Unit Guide

General Information

Unit convenor and teaching staff	Unit convenor and teaching staff Course Convenor Sumant Badami sumant.badami@mq.edu.au W6A 600 Thursday 12-1pm (or by appointment)
Credit points	Credit points 3
Prerequisites	Prerequisites ANTH150 or 12cp or (admission to GDipArts or BHlth)
Corequisites	Corequisites
Co-badged status	Co-badged status
Unit description	Unit description This unit offers an introduction to medical anthropology and cross-cultural beliefs relating to illness and healing. We consider different notions of disease causality and examine the proposition that good health, and conversely ill health, is never just about the body. Throughout the unit, we look at conditions of disease as having social as well as biological origins and take the point of view that ideas of health and methods of treating illness are deeply lodged in cultural frameworks. Thus we treat healing practices, including Western biomedicine, as inevitably predicated on cultural systems of understanding. How people understand illness and where it comes from, and what they do about it when it does occur, tells us a lot about how different societies understand people and their place in the world. Specific topics include: cross-cultural approaches to bodily and mental disorders; the social construction of illness; somatisation, placebos, and the role of symbolism in healing; shamanistic practices; emotions and embodiment; science and biomedicine; gender and health; alternative medicine; health promotion and regulation; and new infectious diseases.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

Introduce students to the scope of medical anthropology and to analyse and discus the literature and central theories related to medical anthropology and the broader study of illness and healing practices in their social and cultural contexts.
Understand how biology, culture, politics, and ecology interact to shape illness and health, health systems, and patterns.
Apply the theories and concepts of medical anthropology to critically evaluate one’s own culture and determinants of illness and health.
To understand how healing systems often cut across categories of religion, medicine, and social organization.
To understand how illness and health (and normality) are constructed within particular social, cultural, political, and environmental contexts.
Understand and identify how inequality, social hierarchy, and structural violence generate unequal and often unique health determinants in the global and transnational context.

Assessment Tasks

Name	Weighting	Due
Tutorial Participation	5%	Weekly
Discussion Preparation Guides	10%	Weekly
Lecture Summaries	10%	Weekly
Book review	10%	2 November
Mid-Semester Essay	30%	22 September
Final Take-Home Essay Exam	35%	24 November

Tutorial Participation

Due: Weekly
Weighting: 5%

Attendance at tutorials is compulsory. Failure to attend without medical certificate or another form of ‘unavoidable disruption’ (see Student Handbook) will lower your mark or result in failing. Each week, you must fill out a Discussion Preparation Guide and bring it to your tutorial. It is essential that you also attend or listen to the lectures, since all lectures will contain valuable information that will be used in the tutorials, all assignments and, particularly, the essay exam. You will not be able to successfully complete this unit if you miss multiple lectures.

Each student is expected to actively participate in the tutorial discussion. Participation in lectures and tutorials involves more than just showing up. Students are expected to be active participants in class and demonstrate that they have read and engaged with the readings. Participation also means contributing to a general atmosphere of scholarly enquiry, showing respect for the opinions of others. Thus talking too much and not allowing other students adequate time to contribute could count against you.

During the tutorial, points will be awarded for any of the following:

-initiating discussion

-giving information

-asking for information

-raising questions

-restating another’s contribution

-asking for clarification

-giving salient examples

-encouraging others

-relieving group tension

Points will be subtracted for any of the following:

-expression of unsupported opinions

-attempts to dominate discussion

-mocking others

In your verbal contributions to discussions, I will be looking for remarks that engage thoughtfully with the readings. It is also important that you engage respectfully with your peers. Do not mock anyone’s contributions. If you don’t understand or agree with something someone says, ask them to clarify, or explain respectfully why you disagree. Everyone should feel free to speak up. Please do not drown out quieter voices. If you are having trouble speaking up in class discussion, please come to speak with the course convenor privately and together we can strategise ways to facilitate your contribution.

On successful completion you will be able to:

Introduce students to the scope of medical anthropology and to analyse and discus the literature and central theories related to medical anthropology and the broader study of illness and healing practices in their social and cultural contexts.
Understand how biology, culture, politics, and ecology interact to shape illness and health, health systems, and patterns.
Apply the theories and concepts of medical anthropology to critically evaluate one’s own culture and determinants of illness and health.
To understand how healing systems often cut across categories of religion, medicine, and social organization.
To understand how illness and health (and normality) are constructed within particular social, cultural, political, and environmental contexts.
Understand and identify how inequality, social hierarchy, and structural violence generate unequal and often unique health determinants in the global and transnational context.

