Development and Culture
Introduction to Planetary Healthas taught atHiroshima University
Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Autumn/Winter 2023
Room: IDEC 203
Intensive Course
Instructor: Dr. Gergely Mohácsi (Osaka University, School of Human Sciences)
Email: mohacska49@gmail.com
Of ce Hours: Monday, 17:00 - 18:00 (upon request), Zoom
Course Objective
The aim of this course is to develop an academic interest in how humans have altered socialecological systems on a planetary scale, often called Anthropocene, and the consequences of suchtransformation for health, disease and well-being. Lectures will explore the complex interactions
between the changing environment, forms of disease and the healthcare system by introducing
students to major theme areas in the interdisciplinary eld of planetary health, such as emerging
infectious diseases, food waste or chemical pollution. In the subsequent seminars, participants willtake a leading role in reviewing case studies from around the world through intensive group
discussions. In addition, key concepts and methods in medical anthropology will be introduced tohelp students understand and interpret the changing relationship between health, disease and theenvironment in the 21st century. The course will be completed by an off-campus eldtrip (half-day)and a take-home nal paper.
Course Format
Lecture & seminar including discussions, student presentations and group work
Learning Goals
By the end of this course students should:(1) be familiar with medical anthropology as a distinctive discipline at the crossroads of thesocial, human and medical sciences(2) build up a solid knowledge of the broad nature, concepts and theories of planetary health(3) be able to apply key theoretical approaches to explain the environmental factors of disease,particularly the recursive interaction of epidemiological and ecological drivers(4) develop an academic interest in how humans have been altering the relationship between
the environment and their health(5) develop an interest in further comprehension of grassroots activism around planetary health(6) be able to participate in collaborative work such as class discussion and group presentation
assignments

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Keywords
planetary health; Anthropocene; medical anthropology; disease; zoonosis, science and technology
studies, resilienceIntroduction to Planetary Health (autumn/winter 2023 syllabus)

Course Calendar
The course will consist of lectures, group discussions, case studies and practical exercises. For Day
1 and Day 2, everyone is required to read one chapter of the textbook before each class to prepare
for the warm-up discussion QUESTIONS. For Day 3, everyone will be assigned a case study fromthe anthology. You will be required to PRESENT a summary that outlines the main points andinterrogates some of the key issues of this case study and lead a DISCUSSION inspired by that text.
On Day 4, you will participate in a roundtable discussion with other students that will lead to a short
GROUP PRESENTATION.
Daily Schedule
Each “class” will be divided into three “sessions” conducted over half a day.
Session 1
Session 2
Session 3

09:00~09:50
10:00~10:50
11:00~11:50 +Session 4
Session 5
Session 6(Lunch)

13:30~14:20
14:30~15:20
15:30~16:20 +DAY 1, Oct 14 | FOUNDATIONS

Orientation: About the class#1 Introduction: What is planetary health?
*Required reading: M&F Ch.1 “An Introduction to Planetary Health” (pp.3-16)
Recommended readings:‣ Farman, Abou and Richard Rottenburg. 2019. Measures of future health, from the nonhumanto the planetary. An introductory essay. Medicine Anthropology Theory 6(3): 1–28. doi:
10.17157/mat.6.3.659‣ Whitmee S, Haines A, Beyrer C, et al. 2015. Safeguarding human health in the Anthropocene
epoch: Report of the Rockefeller Foundation–Lancet Commission on planetary health.
Lancet 386(10007):1973-2028.
‣ Watanabe, Toru and Watanabe Chiho. 2019. Ecohealth and human ecology as underlying
theoretical background. In Health in Ecological Perspectives in the Anthropocene. Watanabe
Toru and Watanabe Chiho eds., pp.1–12. Springer.
Class Discussion#2 Ecologies 1: Population, consumption, technology*Required reading: M&F Ch.3 “Population, Consumption, Equity, and Rights” (pp.37-70)
Recommended readings:‣ Yates-Doerr, Emily and Kenneth Maes. 2019. Global health. In Cambridge Encyclopedia ofAnthropology. Cambridge: University of Cambridge. https://doi.org/10.29164/19ghealth‣ McElroy, Ann and Patricia K. Townsend. 2015. The ecology of health and disease (Chapter 1).
In Medical Anthropology in Ecological Perspective. Sixth edition., pp. 1–32. Boulder, Oxford:
Westview Press.
Class Discussion2

