Course Syllabus
Titolo
Antropologia medica
Argomenti e articolazione del corso
In questo corso, gli studenti svilupperanno le loro competenze e la loro comprensione critica delle dimensioni sociali, culturali, politiche ed economiche del corpo, della salute e della malattia. In che modo la salute e la malattia sono oggetto d’interpretazione
e credenze nelle diverse società? Quali sono i processi che fanno sì che le questioni corporali coinvolgano e plasmino le interazioni sociali e l’organizzazione sociale di individui e gruppi? Per rispondere a tali interrogativi, questo corso si concentra
su approcci etnografici a temi riguardanti la salute e la malattia in vari contesti globali. Un tema trasversale che lega gli argomenti del corso è la produzione di sapere antropologico su salute, sofferenza e medicina. Verrà riservata particolare
attenzione all’analisi antropologica delle disuguaglianze globali legate al campo della salute, per tentare di capire meglio alcuni dei più complessi contesti e casi contemporanei, attraverso studi etnografici dai cinque continenti.
Il corso svilupperà principalmente i temi seguenti:
- Introduzione all’Antropologia medica: concetti chiave, approcci teorici e metodologici.
- Sistemi medici come sistemi culturali.
- Antropologia delle epidemie.
- Salute pubblica e politiche della salute.
- Salute, migrazione e umanitarismo.
- Sofferenza, violenza e disuguaglianze nella salute.
- Nuove tendenze e temi nell’Antropologia medica contemporanea.
Obiettivi
Attraverso l’analisi e la comparazione di casi etnografici da diversi contesti, gli studenti svilupperanno conoscenza critica dei sistemi medici come sistemi di pensiero e pratica, oltre ai possibili modi in cui considerare il corpo nella sua dimensione di prodotto bio-storico. Le questioni di salute verranno discusse come forme individuali d’incorporazione di processi storici e sociali in relazione a mondi morali locali.
Metodologie utilizzate
Nella prima parte del corso, l’insegnamento sarà basato principalmente su lezioni d’introduzione all’Antropologia medica. Nella seconda parte, verranno organizzate presentazioni di articoli (indicati dall’insegnante) da parte degli studenti e discussioni incentrate sui temi del corso, nella forma di seminario. Nella terza e ultima parte del corso, gli studenti discuteranno in aula i risultati del loro lavoro sul campo e alcuni ospiti presenteranno le loro ricerche etnografiche.
IMPORTANTE: le modalità di svolgimento del corso e di valutazione potrebbero subire modifiche in base alle variazioni alle disposizioni vigenti per le lezioni universitarie. Contattare il docente per eventuali aggiornamenti.Materiali didattici (online, offline)
Programma e bibliografia per i frequentanti
- A Reader in Medical Anthropology. Theoretical Trajectories, Emergent Realities, edited by Byron J. Good, Michael M.J. Fischer, Sarah S. Willen, e Mary-Jo DelVecchio Good. Wiley-Blackwell, 2010.
- A Companion to Medical Anthropology, edited by Merril Singer and Pamela I. Erickson, Wiley-Blackwell, 2011.
Per la seconda parte del corso, l’insegnante assegnerà la lettura di articoli e capitoli legati ai temi delle lezioni, secondo il calendario stabilito. Tali testi verranno presentati in aula dagli studenti, secondo un calendario concordato insieme, e costituiranno parte della valutazione.
Oltre ai due volumi sopracitati, agli studenti non frequentanti è richiesto di concordare il programma con il docente e di scegliere con lui di due volumi aggiuntivi dalla seguente lista:
- Biehl João, 2009, Will to Live: AIDS Therapies and the Politics of Survival, Princeton University Press.
- Csordas Thomas J., 2002, Body/Meaning/Healing, Palgrave. Farmer Paul, 1992, AIDS and Accusation: Haiti and the Geography of Blame, University of California Press.
- Farmer Paul, 1999, Infections and inequalities. The modern plagues, University of California Press.
- Farmer Paul, 2003, Pathologies of power. Health, human rights, and the new war on the poor, University of California Press.
- Fassin Didier, 2007, When Bodies Remember. Experiences and Politics of AIDS in South Africa, University of California Press.
- Fassin Didier, 2018, Life. A Critical User’s Manual, Polity Press.
- Fassin Didier and Rechtman Richard, 2009, The Empire of Trauma. An Inquiry into the Condition of Victimhood, Princeton University Press.
- Kleinman Arthur, 1995, Writing at the Margin: Discourse Between Anthropology and Medicine, University of California Press.