Discussion Preparation Guides

Due: Weekly
Weighting: 10%

Each week, you must fill out a Discussion Preparation Guide (DPG) and bring it to class.

A sample Discussion Preparation Guide (DPG) is available on I-Learn; you should print and fill one out each week. You will bring this to class and use it to inform class discussions.

When you first come to class, you should show it to your tutor so that he/she can see if it’s been completed and give you your mark. You can use it to take additional notes during the seminar discussion. At the end of the day, you will hand in your DPG to the unit convenor. They will be returned the following week in class.

You can only get a mark for thi DPG if it has been seen by the tutor BEFORE class.

The point of the DPG is not for me to check if you are getting the "right" answer. Rather, they are valuable tools in generating discussion so that together, as a tutorial group, we can work out what we think about the readings. These little summaries also act as catalogues and mnemonic devices for students to organise all the information you acquire when you do readings for the course. You do not need to write reams and reams of summaries, but as long as you have a quick way of accessing the core content of each reading, you can always go to the original document if you want to look into it in more detail.

At the end of the course (because you have a heap of catalogued summaries) you can use these in your essays, including in other courses. With the focus more on analytical thinking, these little catalogues will help students move away from writing huge summary sections in their essays and to start dealing with information more thematically.

On successful completion you will be able to:

Introduce students to the scope of medical anthropology and to analyse and discus the literature and central theories related to medical anthropology and the broader study of illness and healing practices in their social and cultural contexts.
Understand how biology, culture, politics, and ecology interact to shape illness and health, health systems, and patterns.
Apply the theories and concepts of medical anthropology to critically evaluate one’s own culture and determinants of illness and health.
To understand how healing systems often cut across categories of religion, medicine, and social organization.
To understand how illness and health (and normality) are constructed within particular social, cultural, political, and environmental contexts.
Understand and identify how inequality, social hierarchy, and structural violence generate unequal and often unique health determinants in the global and transnational context.

Lecture Summaries

Due: Weekly
Weighting: 10%

Even though lectures will be recorded and made available on echo, students are expected to attend a minimum of two thirds of all lectures to pass the course.

As a way of collecting attendances and keeping students engaged with the lecture material, you will be given a series of questions to answer each week.

The lecturer will hand out a blank summary sheet each week. You will hand write your responses into each sheet and hand them to the lecturer at the end of each class.

Whilst the questions may change each week, they will be relatively easy and will look something like this:

What was the broad topic of the lecture?

Briefly list the main theoretical concepts discussed by the lecturer and which theorists were used.

What were the main forms of evidence used to demonstrate the main ideas? (What examples did the lecturer use?)

What was the best part of the lecture?

What was the part of the lecture you had trouble with?

The point of the lecture summaries is to focus students on the lecture content and to help you with a brief and easily accessible summary of each lecture for your study records.

They also give the lecturer an opportunity to get a sense of how students are going in the class, what concepts they are struggling with, and where the lecturer needs to provide extra guidance.

On successful completion you will be able to:

Introduce students to the scope of medical anthropology and to analyse and discus the literature and central theories related to medical anthropology and the broader study of illness and healing practices in their social and cultural contexts.
Understand how biology, culture, politics, and ecology interact to shape illness and health, health systems, and patterns.
Apply the theories and concepts of medical anthropology to critically evaluate one’s own culture and determinants of illness and health.
To understand how healing systems often cut across categories of religion, medicine, and social organization.
To understand how illness and health (and normality) are constructed within particular social, cultural, political, and environmental contexts.
Understand and identify how inequality, social hierarchy, and structural violence generate unequal and often unique health determinants in the global and transnational context.

Book review

Due: 2 November
Weighting: 10%

Please note during the Department of Anthropology's Research Week (27^th -31^st October) there are no lectures or tutorials for this course. In their place, students are required to read at least two chapters rom the assigned text The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman. A 500 word summary of the key insights you gained from these chapters is to be handed in through Turnitin. This is worth 10% of your overall grade. These short reviews are meant as a guided reading exercise in which you are encouraged to express your responses to the issues raised by the book and relate them to the topics discussed in class to date. Summaries will be graded from 0-10.

On successful completion you will be able to:

Introduce students to the scope of medical anthropology and to analyse and discus the literature and central theories related to medical anthropology and the broader study of illness and healing practices in their social and cultural contexts.
Understand how biology, culture, politics, and ecology interact to shape illness and health, health systems, and patterns.
Apply the theories and concepts of medical anthropology to critically evaluate one’s own culture and determinants of illness and health.
To understand how healing systems often cut across categories of religion, medicine, and social organization.
To understand how illness and health (and normality) are constructed within particular social, cultural, political, and environmental contexts.
Understand and identify how inequality, social hierarchy, and structural violence generate unequal and often unique health determinants in the global and transnational context.

