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BA in Anthropology with a Concentration in Medical Anthropology, Ethics, and Care

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Brooks Hall

B.A. in Anthropology with a Concentration in Medical Anthropology, Ethics, and Care Students in this concentration will study a diverse range of factors that impact the body, and the ways that people understand, experience, and respond to states of health and illness. Students will critically examine the complex ethical orientations that shape the manners in which people care for or abandon one another in various conditions of exposure, vulnerability, and well-being. Anthropological knowledge and practice offer a unique resource for questioning our own assumptions on these and other matters. Students in this Concentration will use such knowledge to address some of the most difficult problems we face today, and in so doing, help create the world anew.

To begin the process of enrolling in this concentration, contact the Medical Anthropology, Ethics, and Care Concentration Advisor.

Requirements:


1. Fulfill all non-elective requirements for the B.A. in Anthropology.

2. When choosing electives toward your Anthropology major, include the following:
a. ANTH 2280 Medical Anthropology
b. 4 additional courses chosen from the Medical Anthropology Concentration
Course List (see below)

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Medical Anthropology Concentration Course List

ANTH 2340       Anthropology of Birth and Death

ANTH 2375       Disaster

ANTH 2270       Race, Gender, And Medical Science

ANTH 2345       Anthropology of Reproduction: Fertility and The Future

ANTH 2430       Anthropology of Birth and Death

ANTH 2285       Saving the World? Development and Humanitarianism

ANTH 3290       Biopolitics

ANTH 3130       Disease, Epidemics and Society

ANTH 3129       Marriage, Mortality, Fertility

ANTH 3240       The Anthropology of Food

ANTH 3370       Power and The Body

ANTH 3440       Language and Emotion

ANTH 3600       Sex, Gender, And Culture

ANTH 3300       Tournaments and Athletes

ANTH 4991       Anthropology, Violence, And, Human Rights

ANTH 5190       Science and Culture

ANTH 5360       World Mental Health

ANTH 5528       Topics in Race Theory

ANTH 5240       Relational Ethics

BIOL 4660         How Do They Do It? Method and Logic in Biomedical Science

BIOL 3090         Our World of Infectious Disease

ENSP 3610        Narratives of Illness and Doctoring Marcia Childress 

HIEU 3321         Scientific Revolution 1450-1700

HIST 2150          Global Environmental History

MDST 3306       Sexuality, Gender, Class and Race in the Teen Film 

MDST 3409       LGBTQ Issues in the Media 

MDST 4108       Media, Drugs, and Violence in Latin America 

PHIL 1740         Issues of Life and Death 

PHIL 3651         Genes, Nature and Justice

PHIL 3780         Reproductive Ethics 

RELG 2650        Theological Bioethics 

SOC 2498          Prozac Culture 

SOC 3700          Health and Society 

SOC 4740          Sociol Persp on Trauma, Atrocity, & Responsibility 

WGS 2848         Reproductive Technology 

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Frequently Asked Questions

How many credits from courses outside of Anthropology can be counted towards the Medical Anthropology Concentration?

6 credits, which usually amounts to 2 courses. When picking electives from outside Anthropology, check our list of approved electives to see if your chosen elective already counts toward your major or speak with your advisor about completing a SIS exception form.

I am a double major. How many courses can overlap between or count towards both of my majors?

  • In most cases, 2 courses can overlap between or count towards both majors
  • If one of your majors is an interdisciplinary major (like Global Studies), 3 courses can overlap between or count towards both majors

I am doing both a major and a minor. How many courses can overlap between or count towards both my major and my minor?

  • In most cases, no courses can overlap between a major and minor.
  • If your minor is an interdisciplinary minor, and you declared your interdisciplinary minor prior to the Fall of 2019, up to 2 courses can overlap between your Anthro major and interdisciplinary minor
  • If your minor is an interdisciplinary minor, and you declared your interdisciplinary minor during or after the Fall of 2019, no courses can overlap between your Anthro major and interdisciplinary minor

I am majoring in Anthropology (with the Medical Anthropology Concentration) and am also doing a Bioethics minor. How many credits can be counted towards both the Medical Anthropology Concentration and the Bioethics Minor?  