- Inhorn Marcia C., 2003, Local Babies, Global Science: Gender, Religion, and In Vitro Fertilization in Egypt, Routledge.
- Lock Margaret and Nguyen Vinh-Kim, 2010, An Anthropology of Biomedicine, Wiley-Blackwell.
- Lock Margaret, 2001, Twice Dead: Organ Transplants and the Reinvention of Death, University of California Press.
- Martin Emily, 1994, Flexible Bodies. Tracking Immunity in American Culture - From the Days of Polio to the Age of AIDS, Beacon Press.
- Mattingly Cheryl, 1998, Healing dramas and clinical plots. The narrative structure of experience, Cambridge University Press.
- Mol Annemarie, 2003, The Body Multiple: Ontology in Medical Practice, Duke University Press
- Nguyen Vinh-Kim, 2010, The Republic of Therapy: Triage and Sovereignty in West Africa’s Time of AIDS, Duke University Press.
- Petryna Adriana, 2002, Life Exposed: Biological Citizens after Chernobyl, Princeton University Press.
- Ticktin Miriam, 2011, Casualties of Care. Immigration and the politics of humanitarianism in France, University of California Press.
Programma e bibliografia per i non frequentanti
- A Reader in Medical Anthropology. Theoretical Trajectories, Emergent Realities, edited by Byron J. Good, Michael M.J. Fischer, Sarah S. Willen, e Mary-Jo DelVecchio Good. Wiley-Blackwell, 2010.
- A Companion to Medical Anthropology, edited by Merril Singer and Pamela I. Erickson, Wiley-Blackwell, 2011.
Per la seconda parte del corso, l’insegnante assegnerà la lettura di articoli e capitoli legati ai temi delle lezioni, secondo il calendario stabilito. Tali testi verranno presentati in aula dagli studenti, secondo un calendario concordato insieme, e costituiranno parte della valutazione.
Oltre ai due volumi sopracitati, agli studenti non frequentanti è richiesto di concordare il programma con il docente e di scegliere con lui di due volumi aggiuntivi dalla seguente lista:
- Biehl João, 2009, Will to Live: AIDS Therapies and the Politics of Survival, Princeton University Press.
- Csordas Thomas J., 2002, Body/Meaning/Healing, Palgrave. Farmer Paul, 1992, AIDS and Accusation: Haiti and the Geography of Blame, University of California Press.
- Farmer Paul, 1999, Infections and inequalities. The modern plagues, University of California Press.
- Farmer Paul, 2003, Pathologies of power. Health, human rights, and the new war on the poor, University of California Press.
- Fassin Didier, 2007, When Bodies Remember. Experiences and Politics of AIDS in South Africa, University of California Press.
- Fassin Didier, 2018, Life. A Critical User’s Manual, Polity Press.
- Fassin Didier and Rechtman Richard, 2009, The Empire of Trauma. An Inquiry into the Condition of Victimhood, Princeton University Press.
- Kleinman Arthur, 1995, Writing at the Margin: Discourse Between Anthropology and Medicine, University of California Press.
- Inhorn Marcia C., 2003, Local Babies, Global Science: Gender, Religion, and In Vitro Fertilization in Egypt, Routledge.
- Lock Margaret and Nguyen Vinh-Kim, 2010, An Anthropology of Biomedicine, Wiley-Blackwell.
- Lock Margaret, 2001, Twice Dead: Organ Transplants and the Reinvention of Death, University of California Press.
- Martin Emily, 1994, Flexible Bodies. Tracking Immunity in American Culture - From the Days of Polio to the Age of AIDS, Beacon Press.
- Mattingly Cheryl, 1998, Healing dramas and clinical plots. The narrative structure of experience, Cambridge University Press.
- Mol Annemarie, 2003, The Body Multiple: Ontology in Medical Practice, Duke University Press
- Nguyen Vinh-Kim, 2010, The Republic of Therapy: Triage and Sovereignty in West Africa’s Time of AIDS, Duke University Press.
- Petryna Adriana, 2002, Life Exposed: Biological Citizens after Chernobyl, Princeton University Press.
- Ticktin Miriam, 2011, Casualties of Care. Immigration and the politics of humanitarianism in France, University of California Press.
Modalità d'esame
Oltre all’esame orale finale, agli studenti frequentanti è richiesto di presentare in aula uno o due degli articoli che verranno proposti e di discuterli collettivamente con gli altri partecipanti e con l’insegnante.