Mid-Semester Essay

Due: 22 September
Weighting: 30%

The 2000 word essay is worth 30%. A choice of topics will be distributed early in the semester. Selected bibliographies will be provided with each question but because there is so much literature on cross-cultural issues of health, students are also encouraged to utilise material of their own finding. Any use of Internet sources must be referenced accordingly

On successful completion you will be able to:

Introduce students to the scope of medical anthropology and to analyse and discus the literature and central theories related to medical anthropology and the broader study of illness and healing practices in their social and cultural contexts.
Understand how biology, culture, politics, and ecology interact to shape illness and health, health systems, and patterns.
Apply the theories and concepts of medical anthropology to critically evaluate one’s own culture and determinants of illness and health.
To understand how healing systems often cut across categories of religion, medicine, and social organization.
To understand how illness and health (and normality) are constructed within particular social, cultural, political, and environmental contexts.
Understand and identify how inequality, social hierarchy, and structural violence generate unequal and often unique health determinants in the global and transnational context.

Final Take-Home Essay Exam

Due: 24 November
Weighting: 35%

Take Home Exam (Posted on the Thursday 20^th November and DUE BACK on the Monday 24^th November): The exam is worth 35%. It must be submitted through Turnitin. The exam will consist of a choice of short essay questions that link together topics and themes covered in lectures and tutorials throughout the course. Each student will be required to write 2 short essays answering questions that address themes covered in the class. The final exam is in essay format and it is open-book. You must reference your exam like you would reference any academic essay. More details on the exam will be provided later in the semester. You must submit a final exam to pass this unit.

On successful completion you will be able to:

Introduce students to the scope of medical anthropology and to analyse and discus the literature and central theories related to medical anthropology and the broader study of illness and healing practices in their social and cultural contexts.
Understand how biology, culture, politics, and ecology interact to shape illness and health, health systems, and patterns.
Apply the theories and concepts of medical anthropology to critically evaluate one’s own culture and determinants of illness and health.
To understand how healing systems often cut across categories of religion, medicine, and social organization.
To understand how illness and health (and normality) are constructed within particular social, cultural, political, and environmental contexts.
Understand and identify how inequality, social hierarchy, and structural violence generate unequal and often unique health determinants in the global and transnational context.

Delivery and Resources

Details for Internal Students.

Class Times and Venues:

Lectures: Dr Sumant Badami

Thursday 1-2pm W5A Price Theatre

Thursday 1-2pm ILec 10 (For external students)

Tutorials Tutorials begin in Week 2 (Wednesday 12^th August)

Day	Time	Building	Room
Wednesday	09:00:00	W5C	310
Wednesday	10:00:00	W5C	232
Wednesday	10:00:00	W5A	204
Wednesday	11:00:00	C4A	325
Wednesday	11:00:00	W5C	210
Wednesday	12:00:00	C4A	320
Wednesday	12:00:00	C4A	325
Wednesday	13:00:00	C4A	325

Lecture notes will be posted on ilearn.

All readings for tutorials and lectures are found on the library website in the e-reserve section (you can search for ANTH202 in e-reserve or follow the link on iLearn). All other listed readings are on three-day loan (books) or e-reserve (journal articles).

Details for External Students

External students largely have the same lectures and assignments as internal students. There are just a few differences.

Lectures: If you are an external student, you will be expected to listen to all lectures on iLecture. These are made available on the iLecture website (there is a link on the unit’s iLearn page) usually within 24 hours of the lecture being recorded. Powerpoint or Word presentations that accompany the lecture will also be uploaded to iLearn after the lecture. Both of these resources are available to both internal and external students. However, in addition to iLecture (which can be streamed or downloaded over the web), the Centre for Open Education also mails a CD of the audio recording of the weekly lecture to all external students (though it can take a week or two for this CD to be burned and mailed out). This CD does not include the powerpoint presentation that accompanies that lecture. By the way, external students are always welcome to attend lectures in person, providing there are seats available in the lecture theatre (there usually are).

Lecture Summaries: Remember, you get assessment points for doing the lecture summaries! External Students should email their Lecture Summaries to the course convenor by the Monday following the release of the lecture.

