Overview
An introduction to the global and cross-cultural exploration of concepts of health, healing and illness. Exploration of the commodification, medicalisation, moralities and aesthetics of embodied health and biomedical care.
This paper introduces you to the fascinating world of medical anthropology. Explore how to interpret the meaning and experiences of healing and suffering while also developing your critical thinking skills. How does the political economy impact our well-being? What are idioms of distress? Are there such things as culturally grounded illnesses? How do ideologies of health operate in contemporary Aotearoa/New Zealand? This paper is taught in yearly rotation with ANTH 222.
About this paper
| Paper title | Anthropology of Health |
|---|---|
| Subject | Anthropology |
| EFTS | 0.15 |
| Points | 18 points |
| Teaching period | Not offered in 2026 (On campus) |
| Domestic Tuition Fees ( NZD ) | $1,103.10 |
| International Tuition Fees | Tuition Fees for international students are elsewhere on this website. |
- Prerequisite
- ANTH 103 or ANTH 105 or 54 points
- Restriction
- ANTH 323
- Schedule C
- Arts and Music
- Eligibility
- This paper is suitable for students both with and without strong backgrounds in anthropology. Students need to have successfully passed at least one semester of full-time university studies to enrol in this paper. Assignments have been carefully designed to suit a multidisciplinary student audience.
- Contact
- More information link
Please visit the Programme of Social Anthropology
- Teaching staff
- Teaching Arrangements
We meet together for a 2-hour lecture once a week with a break in the middle of the session. We work with a ‘flipped classroom’, so there is plenty of opportunity for you to talk as well as listen in these sessions. In addition we have one hour a week of tutorials where we get to discuss ideas in small groups.
- Textbooks
Course readings are provided from peer reveiwed journal articles in the field of medical anthropology through eReserve on Blackboard.
- Graduate Attributes Emphasised
- Global Perspective, Interdisciplinary Perspective, Lifelong Learning, Scholarship, Communication, Critical Thinking, Cultural Understanding, Ethics, Research, Self-Motivation, Teamwork.
View more information about Otago's graduate attributes. - Learning Outcomes
- Students will emerge from this course of study with an excellent basic knowledge of the variety of anthropological meanings attached to the concept of health. They will have enhanced their capacity to write essays and to communicate arguments verbally in an evidence-based, respectful and inclusive tone. They will appreciate the moral and politico-aesthetic values attached to health and demonstrate the critical thinking skills required to recognise and assess ideologies of health in Aotearoa/New Zealand.
- Assessment details
ANTH223 is 100% internally assessed.
Assessment includes
- A critical reading analysis.
- A weekly open book single question quiz on blackboard about the key weekly lecture points.
- A book review essay.
- A final capstone assignment that explores a contemporary issue in medical anthropology that applies to Aotearoa/New Zealand, analysed via the thematic lines of critical enquiry developed in our lectures.
The due date for the final assignment is scheduled in the exam period by the examination office but submitted via a Turnitin assignment box on blackboard.
Overview
An introduction to the global and cross-cultural exploration of concepts of health, healing and illness. Exploration of the commodification, medicalisation, moralities and aesthetics of embodied health and biomedical care.
This paper introduces you to the fascinating world of medical anthropology. Explore how to interpret the meaning and experiences of healing and suffering while also developing your critical thinking skills. How does the political economy impact our well-being? What are idioms of distress? Are there such things as culturally grounded illnesses? How do ideologies of health operate in contemporary Aotearoa/New Zealand? This paper is taught in yearly rotation with ANTH 222.
About this paper
| Paper title | Anthropology of Health |
|---|---|
| Subject | Anthropology |
| EFTS | 0.15 |
| Points | 18 points |
| Teaching period | Semester 1 (On campus) |
| Domestic Tuition Fees | Tuition Fees for 2027 have not yet been set |
| International Tuition Fees | Tuition Fees for international students are elsewhere on this website. |
- Prerequisite
- ANTH 103 or ANTH 105 or 54 points
- Restriction
- ANTH 323
- Schedule C
- Arts and Music
- Eligibility
This paper is suitable for students both with and without strong backgrounds in anthropology. Students need to have successfully passed at least one semester of full-time university studies to enrol in this paper. Assignments have been carefully designed to suit a multidisciplinary student audience.
- Contact
- More information link
Please visit the Programme of Social Anthropology website.
- Teaching staff
Contributing lecturers: Dr Molly George and Tautemaria Silva
- Teaching Arrangements
We meet together for a two-hour lecture once a week, with a break in the middle of the session. We work with a "flipped classroom," so there is plenty of opportunity for you to talk as well as listen in these sessions. In addition, we have one hour a week of tutorials where we get to discuss ideas in small groups.
- Textbooks
Course readings are provided from peer reveiwed journal articles in the field of medical anthropology through eReserve on Aoroa.
- Graduate Attributes Emphasised
- Global Perspective, Interdisciplinary Perspective, Lifelong Learning, Scholarship, Communication, Critical Thinking, Cultural Understanding, Ethics, Research, Self-Motivation, Teamwork.
View more information about Otago's graduate attributes. - Learning Outcomes
Students will emerge from this course of study with an excellent basic knowledge of the variety of anthropological meanings attached to the concept of health. They will:
- Have enhanced their capacity to write essays and to communicate arguments verbally in an evidence-based, respectful and inclusive tone.
- Appreciate the moral and politico-aesthetic values attached to health and demonstrate the critical thinking skills required to recognise and assess ideologies of health in Aotearoa New Zealand.
- Assessment details
ANTH 223 is 100% internally assessed:
- Critical reading peer assessment (10%)
- Key lecture points quiz (10%)
- Critical reading report (35%)
- Research topic outline (10%)
- Research topic essay (35%)