  • If you declared your Bioethics Minor before the Fall of 2019, you can count up to 2 courses towards your Anthropology Major and Bioethics Minor
  • If you declared your Bioethics Minor during or after the Fall of 2019, no courses can overlap between your Anthropology Major and Bioethics Minor

I am a double major, and this Anthropology major with a Concentration in Medical Anthropology, Ethics, and Care is my second major. If I need to drop this major, how do I do that and what are the consequences?

In order to drop the second major, you visit the Registrar’s office in Monroe Hall to notify them of your desire to drop the second major. The second major will then disappear from your record with no consequences at all.

What do I do when I find an elective that I think should count towards my Medical Anthropology Concentration but that is not on the list with approved electives?

Let the Concentration Advisor know about this course and send her the course description, syllabus, contact info of the professor, and a short justification for why you think it should count as a Med Anthro elective. If she agrees to count the course, make an appointment with her to fill out an “exception form” to ensure SIS will count the course towards your major and Concentration.

I plan to study abroad for a semester. Can any courses I take abroad count towards my Concentration?

On appropriate topics, in most cases: yes. You can count up to 2 courses (6 credits) that you have taken abroad towards your major and Concentration. Make sure to discuss with the Concentration Advisor whether these courses are eligible. If they are, make an appointment with her to fill out an “exception form” to ensure SIS will count the course towards your major and Concentration.

Can my major seminar count towards the concentration electives?

On appropriate topics, in most cases: yes. Make sure to discuss this with the Concentration Advisor to make sure.

 

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Suggested courses for the Summer and Fall of 2025

 

Summer 2025

 

Pre-approved courses

Other departments/programs

MDST 3409     –          LGBTQ Issues in the Media

 

Courses to be approved with SIS exception form

Other departments/programs

AMST 4601      –          Gender, Race, and the Prison

MDST 3662     –          Disability and the Media

PLAP 3160       –          The Politics of Food

SOC 3350        –          Drugs in American Society

 

Fall 2025

Pre-approved courses

Anthropology

ANTH 2280      –          Medical Anthropology

ANTH 2620      –          Sex, Gender, and Culture

ANTH 3290      –          Life, Technology and the Contemporary Condition (formerly:

Biopolitics and the Contemporary Condition

ANTH 3589      –          Bones and Bodies (fulfills Archeology subfield requirement)

           

Other departments/programs

MDST/WGS 3305        –          LGBTQ Issues in the Media

PHIL 1740                    –          Issues of Life and Death

SOC 3700                    –          Health, Illness, and Inequality

 

Courses to be approved with SIS exception form

Anthropology

ANTH 3332      –          Anthropology of Disability

ANTH 5999      –          The Anthropology of Care: Bodies, Relationality, and Moral

Worlds[1]

 

Other departments/programs

GSGS 2400      –          Mass Migration and Global Development

GSGS 4410      –          Body Migrant

WGS 3305       –          LGBTQ Issues in the Media

PHIL 2820        –          Philosophy of Health and Health Care

PHS 3050         –          Fundamentals of Public Health

PHS 3186         –          Comparative Health Care Systems

PHS 3620         –          Built Environment & Health Impact

PHS 3825         –          Global Public Health: Challenges and Innovations

SOC 2280        –          Medical Sociology

SOC 4280        –          Sociology of Mental Health and Illness

 

 

 


[1] Anthropology majors are allowed to take a 5000-level course instead of a major seminar. SIS has been having a hard time processing this new course. If you are interested, know that it is scheduled for 2.5 hours late Wednesday afternoons.

 

I am thinking of doing a DMP (Distinguished Major Program). Are there any courses I should take to qualify for that?

Yes, you should take both ANTH 3010 and ANTH 3020.