Tutorial participation: In lieu of attending a weekly tutorial, external students will participate in an online tutorial discussion on iLearn. Each week, Dr Tim Lynch will create a discussion topic around that week’s readings. Each external student is responsible for submitting 500 words of written discussion around that topic. That doesn’t mean that you have to write a single 500-word essay each week; the 500 words can be spread out as an initial post and several responses to comments that others have made on discussion board. The unit convenor will moderate and contribute to the discussion, just like a tutor would help to guide a tutorial discussion, but I expect most of the contributions to come from students. The discussion board will only be open for 2 weeks on each topic and after that will be closed (but you’re welcome to continue conversations started earlier on a later discussion board topic).

At the end of the semester, external students will select their best 2 postings on iLearn and will submit these to be assessed for the 5% of your grade that comes from tutorial participation. This should be compiled into a single Word document (with headings indicating which weekly topic each posting addresses) and must be submitted electronically (via iLearn) by the last day of class. The idea behind this marking system is that open discussion is more important than anything, but quality and leadership also matter, so your selection of these 2 postings should highlight where you have led discussion and/or made a really thoughtful, well-written contribution to the discussion.

These online tutorial discussions are mandatory for external students, but they are also open (and optional) for any internal students who want to join in the online discussion.

Discussion Preparation Guides: Remember, you get assessment points for doing the DPGs! External students should also complete a DPG for the tutorial readings they do. DPGs should be emailed to the course convenor on the Wednesday of that tutorial week in order to get the points.

Essay: The essay (and book review summary) can be submitted the same way that internal students submit these (i.e. through Turnitin) or it can be submitted electronically to the Centre for Open Education (COE) by sending an e-mail to coeassign@mq.edu.au. The COE will print out your assignment and submit it to the unit convenor. Whichever way you decide to submit your assignment, please bear in mind that it will be returned the same way – in other words, marked essays that were submitted to COE will be mailed to your home address by COE. Papers through Turnitin will be available with comments through Turnitin.

Final exam: Both internal and external students will have the same final take-home exam (external students must download theirs from iLearn; the COE will NOT be mailing it to you). And both must submit their exam via Turnitin.

Unit Schedule

Abbreviated Outline of Weekly Topics (and due dates)

Week Date Topic

1 7 Aug Course Introduction - Defining Illness and Disease

2 14 Aug Social Nature of Illness and Healing

3 21 Aug Symbolism, Ritual and Healing

4 28 Aug Medicalisation and Biopower – The social construction of women’s bodies.

5 4 Sep Alternative Healing Systems

6 11 Sep Culture-Bound Syndromes? Madness in Cross-Cultural Perspective.

7 18 Sep Shamanism and Transformation in Ritual Healing

22 Sep: Major Essay Due

Mid-semester Recess (20 September – 5 October)

8 9 Oct Music and Healing Guest Lecturer – Dr Michael Goddard

9 16 Oct Going Viral: Emerging contagiousness in a Global Age

10 23 Oct Healing and Globalisation: Spiritual Tourism

11 30 Oct Research Week

2 Nov: Book Chapter Summary Due

12 6 Nov Healing and Globalisation: Medical and Transplant Tourism

13 13 Nov Cultural Collisions: Health, Healing and Marginality

Final take-home exam to be posted on iLearn during exam period, posted on the 20th November and DUE BACK on the 24th November

A course outline with details of class schedule and weekly readings has been placed on I-learn. You may also refer to this copy.

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central. Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Academic Honesty Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/academic_honesty/policy.html

Assessment Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/assessment/policy.html

Grading Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/grading/policy.html

Grade Appeal Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/gradeappeal/policy.html

Grievance Management Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/grievance_management/policy.html

Disruption to Studies Policy http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/disruption_studies/policy.html The Disruption to Studies Policy is effective from March 3 2014 and replaces the Special Consideration Policy.

In addition, a number of other policies can be found in the Learning and Teaching Category of Policy Central.

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/support/student_conduct/

The "Fine Print"

Late submissions on any assignment will incur a penalty, unless the unit convenor has granted an extension due to certificated medical problems or to “unavoidable disruption” (see Undergraduate Student Handbook).

Mandatory attendance and final papers

Please note that, in order to pass this unit, you need to attend a minimum of two-thirds of all tutorial sessions and you must submit a final exam. Failure to do either will result in a failing mark, regardless of your performance in other aspects of the unit.

Late submissions

Late submissions on the book review assignment will incur a penalty of 2 percentage points per day, unless the Department of Anthropology has granted an extension due to Special Considerations.
Discussion preparation guides must be presented within the first 5 minutes of class and you will lose points if you have not shown yours to the tutor during that first 5 minutes, so don’t be late to class!
Failure to attend tutorial when you are scheduled to lead tutorial discussion will result in no marks for that assessment task, unless you can document absence because of medical problems or ‘unavoidable disruption,’ have submitted an application for Special Consideration, and had your application approved. In that case, an alternative assignment will be determined that is worth an equal weight (10%).
Late final exams will be marked down 5% for each hour they are submitted late, unless students have applied for and received special consideration.