Introduction to Planetary Health (autumn/winter 2023 syllabus)#3 Ecologies 2: Changing environments and planetary boundaries*Required reading: M&F Ch.4 “A Changing Planet” (pp.71-110)
Recommended readings:‣ Moore, Amelia. 2016. Anthropocene anthropology: Reconceptualizing contemporary globalchange. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 22(1): 27–46. doi: 10.1111/1467-9655.12332‣ Steffen W, Broadgate W, Deutsch L, Gaffney O, Ludwig C. 2015. The trajectory of theAnthropocene: The Great Acceleration. The Anthropocene Review 2(1): 81–98.
‣ Nguyen, Gia Thanh, Jian Pu, and Toru Watanabe. 2019. Floods and foods as potential
carriers of disease between urban and rural areas. In Health in Ecological Perspectives in theAnthropocene. Watanabe Toru and Watanabe Chiho eds., pp. 133–145. Springer.

DAY 2, Oct 15 | TOPICS#4 Heat 1: Energy and health*Required reading: M&F Ch.12 “Energy and Planetary Health” (pp.285–324)
Recommended readings:‣ Climate Reality Project. N.A. Extreme Weather and the Climate Crisis. https://www.climaterealityproject.org/extremeweather (last accessed on September 23, 2023).
‣ Fukushi Kensuke. 2019. Health Risk Assessment for Planning of a Resilient City in theChanging Regional Environment. In Health in Ecological Perspectives in the Anthropocene.
Watanabe Toru and Chiho Watanabe eds., pp. 109-116. Singapore: Springer.
‣ He, Cheng et al. 2022. The effects of night-time warming on mortality burden under futureclimate change scenarios: a modelling study. Lancet Planetary Health 6: e648–57.
‣ Singer, Merrill, Jose Hasemann & Abigail Raynor. 2016. “I Feel Suffocated:” Understandingsof Climate Change in an Inner City Heat Island. Medical Anthropology 35(6): 453-463, DOI:
10.1080/01459740.2016.1204543.
Class Discussion
Class #5 Metabolism 1: Biodiversity and nutrition*Required reading: M&F Ch.5 “Food and Nutrition on a Rapidly Changing Planet” (pp.113-140)
Recommended readings:‣ Cuj, Miguel, Lisa Grabinsky and Emily Yates-Doerr. 2021. Cultures of nutrition: Classification,
food policy, and health. Medical Anthropology 40(1):79–97.
‣ McElroy, Ann and Patricia K. Townsend. 2015. The ecology and economics of nutrition(Chapter 5). In Medical Anthropology in Ecological Perspective. Sixth edition., pp. 169–216.
Boulder, Oxford: Westview Press.
‣ Willett, Walter, Johan Rockström and Brent Loken, et al. 2019 Food in the Anthropocene:
The EAT-Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems. Lancet 393(10170):447–492.

