledge.
3 Attribute 7: Digital capabilities
Graduates are well prepared for living, learning and working in a digital society.
5 Attribute 8: Self-awareness and emotional intelligence
Graduates are self-aware and reflective; they are flexible and resilient and have the capacity to accept and give constructive feedback; they act with integrity and take responsibility for their actions.
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Learning Resources
Required Resources
Essential readings will be accessible through Course Readings on MyUni.Recommended Resources
Below is a list of materials which provide a good grounding and background resources for assignments.
Baer, HA, Singer, M & Susser, I 2013. Medical anthropology and the world system鈥�: critical perspectives, Third edition., Praeger, Santa Barbara, California.
Gamlin, J (ed.) 2020. Critical Medical Anthropology鈥�: Perspectives in and from Latin America, University College London, London.
Hsu, E & Harris, S 2010. Plants, health and healing鈥�: on the interface of ethnobotany and medical anthropology, Berghahn Books, New York.
Lock, M & Nguyen, V-K 2018. An anthropology of biomedicine, Second edition., Wiley, Newark.
Manderson, L 2016. The Routledge handbook of medical anthropology, 1st ed., Routledge, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon鈥�;
Singer, M, Erickson, PI (Pamela I & Abadi虂a-Barrero, C (eds) 2022. A companion to medical anthropology, 2nd ed., John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.
Singer, M & Baer, HA 2012. Introducing medical anthropology鈥�: a discipline in action, 2nd ed., AltaMira Press, Lanham, Md.
Ember, CR, Ember, M, 2004, Encyclopedia of Medical Anthropology: Health and Illness in the World’s Cultures Volume I: Topics Volume II: Cultures, Springer US, Boston, MA.
Online Learning
MyUni is crucial to this course. It will be used in this course for all main communications with students through Announcements, to access the lecture recordings, for accessing course resources like Readings. MyUni will also have the details for assignments, submission links and is the site for assignment feedback. -
Learning & Teaching Activities
Learning & Teaching Modes
This course is taught through a combination of lectures and workshops. Lectures aim to provide the theoretical and conceptual background of the topics at hand through case studies. Workshops will focus on key debates around these topics as well as cross-cultural variation. Assignments will allow students to focus on a number of issues of their own choice.Workload
The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.
The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.
Lectures: 1 hour per week
Workshops: 2 hours per week
Weekly reading and preparation for workshops: 4 hours
Assignment preparation and writing average per week: 5 hoursLearning Activities Summary
Part 1: Core concepts
Week 1: Introduction to Medical Anthropology
Week 2: Health, Illness, Disease, wellness
Week 3: Lay & Expert models of health & illness
Week 4: Cultural models of illness & the body
Week 5: Independent Learning week
Part 2: Healing and Medicine
Week 6: Symbolic Healing and placebo
Week 7: Social relationships & the Performance of Healing
Week 8: Experiencing Illness: Phenomenology, Embodiment & Suffering
Part 3: Power, Inequality & Health
Week 9: Stigma, Fear & Illness
Week 10: Medicalisation, Pharmaceuticalisation, Genetics & Health
Week 11: Foucault, health and medicine
Week 12: Structural violence and the Social distribution of health and healingSpecific Course Requirements
Attendance at Lectures and Workshops is essential for success in this course. Students need to attend at least 6 of the face to face workshops to gain a basic pass for the Participation grade in this course.
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Assessment
The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:
- Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
- Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
- Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
- Assessment must maintain academic standards.
Assessment Summary
Assessment Task Percentage worth: Word count Course learning outcome Workshop participation 10% 1-4 Research Project (composed of:) Short answer assignment 25% 1100-1200 1, 5 Poster 20% 800 2, 3 Major Essay 45% 2000 3, 5 Assessment Related Requirements
Attendance at Lectures and Workshops is essential for success in this course. Students need to attend at least 6 of the F2F workshops to gain a passing grade in Participation.
Assessment Detail
Workshop Participation: Workshops are the major learning context for this subject. Students are required to participate in one 2-hour workshop each week. Workshops require continual preparation by way of reading and thinking about the materials under discussion.
Research Project: Students choose an illness, disease or medical condition to focus their written assignments on for the whole semester.
1100-1200 word Short Answer assignment: This assignment asks students to answer a number of questions and construct an annotated bibliography about their chosen illness.
Poster: students choose 1 week of the course from a list & submit a poster which analyses their chosen illness in relation to the themes of that week of the course.
2000 word major essay: Students choose a question to research and answer linked to their chosen illness for the semester.Submission
Submission of assignments will be done online through MyUni.Course Grading
Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:
M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme) Grade Mark Description FNS Fail No Submission F 1-49 Fail P 50-64 Pass C 65-74 Credit D 75-84 Distinction HD 85-100 High Distinction CN Continuing NFE No Formal Examination RP Result Pending Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.
Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.
Final results for this course will be made available through .
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Student Feedback
The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.
SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.
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Student Support
- Academic Integrity for Students
- Academic Support with Maths
- Academic Support with writing and study skills
- Careers Services
- Library Services for Students
- LinkedIn Learning
- Student Life Counselling Support - Personal counselling for issues affecting study
- Students with a Disability - Alternative academic arrangements
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Policies & Guidelines
This section contains links to relevant assessment-related policies and guidelines - all university policies.
- Academic Credit Arrangements Policy
- Academic Integrity Policy
- Academic Progress by Coursework Students Policy
- Assessment for Coursework Programs Policy
- Copyright Compliance Policy
- Coursework Academic Programs Policy
- Intellectual Property Policy
- IT Acceptable Use and Security Policy
- Modified Arrangements for Coursework Assessment Policy
- Reasonable Adjustments to Learning, Teaching & Assessment for Students with a Disability Policy
- Student Experience of Learning and Teaching Policy
- Student Grievance Resolution Process
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