Exceeding the word limit

You will be deducted 1 percentage point for each 10 words you exceed the word limit. Please take the word limit very seriously and try to make your argument concisely and clearly. It is unfair to fellow students if one person has much more space to argue their case while another student sticks firmly to the length guidelines. The word limit is designed to level the essay-writing field, so to speak. You must provide a word count on the cover page when you submit your work. If you fail to provide a word count, you will be deducted 1 percentage point and the assessor will estimate length and mark accordingly. (The word limit excludes end-of-text references but it includes footnotes and in-text citations.)

No consideration for lost work

It is the student’s responsibility to keep a copy of all written work submitted for each unit. No consideration will be given to claims of ‘lost work’, no matter what the circumstances.

Returning assignments

Student work will usually be marked and returned within three weeks of receipt. Students who hand their work in before the due date will not have it returned early. If you believe that your assignment has been lost, please contact the Arts Student Centre on the Ground Floor of W6A. Your claim will be logged and tracked in a database of lost assignment claims and kept on file for up to five years.

Written submissions

Students are required to keep copies of all the written work that they submit. In the event that you submit it, and it is lost, you will be required to resubmit it. If there is no record of your work being submitted and you cannot produce a second copy, it will be impossible for the convenor to give you credit for the assignment.

Extensions and Special Consideration:

The University recognises that at times an event or set of circumstances may occur that:

Could not have reasonably been anticipated, avoided or guarded against by the student
AND
Was beyond the student's control AND
Caused substantial disruption to the student's capacity for effective study and/or completion of required work AND
Substantially interfered with the otherwise satisfactory fulfilment of unit or program requirements AND
Was of at least three (3) consecutive days duration within a study period and/or prevented completion of a formal examination.

In such circumstances, students may apply for Special Consideration. Special Consideration applications must be supported by evidence to demonstrate the severity of the circumstance(s) and that substantial disruption has been caused to the student's capacity for effective study.

Special Consideration applications must include specific details of how the unavoidable disruption affected previously satisfactory work by the student.

The University has determined that some circumstances routinely encountered by students are not acceptable grounds for claiming Special Consideration. These grounds include, but are not limited, to:

Routine demands of employment
Routine family problems such as tension with or between parents, spouses, and other people closely involved with the student
Difficulties adjusting to university life, to the self-discipline needed to study effectively, and the demands of academic work
Stress or anxiety associated with examinations, required assignments or any aspect of academic work
Routine need for financial support
Routine demands of sport, clubs and social or extra-curricular activities

Conditions existing prior to commencing a unit of study are not grounds for Special Consideration. The student is responsible for managing their workload in light of any known or anticipated problems. The student is responsible for contacting Student Support Services if they have a chronic condition.

To request Special Consideration, you must fill out the form found at the following web address: http://www.registrar.mq.edu.au/Forms/APScons.pdf That form and all accompanying documentation must be submitted to the Student Enquiry Service, NOT directly to your Unit Convenor. The Student Enquiry Service will process your application and communicate it to your Unit Convenor.

For more information, see http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/special_consideration/policy.html

Plagiarism

The University defines plagiarism in its rules: "Plagiarism involves using the work of another person and presenting it as one's own." Plagiarism is a serious breach of the University's rules and carries significant penalties. You must read the University's definition of plagiarism and its academic honesty policy. These can be found in the Handbook of Undergraduate studies or on the web at: http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/academic_honesty/policy.htm The policies and procedures explain what plagiarism is, how to avoid it, the procedures that will be taken in cases of suspected plagiarism, and the penalties if you are found guilty.

Please note that the availability of online materials has made plagiarism easier for students, but it has also made discovery of plagiarism even easier for convenors of units. We now have specialized databases that can quickly identify the source of particular phrases in a student’s work, if not original, and evaluate how much is taken from sources in inappropriate ways. My best advice to you is to become familiar with the guidelines about plagiarism and then ‘quarantine’ the files that you are actually planning on turning in; that is, do not cut and paste materials directly into any work file that you plan to submit, because it is too easy to later on forget which is your original writing and which has come from other sources.

