Medical Anthropology Specialization

Combining empirical methods and theoretical innovation, Medical Anthropology examines the social and cultural context of health and illness through conceptions of the body, narratives of diagnosis, and practices of treatment.

The Department of Anthropology offers the degrees of Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy with a concentration in Medical Anthropology. Our curriculum covers wide range of topics including ethnomedicine, biomedicine, infectious disease, food and nutrition, emotion, and the body. In addition, an array of resources and courses in related disciplines across the social and medical sciences are also available at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa. The multiethnic communities of Hawai'i, and a variety of clinical settings, provide excellent opportunities for the study of anthropological perspectives of health and illness.

Curriculum and Requirements

1. Students who specialize in Medical Anthropology fulfill general requirements for the MA and PhD in the Department of Anthropology while developing special competence in biological anthropology or cultural anthropology. A printed description of the graduate program is available from the Anthropology Department office. Other relevant information is described in the University of Hawaii Graduate Catalogue.

2. The special Medical Anthropology curriculum within the Department of Anthropology includes:

a) a general introduction to Medical Anthropology (ANTH 425)

b) At least two of these courses are recommended:

Food, Health, and Society (ANTH 427)
Anthropology of the Body (ANTH 428)
Anthropology of Infectious Disease (ANTH 606)
Biomedicine and Culture (ANTH 667)

In addition, a series of one-semester seminars (ANTH 750C, repeatable) are offered that focus on specialized and contemporary issues in medical anthropology.

3. Students in Medical Anthropology also will take a minimum of two courses outside the Department, in Public Health, Medicine, Botany, Psychology, Political Science or other academic departments whose curricular foci transect the student's training in Medical Anthropology. These courses can include:

Medical Ethnobotany (BOT 442)
Health Economics (ECON 434)
Cultural Aspects of Food Habits (FSHN 476)
Nutrition Policy Analysis (FSHN 683)
Introduction to Phenomenology (PHIL 402)
Integrative Seminar in Gerontology (IS 611)
Biodiversity Loss, Biological Invasions and Emerging Disease (IS 650)
History and Theory of Science (PHIL 630)
Topics in Public Policy (POLS 675 (F) politics of health)
Social Science and Public Health (PH 623)
Social Epidemiology (PH 751)
Health Psychology (PSY 476)
Health/Medicine in Religion (REL 431)
Sociology of Health and Health Services (SOC 615)

Core Medical Anthropology Faculty

Eirik J Saethre, (PhD Australian National U-Canberra 2004: Assistant Professor) saethre@hawaii.edu
Medical anthropology, indigenous health, HIV/AIDS, biomedical interventions; Aboriginal Australia, South Africa

Geoffrey White (PhD U of California-San Diego 1978: Professor) white@hawaii.edu
Cultural anthropology, culture and politics, identity, cognition and language, history, Oceania, USA

Other Anthropologists who Comprise the Medical Anthropology Faculty

C. Fred Blake (PhD U of Illinois 1975: Associate Professor) fblake@hawaii.edu
Critical theory, ethnomedicine, symbolic systems, China, U.S.

Daniel E. Brown (PhD Cornell 1978: Professor) dbrown@hawaii.edu
Biological anthropology, biomedical ecology, stress and adaptation, culture change, Hawaii, Pacific Islands

Rebecca Cann (PhD U of California-Berkeley 1982: Professor) rcann@hawaii.edu
Biological anthropology, anthropological genetics, human dispersal and divergence, mDNA, Pacific Islands, Asia, Native North America

Michael P. Hamnett (PhD U of Hawaii 1977: Professor) hamnett@hawaii.edu
Applied policy research, economic development, research management, Oceania

Terry L. Hunt (PhD U of Washington 1989: Associate Professor) thunt@hawaii.edu
Archaeology, disease & prehistory, paleoenvironments, evolutionary theory, ceramics, archaeometry, Oceania

Gregory Maskarinec (PhD U of Hawaii 1990: Affiliate Graduate Faculty) gregorym@hawaii.edu
Cultural anthropology, medical anthropology, ethnology, discourse practices, oral texts, religion, Himalayas, South and Central Asia

Michael Pietrusewsky (PhD University of Toronto 1969: Professor) mikep@hawaii.edu
Biological anthropology, forensic anthropology, skeletal biology, paleopathology, biodistance studies, Hawaii, Pacific Islands, Southeast and East Asia, Australia

Paul Ross (MA, MSN, ANP Washington U & U of Hawaii 1973, 1999: Adjunct Instructor) paulr@sfhs-hi.org
Medical anthropology, ethnicity and health, complementary and alternative medicines, culture and cancer, Nigeria and West Africa, Hawaii

Ann Sakaguchi, PhD
Medical anthropology, public health, medical malpractice, globalization and its impact on emerging and re-emerging diseases, health disparities, health care disparities, Japanese literature and history <annsakag@hawaii.edu>

Miriam Stark (PhD U of Arizona 1993: Associate Professor) miriams@hawaii.edu
Archaeology, ecology, early village economies, ethnoarchaeology, ceramics, Southeast Asia

Heather Young Leslie, (PhD York University 1999, Affiliate Graduate Faculty) hyleslie@hawaii.edu
Biomedicine & modernity, indigenous health professionals, Pacific health issues, qualitative methods, gender, the 'body'; Tonga, Oceania, Canada.

Faculty in other Departments and Institutions extend this range of health-related interests with expertise in, for example: ethnobotany, nutrition, culture change, ethnic and population studies, epidemiology, linguistics, human genetics, gender relations, public health, religion, and international development. These concerns are further endorsed through The Social Science Health and Medicine Faculty, an informal consortium that serves as a nucleus for sponsored colloquia and curricular developments.

Applications

See Apply > Graduate Studies.

page last updated April 27, 2009