Tali presentazioni orali costituiranno parte della valutazione finale.
Agli studenti non frequentanti è richiesto di contattare l’insegnante per pianificare la bibliografia aggiuntiva richiesta per l’esame orale, oltre ai due volumi obbligatori.
IMPORTANTE: le modalità di svolgimento del corso e di valutazione potrebbero subire modifiche in base alle variazioni alle disposizioni vigenti per le lezioni universitarie. Contattare il docente per eventuali aggiornamenti.
Orario di ricevimento
Contattare il docente: lorenzo.alunni[at]gmail.com
Durata dei programmi
Questo programma vale per l'anno accademico 2020/2021.
Cultori della materia e Tutor
Course title
Medical Anthropology
Topics and course structure
In this course, students will develop knowledge and critical understanding of social, cultural, political and economical dimensions concerning health and body issues. In what ways are health and illness matters of interpretation and belief in different societies? How do they involve and shape social interactions and social organization among individuals and groups? How do they reflect and influence political and economic relations? To answer such questions, this course focuses on ethnographic approaches on issues regarding health and illness in different contexts worldwide.
One theme that ties together the diverse topics of the course is the production of anthropological knowledge about health, suffering, and medicine. Particular attention will be dedicated to the anthropological analysis ofglobal inequalities linked to the field of health, in order to better understand some of the most complex contemporary contexts and issues across ethnographic cases from the five continents.The course will mainly focus on the following themes:
- Introduction to Medical Anthropology: Key Concepts, Theoretical and Methodological Approaches.
- Medical Systems as Cultural Systems.
- Anthropology of Epidemics.
- Public Health and Health Politics.
- Health, Migration, and Humanitarism.
- Suffering, Violence and Health Inequalities.
- New Trends and Topics in Contemporary Medical Anthropology.Objectives
Through the analysis and comparison of ethnographic cases from various settings, students will reach a deeper understanding of medicine and health as systems of thought and practice, as well as exploring the possible ways to study the body as a bio-historical product. Students will learn how to consider health issues as individual forms of embodiment of broader social and historical processes within situated moral worlds.
Methodologies
In the first part of the course, teaching will be mainly based on introductory lectures. In the second part, presentations by students and group discussions will be organized around central topics of the course, in the form of a workshop. In the third
and final part of the course, students will discuss in the class the results of their short ethnographic work and guest speakers will present their ethnographic researches.
PLEASE NOTE: the organization of the course and its forms of evaluation may vary due to the university regulation for courses in presence. Please contact the teacher for updates.
Online and offline teaching materials
Programme and references for attending students
- A Reader in Medical Anthropology. Theoretical Trajectories, Emergent Realities, edited by Byron J. Good, Michael M.J. Fischer, Sarah S. Willen, e Mary-Jo DelVecchio Good. Wiley-Blackwell, 2010.
- A Companion to Medical Anthropology, edited by Merril Singer and Pamela I. Erickson, Wiley-Blackwell, 2011.
For the second part of the course, the lecturer will assign articles and chapters related to the themes that will be discussed according to the schedule established together. These include the articles that students will present as part of the course evaluation.
In addition to the two above-mentioned readings, students not attending lectures are required to agree on the mandatory readings with the teacher andchoose two additional books from the following list:
- Biehl João, 2009, Will to Live: AIDS Therapies and the Politics of Survival, Princeton University Press.
- Csordas Thomas J., 2002, Body/Meaning/Healing, Palgrave. Farmer Paul, 1992, AIDS and Accusation: Haiti and the Geography of Blame, University of California Press.
- Farmer Paul, 1999, Infections and inequalities. The modern plagues, University of California Press.
- Farmer Paul, 2003, Pathologies of power. Health, human rights, and the new war on the poor, University of California Press.
- Fassin Didier, 2007, When Bodies Remember. Experiences and Politics of AIDS in South Africa, University of California Press.
- Fassin Didier, 2018, Life. A Critical User’s Manual, Polity Press.
- Fassin Didier and Rechtman Richard, 2009, The Empire of Trauma. An Inquiry into the Condition of Victimhood, Princeton University Press.
- Kleinman Arthur, 1995, Writing at the Margin: Discourse Between Anthropology and Medicine, University of California Press.
- Inhorn Marcia C., 2003, Local Babies, Global Science: Gender, Religion, and In Vitro Fertilization in Egypt, Routledge.
- Lock Margaret and Nguyen Vinh-Kim, 2010, An Anthropology of Biomedicine, Wiley-Blackwell.