It’s so easy to avoid plagiarism: all you have to do is make sure you (a) put in quotes any words taken from another source, and (b) scrupulously reference all quotes and all statements of fact. No matter what, it’s always better to cite than to use someone else’s words without citation. Look at it this way: if you write your book review based wholly on a Wikipedia article (with no original thinking or other sources) and you reference that Wikipedia article, then you’ll probably fail the assignment with a grade of somewhere around 30-40%. But if you write your book review based wholly on a Wikipedia article and you don’t reference that Wikipedia article, then I’ll know and you’ll fail the assignment with a grade of zero.

In this class I use Turnitin to detect plagiarism and I take it very, very seriously. Plagiarism will result in a mark of zero for that assignment and, depending on the severity of the plagiarism, may also result in failing the unit and/or referral to the University Discipline Committee.

Academic Honesty

Academic honesty is an integral part of the core values and principles contained in the Macquarie University Ethics Statement: http://www.mq.edu.au/ethics/ethic-statement-final.html.

Its fundamental principle is that all staff and students act with integrity in the creation, development, application and use of ideas and information. This means that:

All academic work claimed as original is the work of the author making the claim.
All academic collaborations are acknowledged.
Academic work is not falsified in any way
When the ideas of others are used, these ideas are acknowledged appropriately.

The link below has more details about the policy, procedure and schedule of penalties that will apply to breaches of the Academic Honesty Policy which can be viewed at: http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/academic_honesty/policy.html

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

Learning Skills

Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to improve your marks and take control of your study.

Academic or personal difficulties

Macquarie University provides a range of Academic Student Support Services. Details of these services can be accessed at http://www.student.mq.edu.au.

Students experiencing academic difficulty should approach the unit convenor in the first instance. On other academic matters you should see the Dean of Students of the University Health and Counselling Service (Ph: 9850 7497/98). On matters pertaining to regulations you should seek information from the Registrar or seek advice from the Arts Student Centre.

Student Services and Support

Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the Disability Service who can provide appropriate help with any issues that arise during their studies.

Student Enquiries

For all student enquiries, visit Student Connect at ask.mq.edu.au

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://informatics.mq.edu.au/help/.

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.

Graduate Capabilities

Capable of Professional and Personal Judgement and Initiative

We want our graduates to have emotional intelligence and sound interpersonal skills and to demonstrate discernment and common sense in their professional and personal judgement. They will exercise initiative as needed. They will be capable of risk assessment, and be able to handle ambiguity and complexity, enabling them to be adaptable in diverse and changing environments.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

Introduce students to the scope of medical anthropology and to analyse and discus the literature and central theories related to medical anthropology and the broader study of illness and healing practices in their social and cultural contexts.
Understand how biology, culture, politics, and ecology interact to shape illness and health, health systems, and patterns.
Apply the theories and concepts of medical anthropology to critically evaluate one’s own culture and determinants of illness and health.
To understand how healing systems often cut across categories of religion, medicine, and social organization.
To understand how illness and health (and normality) are constructed within particular social, cultural, political, and environmental contexts.
Understand and identify how inequality, social hierarchy, and structural violence generate unequal and often unique health determinants in the global and transnational context.

Assessment tasks

Tutorial Participation
Discussion Preparation Guides
Lecture Summaries
Book review
Mid-Semester Essay
Final Take-Home Essay Exam

Commitment to Continuous Learning

Our graduates will have enquiring minds and a literate curiosity which will lead them to pursue knowledge for its own sake. They will continue to pursue learning in their careers and as they participate in the world. They will be capable of reflecting on their experiences and relationships with others and the environment, learning from them, and growing - personally, professionally and socially.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

Introduce students to the scope of medical anthropology and to analyse and discus the literature and central theories related to medical anthropology and the broader study of illness and healing practices in their social and cultural contexts.
Understand how biology, culture, politics, and ecology interact to shape illness and health, health systems, and patterns.
Apply the theories and concepts of medical anthropology to critically evaluate one’s own culture and determinants of illness and health.
To understand how healing systems often cut across categories of religion, medicine, and social organization.
To understand how illness and health (and normality) are constructed within particular social, cultural, political, and environmental contexts.
Understand and identify how inequality, social hierarchy, and structural violence generate unequal and often unique health determinants in the global and transnational context.