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Introduction to Planetary Health (autumn/winter 2023 syllabus)Class #6: Pollution 1: Living on a toxic planet*Required reading: M&F Ch .14 “Controlling Toxic Exposures” (pp.359-386)
Recommended readings:‣ Bean, Tom G., Alistair B.A. Boxall, Julie Lane, Katherine A. Herborn, Stéphane Pietravalle,and Kathryn E. Arnold. 2014. Behavioural and physiological responses of birds toenvironmentally relevant concentrations of an antidepressant. Philosophical Transactions ofThe Royal Society of London Series B - Biological Sciences 369(1656): 0130575.
‣ Kopnina, Helen. 2016. Asthma and air pollution: Connecting the dots. In A Companion to
the Anthropology of Environmental Health. Merrill Singer, ed., pp. 142–156. San Francisco,
CA: WileyBlackwell.
‣ Langwick, Stacey. 2018. A politics of habitability: Plants, healing and sovereignty in a toxic
world. Cultural Anthropology 33(3): 415-443. doi: 10.14506/ca33.3.06‣ Mohácsi, Gergely. 2021. Toxic remedies: On the cultivation of medicinal plants and urbanecologies. East Asian Science, Technology and Society: An International Journal 15(2):192–210, doi: 10.1080/18752160.2021.1897738‣ Pathak, Gauri and Mark Nichter. 2019. The anthropology of plastics: An agenda for local
studies of a global matter of concern. Medical Anthropology Quarterly 33(3): 307–326. doi:10.1111/maq.12514
Class Discussion
Class #7: Zoonosis 1: Animal farming and pandemics*Required reading: M&F Ch.6 “Planetary Health and Infectious Disease” (pp.141-164)
Recommended readings:‣ Brown, Hannah and Alex M. Nading. 2019. Introduction: human animal health in medicalanthropology. Medical Anthropology Quarterly 33(1): 5–23. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/
maq.12488‣ Sandhu, Harman, Anish Arora, Saadia Sarker, Bindra Shah, Anusha Sivendra, Emily Winsor,and Anahat Luthra. 2021. Pandemic prevention and unsustainable animal-basedconsumption. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 99(8): 603–605. doi:10.2471/
blt.20.276238.
‣ Rock, Melanie and Chris Degeling. 2016. Toward "One Health" Promotion. In A Companion
to the Anthropology of Environmental Health. Merrill Singer ed., pp. 68-82. San Francisco,
CA: WileyBlackwell.

DAY 3, Jan 13 | CASE STUDIESClass #8 Heat 2: Haze and asthma*Assigned readings: Duff et al. eds. 2020
๏ Chapter 01 “Health and Haze” (pp.32-81)
๏ Chapter 03 “Medical Clinics for Planetary Health” (pp.130-175)

4Introduction to Planetary Health (autumn/winter 2023 syllabus)Class #9 Metabolism 2: Food system and local change*Assigned readings: Duff et al. eds. 2020
๏ Chapter 05 “Putting Food Needs First” (pp.220-267)
๏ Chapter 07 “Today’s Solutions for the Future of Food” (pp.314-359)
Class Discussion
Class #10: Zoonosis 2: Conservation and health promotion*Assigned readings: Duff et al. eds. 2020
๏ Chapter 02 “Dams and Disease” (pp.82-129)
๏ Chapter 06 “Typhoid and Torrents” (pp.268-313)
Class #11: Pollution 2: Drug resistance(film and discussion)
Resistance Fighters: The Global Antibiotics Crisis (dir. Michael Wech, 2019)*Required reading: Duff et al. eds. 2020. Chapter 04 Going Circular” (pp.176-219)
Recommended readings:‣ Harper, Kristin N., Gabriela M. Sheets, George J. Armelagos. 2016. Modifying our microbial
environment: From the advent of agriculture to the age of antibiotic resistance. In A
Companion to the Anthropology of Environmental Health. Merrill Singer, ed., pp. 373–395.
San Francisco, CA: WileyBlackwell.
‣ Landecker, Hannah. 2016. Antibiotic resistance and the biology of history. Body & Society
22(4): 19–52.
‣ Tang, Karen L., Niamh P. Caffrey, Diego B. Nóbrega. 2017. Restricting the use of antibiotics
in food-producing animals and its associations with antibiotic resistance in food-producing
animals and human beings: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet Planetary Health
1:316–327.
Class Discussion

DAY 4, Jan 14 | WRAP-UPClass #12/13: Field trip
Class #14: Mini workshop
Class #15: Wrap-up__________

