Students

ANTH2002 – Health, Illness and Healing

2026 – Session 2, Online-flexible

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff Lecturer
Anna-Karina Hermkens
anna.hermkens@mq.edu.au
Via appointment
Tutor
Jesse Negro
jesse.negro@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 focuses on the human experience of what it is to be ill and to be healed. Being ill or being healed isn't just something that happens inside a biological body, it happens at the intersection between a person and the world around them. Students will analyse the biological, ecological, economic, political, and sociocultural dimensions of health, illness, and healing around the world, revealing the various systems and structures that have shaped the relationship between people's bodies and their health. Through case studies of particular illnesses and healing traditions around the world, students will learn how health and illness are shaped, experienced, and understood in the context of cultural, historical, and political forces, and how biomedical traditions are shaped by human cultural systems and vice versa. The unit draws upon various philosophical theories as well as social, cultural, biological, and linguistic anthropology to better understand those factors which influence health and illness. Students will research and write their own "illness narrative" as an exercise in holistically understanding the experience of illness or healing as simultaneously a subjective embodied and a sociocultural experience. Overall, students will gain both practical research skills as well as a greater understanding of how people experience public health systems.

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: Apply anthropological knowledge and theory 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, emphasising the integrative factors 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: Evaluate how inequality, social hierarchy, and structural violence generate unequal and often unique health determinants in the global and transnational context. 

General Assessment Information

Important 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 Groupwork/Individual Short Extension AI Approach
Short ethnographic essay 50% No 02/10/2026 Individual Yes Open
Take home exam 50% No 08/11/2026 Individual Yes Open

Short ethnographic essay

Assessment Type 1: Written Submission
Indicative Time on Task 2: 34 hours
Due: 02/10/2026
Weighting: 50%
Groupwork/Individual: Individual
Short extension 3: Yes
AI Approach: Open

Short ethnographic essay. 800 words.
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Apply anthropological knowledge and theory 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, emphasising the integrative factors 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. 
  • Evaluate 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: Practice-based task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 20 hours
Due: 08/11/2026
Weighting: 50%
Groupwork/Individual: Individual
Short extension 3: Yes
AI Approach: Open

Take home exam based on the lectures and readings.
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Apply anthropological knowledge and theory 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. 
  • Evaluate 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
  • Academic Success 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.

3 An automatic short extension is available for some assessments. Apply through the Service Connect Portal.

Delivery and Resources

13 Lectures and 12 weekly tutorials and online discussion groups, which start in week 2. Resources are available via LEGANTO

Lecture attendance, or watching the Echo-live stream or recording, is strongly advised. The lecture content will provide information that we will discuss during the tutorials and in the assignments. 

Those of you who are taking this unit externally are expected to: 1. watch the live lecture recordings which are available via ECHO on Ilearn 2. do the weekly readings, and 3. actively and meaningfully participate in online discussion forums, demonstrating you have watched the lectures and did the readings. 

By the end of week 1 you will be placed in your discussion groups -- there will be approx. 30 students in each group. It will be obvious which group you are in, because it will be the only forum you can access, it won't be possible to see any forums besides the group forum you've been placed in. Beginning in Week 2, a discussion forum will open which can be found under each weekly tab. 

a. Questions relating to the weekly lecture and reading content will be posted on Ilearn after you have watched the lecture of that week (every Monday; lecture is between 2-4pm) -please respond to these questions meaningfully with at least 200 words, by initiating your own discussion post. You don't have to answer each question specifically, feel free to take in the general framing of the question as the basis for your response. You also have the option of picking one or two questions and addressing them specifically. You have 6 days to post on the forum (until Sunday), after that we start with a new topic.
 
b. You will then take another 200 or so words to respond to someone else, replying directly to their post by taking in their perspective, commenting perhaps on the points where you agree or disagree, pushing further into the implications of their response; basically trying to initiate a discussion.
 
The assessments are the same as internal students. See the assessments tab. 
 
External Tutor:
 
Anna-Karina Hermkens anna.hermkens@mq.edu.au
 
NOTE: If you have enrolled as external/online student after the first week of semester and you cannot see a discussion group, I will have to add you in manually. Please email me ASAP so you do not miss out on being able to participate in online forums.

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 connect.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/

Academic Success

Academic Success 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. 

Student Services and Support

Macquarie University offers a range of Student Support Services including:

Student Enquiries

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

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit https://students.mq.edu.au/support/technology/service-desk. 

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 2026.04 of the Handbook