Assessment tasks

Tutorial Participation
Discussion Preparation Guides
Lecture Summaries
Book review
Mid-Semester Essay
Final Take-Home Essay Exam

Discipline Specific Knowledge and Skills

Our graduates will take with them the intellectual development, depth and breadth of knowledge, scholarly understanding, and specific subject content in their chosen fields to make them competent and confident in their subject or profession. They will be able to demonstrate, where relevant, professional technical competence and meet professional standards. They will be able to articulate the structure of knowledge of their discipline, be able to adapt discipline-specific knowledge to novel situations, and be able to contribute from their discipline to inter-disciplinary solutions to problems.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

Introduce students to the scope of medical anthropology and to analyse and discus the literature and central theories related to medical anthropology and the broader study of illness and healing practices in their social and cultural contexts.
Understand how biology, culture, politics, and ecology interact to shape illness and health, health systems, and patterns.
Apply the theories and concepts of medical anthropology to critically evaluate one’s own culture and determinants of illness and health.
To understand how healing systems often cut across categories of religion, medicine, and social organization.
To understand how illness and health (and normality) are constructed within particular social, cultural, political, and environmental contexts.
Understand and identify how inequality, social hierarchy, and structural violence generate unequal and often unique health determinants in the global and transnational context.

Assessment tasks

Tutorial Participation
Discussion Preparation Guides
Lecture Summaries
Book review
Mid-Semester Essay
Final Take-Home Essay Exam

Critical, Analytical and Integrative Thinking

We want our graduates to be capable of reasoning, questioning and analysing, and to integrate and synthesise learning and knowledge from a range of sources and environments; to be able to critique constraints, assumptions and limitations; to be able to think independently and systemically in relation to scholarly activity, in the workplace, and in the world. We want them to have a level of scientific and information technology literacy.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

Introduce students to the scope of medical anthropology and to analyse and discus the literature and central theories related to medical anthropology and the broader study of illness and healing practices in their social and cultural contexts.
Understand how biology, culture, politics, and ecology interact to shape illness and health, health systems, and patterns.
Apply the theories and concepts of medical anthropology to critically evaluate one’s own culture and determinants of illness and health.
To understand how healing systems often cut across categories of religion, medicine, and social organization.
To understand how illness and health (and normality) are constructed within particular social, cultural, political, and environmental contexts.
Understand and identify how inequality, social hierarchy, and structural violence generate unequal and often unique health determinants in the global and transnational context.

Assessment tasks

Tutorial Participation
Discussion Preparation Guides
Lecture Summaries
Book review
Mid-Semester Essay
Final Take-Home Essay Exam

Problem Solving and Research Capability

Our graduates should be capable of researching; of analysing, and interpreting and assessing data and information in various forms; of drawing connections across fields of knowledge; and they should be able to relate their knowledge to complex situations at work or in the world, in order to diagnose and solve problems. We want them to have the confidence to take the initiative in doing so, within an awareness of their own limitations.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

Introduce students to the scope of medical anthropology and to analyse and discus the literature and central theories related to medical anthropology and the broader study of illness and healing practices in their social and cultural contexts.
Understand how biology, culture, politics, and ecology interact to shape illness and health, health systems, and patterns.
Apply the theories and concepts of medical anthropology to critically evaluate one’s own culture and determinants of illness and health.
To understand how healing systems often cut across categories of religion, medicine, and social organization.
To understand how illness and health (and normality) are constructed within particular social, cultural, political, and environmental contexts.
Understand and identify how inequality, social hierarchy, and structural violence generate unequal and often unique health determinants in the global and transnational context.

Assessment tasks

Tutorial Participation
Discussion Preparation Guides
Lecture Summaries
Book review
Mid-Semester Essay
Final Take-Home Essay Exam

Creative and Innovative

Our graduates will also be capable of creative thinking and of creating knowledge. They will be imaginative and open to experience and capable of innovation at work and in the community. We want them to be engaged in applying their critical, creative thinking.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

Introduce students to the scope of medical anthropology and to analyse and discus the literature and central theories related to medical anthropology and the broader study of illness and healing practices in their social and cultural contexts.
Understand how biology, culture, politics, and ecology interact to shape illness and health, health systems, and patterns.
Apply the theories and concepts of medical anthropology to critically evaluate one’s own culture and determinants of illness and health.
To understand how healing systems often cut across categories of religion, medicine, and social organization.
To understand how illness and health (and normality) are constructed within particular social, cultural, political, and environmental contexts.
Understand and identify how inequality, social hierarchy, and structural violence generate unequal and often unique health determinants in the global and transnational context.

