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ANTH2002 – Illness and Healing

2024 – Session 2, Online-flexible

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff
Anna-Karina Hermkens
anna.hermkens@mq.edu.au
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
(ANTH150 or ANTH1050) or 40cp at 1000 level or above
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

This unit introduces a perspective on illness and healing that opens up when we give central importance to human experiences of what it is to be ill or to be healed. This means that we do not necessarily have to choose between biology and sociology, between individual and culture. These elements get integrated – and this insight comes through in the more holistic understandings of “alternative” therapies as well as in the accounts we have of healing traditions from around the world. But how and where does this integration occur? To answer this, we need to refer to experience, both individual and collective. The unit will give priority to richly experiential accounts made available in ethnographies, as well as in other kinds of writing such as literature and introduce a perspective called phenomenology. As we seek to understand the wide variety of ways in which different cultural histories have understood what it means to be ill or to be healed, we will necessarily go deeper into some of anthropology’s most fundamental challenge – it tells us that what it means to be ‘human’ is fundamentally a relationship to the world around us, and that world has been understood in very different ways across time and place.

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:

  • ULO1: Demonstrate command of anthropological knowledge and theory as it relates to medical anthropology and the broader study of illness and healing practices in their social and cultural contexts.
  • ULO2: Identify the processes through which biology, culture, politics, and ecology interact to shape illness and health, health systems, and patterns.
  • ULO3: Research, analyse, and represent the illness experience of a person or community, emphasizing the integrative factors (culture, politics, social structure, etc.) influencing the condition.
  • ULO4: Identify and apply the theories and concepts of medical anthropology to critically evaluate one’s own culture and determinants of illness and health.
  • ULO5: Analyse how illness and health (and normality) are constructed within particular social, cultural, political, and environmental contexts.
  • ULO6: Analyse how inequality, social hierarchy, and structural violence generate unequal and often unique health determinants in the global and transnational context.

General Assessment Information

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, a 5% penalty (of the total possible mark) will be applied each day a written assessment is not submitted, up until the 7th day (including weekends). After the 7th day, a mark of '0' (zero) will be awarded even if the assessment is submitted. Submission time for all written assessments is set at 11.55pm. A 1-hour grace period is provided to students who experience a technical issue. This late penalty will apply to non-time sensitive assessment (incl. essays, reports, posters, portfolios, journals, recordings etc). Late submission of time sensitive tasks (such as tests/exams, performance assessments/presentations, scheduled practical assessments/labs etc) will only be addressed by the unit convenor in a Special Consideration application. Special Consideration outcome may result in a new question or topic.

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Ethnographic Essay 30% No 2024-09-29
Tutorial Participation 20% No Weekly
Mid Session Quiz 20% No 2024-09-08
Take Home Exam 30% No 2024-11-03

Ethnographic Essay

Assessment Type 1: Essay
Indicative Time on Task 2: 20 hours
Due: 2024-09-29
Weighting: 30%

 

Short ethnographic essay. 800 words.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Demonstrate command of anthropological knowledge and theory as it relates to medical anthropology and the broader study of illness and healing practices in their social and cultural contexts.
  • Identify the processes through which biology, culture, politics, and ecology interact to shape illness and health, health systems, and patterns.
  • Research, analyse, and represent the illness experience of a person or community, emphasizing the integrative factors (culture, politics, social structure, etc.) influencing the condition.
  • Identify and apply the theories and concepts of medical anthropology to critically evaluate one’s own culture and determinants of illness and health.
  • Analyse how illness and health (and normality) are constructed within particular social, cultural, political, and environmental contexts.
  • Analyse how inequality, social hierarchy, and structural violence generate unequal and often unique health determinants in the global and transnational context.