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Independent Study Outside of Class
Participants of this course will be required to read c.20-30 pages from the textbook and of othersources before each class. In addition, each student will be in charge of presenting one case study
for which they should read the assigned chapter (c. 50 pages) and prepare a handout until the dayof the presentation.
Assignments
First and foremost, (A) an engaged and thoughtful participation in class discussion is central. In therst half of the course, students should come to class having read and understood the required
chapter in the textbook. To prepare for the warm-up discussion questions, you will need to takenotes on the main themes of each chapter and think about how these points relate to topics
covered in other classes of the course. In addition, each participant will be asked to present (B) asummary of a case study from the anthology and lead a discussion inspired by that text. The
presentation should outline the main points and interrogate some of the key issues of the casestudy (c. 4 pages handout, 15 minutes presentation). On the last day of the course, students will
participate in a roundtable discussion with their peers designed to re ect on the key themes
covered throughout the course. This will lead to a short (C) nal collaborative paper of a grassroots
project proposal that connects a particular type of environmental change to a speci c humanhealth outcome based on the last day’s le trip.
Grading and Evaluation
Grading is based on the classwork, active participation in discussion, and the evaluation of midterm
presentation and nal group project. Attendance at 80% of all classes (12<) is required.
A: Class exercises & participation.................................................................... 40%
B: Mid-term individual presentation (case study)…………………………… 30%
C: Final report ( eld trip).……………………………………….………………30%
Further Remarks on Class Conduct
1 Textbook. It is recommended that you download and/or purchase the textbook and theanthology (see in “Required and assigned readings” section), which will help you in following
the reading requirements and preparing for the workshop at the end of the term. A limited
number of the textbooks will be available on reserve.
2 Language. The language of the course is English, as well as all reading assignments.
3 Plagiarism. Plagiarism of any sort, including the use of online content, is not allowed. If you
are not sure about what is or is not considered plagiarism, consult the instructor.
4 Completion of writing assignments. All writing assignments must be uploaded to theDropbox folder before the due date.
5 Class notes and audio-visual materials. Instruction in this class is augmented with a varietyof complementary materials, such as video excerpts, slideshows or direct quotes from primarysources. Students are responsible for taking notes on these materials and incorporating theminto their papers.
6 Missed eldwork and/or presentation. There will be no make-up exam without adequate
documentation (such as a doctor’s or counseling certi cate).

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Introduction to Planetary Health (autumn/winter 2023 syllabus)

Introduction to Planetary Health (autumn/winter 2023 syllabus)

Course readings
Required and assigned readings
Myers, Samuel and Howard Frumkin, eds. 2020. Planetary Health: Protecting Nature to Protect
Ourselves. Washington, DC: Island Press. (textbook, “M&F”)
Duff, Hilary, Carlos Faerron Guzmán, Amalia Almada, Christopher Golden and Samuel Myers
eds. 2020. Planetary Health Case Studies: An Anthology of Solutions. Planetary HealthAlliance. (anthology, “Duff et al. 2020”)
Recommended readings
BOOKS
McElroy, Ann and Patricia K. Townsend. 2015. Medical Anthropology in Ecological
Perspective. Sixth edition. Boulder, Oxford: Westview Press.
Singer, Merrill, ed. 2016. A Companion to the Anthropology of Environmental Health. SanFrancisco, CA: WileyBlackwell.
Watanabe, Toru and Watanabe Chiho, eds. 2019. Health in Ecological Perspectives in theAnthropocene. Springer.
Zywert, Katharine and Stephen Quilley, eds. 2020. Health in the Anthropocene: Living Well ona Finite Planet. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