Assessment tasks

Tutorial Participation
Discussion Preparation Guides
Lecture Summaries
Book review
Mid-Semester Essay
Final Take-Home Essay Exam

Effective Communication

We want to develop in our students the ability to communicate and convey their views in forms effective with different audiences. We want our graduates to take with them the capability to read, listen, question, gather and evaluate information resources in a variety of formats, assess, write clearly, speak effectively, and to use visual communication and communication technologies as appropriate.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

Introduce students to the scope of medical anthropology and to analyse and discus the literature and central theories related to medical anthropology and the broader study of illness and healing practices in their social and cultural contexts.
Understand how biology, culture, politics, and ecology interact to shape illness and health, health systems, and patterns.
Apply the theories and concepts of medical anthropology to critically evaluate one’s own culture and determinants of illness and health.
To understand how healing systems often cut across categories of religion, medicine, and social organization.
To understand how illness and health (and normality) are constructed within particular social, cultural, political, and environmental contexts.
Understand and identify how inequality, social hierarchy, and structural violence generate unequal and often unique health determinants in the global and transnational context.

Assessment tasks

Tutorial Participation
Discussion Preparation Guides
Lecture Summaries
Book review
Mid-Semester Essay
Final Take-Home Essay Exam

Engaged and Ethical Local and Global citizens

As local citizens our graduates will be aware of indigenous perspectives and of the nation's historical context. They will be engaged with the challenges of contemporary society and with knowledge and ideas. We want our graduates to have respect for diversity, to be open-minded, sensitive to others and inclusive, and to be open to other cultures and perspectives: they should have a level of cultural literacy. Our graduates should be aware of disadvantage and social justice, and be willing to participate to help create a wiser and better society.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

Introduce students to the scope of medical anthropology and to analyse and discus the literature and central theories related to medical anthropology and the broader study of illness and healing practices in their social and cultural contexts.
Understand how biology, culture, politics, and ecology interact to shape illness and health, health systems, and patterns.
Apply the theories and concepts of medical anthropology to critically evaluate one’s own culture and determinants of illness and health.
To understand how healing systems often cut across categories of religion, medicine, and social organization.
To understand how illness and health (and normality) are constructed within particular social, cultural, political, and environmental contexts.
Understand and identify how inequality, social hierarchy, and structural violence generate unequal and often unique health determinants in the global and transnational context.

Assessment tasks

Tutorial Participation
Discussion Preparation Guides
Lecture Summaries
Book review
Mid-Semester Essay
Final Take-Home Essay Exam

Socially and Environmentally Active and Responsible

We want our graduates to be aware of and have respect for self and others; to be able to work with others as a leader and a team player; to have a sense of connectedness with others and country; and to have a sense of mutual obligation. Our graduates should be informed and active participants in moving society towards sustainability.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

Introduce students to the scope of medical anthropology and to analyse and discus the literature and central theories related to medical anthropology and the broader study of illness and healing practices in their social and cultural contexts.
Understand how biology, culture, politics, and ecology interact to shape illness and health, health systems, and patterns.
Apply the theories and concepts of medical anthropology to critically evaluate one’s own culture and determinants of illness and health.
To understand how healing systems often cut across categories of religion, medicine, and social organization.
To understand how illness and health (and normality) are constructed within particular social, cultural, political, and environmental contexts.
Understand and identify how inequality, social hierarchy, and structural violence generate unequal and often unique health determinants in the global and transnational context.

Assessment tasks

Tutorial Participation
Discussion Preparation Guides
Lecture Summaries
Book review
Mid-Semester Essay
Final Take-Home Essay Exam

Detailed Unit Description

Culture affects our bodies, our experience, and even what even consider to be health, illness, and disease. This unit is an introduction to medical anthropology and its core theories, methods, and concepts. Throughout the course, we look at conditions of disease as having social as well as biological origins, and take the position that notions of health and the methods of treating illness are deeply lodged in cultural frameworks. Thus we treat healing practices, including biomedicine, as inevitably predicated on cultural systems of understanding and larger structures of power. We will consider different notions of disease causality and examine the proposition that good health, and conversely ill health, is never just about the body or biological causation. How people understand illness and where it comes from, and what they do about it when it does occur, tells us a lot about how different societies understand people and their place in the world.

Topics covered will include placebos and the “meaning effect,” the healing efficacy of symbols and rituals, illness narratives, the relationship between illness and social experience, clinical encounters, changing concepts of mental health, culture bound syndromes, the body, and structural violence and social suffering. Throughout, we will pay close attentions to the way that class, gender, and ethnicity shape medical systems and health outcomes. As applied anthropologists, we will develop a critical perspective on the ways health policies, medical technologies, and interventions address populations and impact health. We will pay particularly close attention to ways that growing global economic and technological inequalities contribute to human suffering, illness, and disease. We will focus as much on biomedicine and contemporary medical technologies as on exotic (and exoticising) topics such as witchcraft and ritual, to find the exotic within our own Western medical systems and the familiar within exotic cultural systems.