Tutorial Participation

Assessment Type 1: Participatory task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 12 hours
Due: Weekly
Weighting: 20%

 

Tutorial preparation and participation in class or online via discussion forums, based on set weekly readings and listening to weekly lecture.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Demonstrate command of anthropological knowledge and theory as it relates to medical anthropology and the broader study of illness and healing practices in their social and cultural contexts.
  • Identify the processes through which biology, culture, politics, and ecology interact to shape illness and health, health systems, and patterns.
  • Identify and apply the theories and concepts of medical anthropology to critically evaluate one’s own culture and determinants of illness and health.
  • Analyse how illness and health (and normality) are constructed within particular social, cultural, political, and environmental contexts.
  • Analyse how inequality, social hierarchy, and structural violence generate unequal and often unique health determinants in the global and transnational context.

Mid Session Quiz

Assessment Type 1: Quiz/Test
Indicative Time on Task 2: 2 hours
Due: 2024-09-08
Weighting: 20%

 

Online quiz based on unit content.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Demonstrate command of anthropological knowledge and theory as it relates to medical anthropology and the broader study of illness and healing practices in their social and cultural contexts.
  • Identify the processes through which biology, culture, politics, and ecology interact to shape illness and health, health systems, and patterns.
  • Analyse how illness and health (and normality) are constructed within particular social, cultural, political, and environmental contexts.
  • Analyse how inequality, social hierarchy, and structural violence generate unequal and often unique health determinants in the global and transnational context.

Take Home Exam

Assessment Type 1: Quiz/Test
Indicative Time on Task 2: 20 hours
Due: 2024-11-03
Weighting: 30%

 

Take home exam based on the lectures and readings.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Demonstrate command of anthropological knowledge and theory as it relates to medical anthropology and the broader study of illness and healing practices in their social and cultural contexts.
  • Identify the processes through which biology, culture, politics, and ecology interact to shape illness and health, health systems, and patterns.
  • Analyse how illness and health (and normality) are constructed within particular social, cultural, political, and environmental contexts.
  • Analyse how inequality, social hierarchy, and structural violence generate unequal and often unique health determinants in the global and transnational context.

1 If you need help with your assignment, please contact:

  • the academic teaching staff in your unit for guidance in understanding or completing this type of assessment
  • the Writing Centre for academic skills support.

2 Indicative time-on-task is an estimate of the time required for completion of the assessment task and is subject to individual variation

Delivery and Resources

See Ilearn ANTH2002 site for online delivery and resources. See also Leganto for the weekly readings. Echo recordings are available via Ilearn (real-time and recorded). Online students are advised to watch the Echo recordings and are required to participate in the weekly online discussion forums on Ilearn.

Unit Schedule

Week 1. What is medical anthropology?   Week 2. The problem of belief: Witches, shamans and healers Week 3. Illness, Disease, and the Sick Role Week 4. Making Sense of Suffering: Metaphors and Meaning Week 5: The Existential dimensions of illness and healing Week 6: Cultures of biomedicine  Week 7. Sex and gender in healthcare Week 8. Pregnancy, reproduction, and controlling fertility Week 9: Normal and Pathological: The Case of Gender Variance Week 10. Indigenous Health Week 11. Making Change: Health Activism Week 12. Structural Violence, Global Health, and Commodification. Week 13. Continuation week 12, and Consolidation and Evaluation

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Students seeking more policy resources can visit Student Policies (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/policies). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.

To find other policies relating to Teaching and Learning, visit Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au) and use the search tool.

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/admin/other-resources/student-conduct

Results

Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

Academic Integrity

At Macquarie, we believe academic integrity – honesty, respect, trust, responsibility, fairness and courage – is at the core of learning, teaching and research. We recognise that meeting the expectations required to complete your assessments can be challenging. So, we offer you a range of resources and services to help you reach your potential, including free online writing and maths support, academic skills development and wellbeing consultations.

Student Support

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

The Writing Centre

The Writing Centre provides resources to develop your English language proficiency, academic writing, and communication skills.

The Library provides online and face to face support to help you find and use relevant information resources. 

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Student Enquiries

Got a question? Ask us via AskMQ, or contact Service Connect.

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/. 

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

Unit information based on version 2024.02 of the Handbook