Health and disease are measures of the effectiveness with which human groups, combining biological and cultural resources, adapt to their environment. This course concerns itself with social and cultural aspects of epidemiology, ethnomedicine, medical aspects of social systems, and medicine and cultural change. Analysis of societies and communities in global economic context. Emphasis on North-South relations and conflicts. Cross-listed as Sociology 1517.
Religion is thought, felt, and acted out in social and cultural contexts.
The relationship between religion and culture is the focus of this course. The objectives are to understand religion wherever found and to understand the anthropological approach in the cross-cultural study of religion. Religious belief, ritual, myth, dogma, and religious specialists in industrial and non-industrial societies are compared. Newly emerged religious movements are analyzed in the context of economic and social change. Focus is on developing countries.