ARTICLES
Adams, Vincanne. 2013. Evidence-based global public health. In When People Come First:
Critical Studies in Global Health. João Biehl and Adriana Petryna, eds., 54–90. Princeton,
NJ: Princeton University.
Bean, Tom G., Alistair B.A. Boxall, Julie Lane, Katherine A. Herborn, Stéphane Pietravalle, andKathryn E. Arnold. 2014. Behavioural and physiological responses of birds toenvironmentally relevant concentrations of an antidepressant. Philosophical Transactionsof The Royal Society of London Series B - Biological Sciences 369(1656): 0130575.
Brown, Hannah and Alex M. Nading. 2019. Introduction: human animal health in medicalanthropology. Medical Anthropology Quarterly 33(1): 5–23. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/
maq.12488
Cuj, Miguel, Lisa Grabinsky and Emily Yates-Doerr. 2021. Cultures of nutrition: Classi cation,food policy, and health. Medical Anthropology 40(1): 79–97.
Farman, Abou and Richard Rottenburg. 2019. Measures of future health, from the nonhumanto the planetary. An introductory essay. Medicine Anthropology Theory 6(3): 1–28. doi:
10.17157/mat.6.3.659
Fejerskov, Adam Moe. 2017. The new technopolitics of development and the Global South asa laboratory of technological experimentation. Science, Technology, & Human Values
42(5): 947–68. doi: 10.1177/0162243917709934
Kuriyama, Shigehisa. 2008. The forgotten fear of excrement. Journal of Medieval and Early
Modern Studies 38: 413– 42.
Landecker, Hannah. 2016. Antibiotic resistance and the biology of history. Body & Society22(4): 19–52.
Langwick, Stacey. 2018. A Politics of habitability: Plants, healing and sovereignty in a toxic
world. Cultural Anthropology 33(3): 415-443. doi: 10.14506/ca33.3.06

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Introduction to Planetary Health (autumn/winter 2023 syllabus)

MacKenzie, Adrian. 2014. Having an anthropocene body: Hydrocarbons, biofuels andmetabolism. Body & Society 20(1):3-30.
Malhi, Yadvinder. 2014. The metabolism of a human-dominated planet. In Is the planet full?
Ian Goldin, ed., pp. 142–163. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Mohácsi, Gergely. 2021. Toxic remedies: On the cultivation of medicinal plants and urban
ecologies. East Asian Science, Technology and Society: An International Journal 15(2):192–210, doi: 10.1080/18752160.2021.1897738
Moore, Amelia. 2016. Anthropocene anthropology: Reconceptualizing contemporary globalchange. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 22(1): 27–46. doi: 10.1111/1467-9655.12332
Moran-Thomas, Amy. 2013. A Salvage ethnography of the guinea worm: Witchcraft, oracles
and magic in a disease eradication program. In When People Come First: Critical Studies
in Global Health. João Biehl and Adriana Petryna, eds., 207–240.. Princeton, NJ: Princeton
University.
Rock, Melanie and Chris Degeling. 2016. Toward "One Health" Promotion. In A Companion to
the Anthropology of Environmental Health. Merrill Singer ed., pp. 68-82
Pathak, Gauri and Mark Nichter. 2019. The anthropology of plastics: An agenda for local
studies of a global matter of concern. Medical Anthropology Quarterly 33(3): 307–326.
doi: 10.1111/maq.12514
Sandhu, Harman, Anish Arora, Saadia Sarker, Bindra Shah, Anusha Sivendra, Emily Winsor,and Anahat Luthra. 2021. Pandemic prevention and unsustainable animal-based
consumption. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 99(8): 603–605. doi:10.2471/
blt.20.276238.
Steffen W, Broadgate W, Deutsch L, Gaffney O, Ludwig C. 2015. The trajectory of theAnthropocene: The Great Acceleration. The Anthropocene Review 2(1): 81–98.
Tang, Karen L., Niamh P. Caffrey, Diego B. Nóbrega. 2017. Restricting the use of antibiotics infood-producing animals and its associations with antibiotic resistance in food-producing
animals and human beings: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet Planetary
Health 1:316–327.
Whitmee S, Haines A, Beyrer C, et al. 2015. Safeguarding human health in the Anthropocene
epoch: Report of the Rockefeller Foundation–Lancet Commission on planetary health.
Lancet 386(10007):1973-2028.
Willett, Walter, Johan Rockström and Brent Loken, et al. 2019 Food in the Anthropocene: The
EAT-Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems. Lancet 393(10170):447–492.
Yates-Doerr, Emily and Kenneth Maes. 2019. Global Health. In Cambridge Encyclopedia ofAnthropology. Cambridge: University of Cambridge. https://doi.org/10.29164/19ghealth8