- Lock Margaret, 2001, Twice Dead: Organ Transplants and the Reinvention of Death, University of California Press.
- Martin Emily, 1994, Flexible Bodies. Tracking Immunity in American Culture - From the Days of Polio to the Age of AIDS, Beacon Press.
- Mattingly Cheryl, 1998, Healing dramas and clinical plots. The narrative structure of experience, Cambridge University Press.
- Mol Annemarie, 2003, The Body Multiple: Ontology in Medical Practice, Duke University Press
- Nguyen Vinh-Kim, 2010, The Republic of Therapy: Triage and Sovereignty in West Africa’s Time of AIDS, Duke University Press.
- Petryna Adriana, 2002, Life Exposed: Biological Citizens after Chernobyl, Princeton University Press.
- Ticktin Miriam, 2011, Casualties of Care. Immigration and the politics of humanitarianism in France, University of California Press.
Programme and references for non-attending students
- A Reader in Medical Anthropology. Theoretical Trajectories, Emergent Realities, edited by Byron J. Good, Michael M.J. Fischer, Sarah S. Willen, e Mary-Jo DelVecchio Good. Wiley-Blackwell, 2010.
- A Companion to Medical Anthropology, edited by Merril Singer and Pamela I. Erickson, Wiley-Blackwell, 2011.
For the second part of the course, the lecturer will assign articles and chapters related to the themes that will be discussed according to the schedule established together. These include the articles that students will present as part of the course evaluation.
In addition to the two above-mentioned readings, students not attending lectures are required to agree on the mandatory readings with the teacher andchoose two additional books from the following list:
- Biehl João, 2009, Will to Live: AIDS Therapies and the Politics of Survival, Princeton University Press.
- Csordas Thomas J., 2002, Body/Meaning/Healing, Palgrave. Farmer Paul, 1992, AIDS and Accusation: Haiti and the Geography of Blame, University of California Press.
- Farmer Paul, 1999, Infections and inequalities. The modern plagues, University of California Press.
- Farmer Paul, 2003, Pathologies of power. Health, human rights, and the new war on the poor, University of California Press.
- Fassin Didier, 2007, When Bodies Remember. Experiences and Politics of AIDS in South Africa, University of California Press.
- Fassin Didier, 2018, Life. A Critical User’s Manual, Polity Press.
- Fassin Didier and Rechtman Richard, 2009, The Empire of Trauma. An Inquiry into the Condition of Victimhood, Princeton University Press.
- Kleinman Arthur, 1995, Writing at the Margin: Discourse Between Anthropology and Medicine, University of California Press.
- Inhorn Marcia C., 2003, Local Babies, Global Science: Gender, Religion, and In Vitro Fertilization in Egypt, Routledge.
- Lock Margaret and Nguyen Vinh-Kim, 2010, An Anthropology of Biomedicine, Wiley-Blackwell.
- Lock Margaret, 2001, Twice Dead: Organ Transplants and the Reinvention of Death, University of California Press.
- Martin Emily, 1994, Flexible Bodies. Tracking Immunity in American Culture - From the Days of Polio to the Age of AIDS, Beacon Press.
- Mattingly Cheryl, 1998, Healing dramas and clinical plots. The narrative structure of experience, Cambridge University Press.
- Mol Annemarie, 2003, The Body Multiple: Ontology in Medical Practice, Duke University Press
- Nguyen Vinh-Kim, 2010, The Republic of Therapy: Triage and Sovereignty in West Africa’s Time of AIDS, Duke University Press.
- Petryna Adriana, 2002, Life Exposed: Biological Citizens after Chernobyl, Princeton University Press.
- Ticktin Miriam, 2011, Casualties of Care. Immigration and the politics of humanitarianism in France, University of California Press.
Assessment methods
In addition to the finale oral assessment, students attending the lectures will be asked to present one or two of the articles in the bibliography to the class and discuss it with the other students and the lecturer.
These oral presentations will constitute the object of the evaluation.
Students not attending the lectures are required to contact the teacher to agree on the additional readings for the oral evaluation, in addition to the two mandatory readings.
IMPORTANT : the organization of the course and its forms of evaluation may vary due to the university regulation for courses in presence. Please contact the teacher for updates.Office hours
Please contact the teacher: lorenzo.alunni[at]gmail.com
Programme validity
This program is valid for the 2020/2021 academic year.
Course tutors and assistants
Students' opinion
Bibliography
Staff
- Lorenzo Alunni