We often take for granted the experience of having a body and the meanings of being healthy and of sickness. Nevertheless, our bodily experiences and understandings of health and illness are profoundly shaped by and, in return, influence our social, cultural, and political circumstances.
Medical anthropology examines affliction and healing across different cultural and historical
contexts. In this course, we will study the complex interactions between biology, culture,
ideology, and society in the construction of “medical facts.“
In this introductory course on medical anthropology we will first gain some knowledge about basic concepts, theoretical frameworks and methodologies of the anthropology of health. After discussing concepts of health, illness, healing and the medical profession, we will mainly cover three broader research areas of medical anthropology:
• Critical Food Studies
• Anthropology of Mental Health
• and Hospital Ethnography.
Using global examples and cases, by the end of the course, students will have a better grasp of the theories and methods of medical anthropology, and will also be able to critically reflect on their own and others’ experiences of dis-ease and healing, as well as on representations of human suffering and medical technologies.

We will collectively be reading several books that are all available as ebooks via SuUB. You are expected to read ONE book in full and act as an „expert“ on that book during the respective classes. I do not expect you to complete all three books, though of course it will help the discussion if you have read more.
While the main course language is English, you can always speak German in class and do your assessment (Prüfungsleistung) in German.

Required reading (all available as ebooks via SuUB):

Emily Yates-Doerr: The weight of obesity
Karen Nakamura: Disability of the Soul
Alice Street: Biomedicine in an unstable place

Tobacco use is the number one preventable cause of death in the world, and it is projected to kill one billion people in the 21st century unless effective tobacco control measures are implemented. We will cover a range of topics in this class, from health and human rights implication of tobacco farming and production, to selling and marketing, including specific marketing to children, LGBTQI+ communities, or women, to cessation. We will include a history of tobacco use in various contexts, public health policy, illicit trade and a discussion of today's tobacco industry. Students will learn about various methods of controlling tobacco use, evidence-based cessation options, the health ramifications of second-hand smoke, the dual burden of tobacco use and tuberculosis, and the marketing strategies used by tobacco companies particularly in the Global South.
Die Arbeitssprache in diesem Seminar ist Englisch/Deutsch bilingual. Sie können Deutsch sprechen im Seminar und Ihre Prüfungsleistung auf Deutsch oder Englisch ablegen.
Prüfungsleistungsoptionen sind Referat oder Hausarbeit.

Our world is constantly faced with health-related threats and challenges which can have widespread impact on society and demand political and financial attention to address. In this seminar, we will explore the notion of health security and attempt to answer the underlying question of “security from what and security from whom”. We will unpack health security issues such as biosafety and biosecurity, emerging & resurgent diseases & Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), conflict and health, pandemic prevention/ preparedness/ response, health security and a human-animal environmental interface, global health security partnership, and multisectoral partnership to address health security issues.

In this seminar, we delve into how socio-economic, cultural, and environmental factors contribute to natural hazards and disasters in various societies. We commence with definitions of terms related to disasters, such as preparedness, vulnerability, resilience, mitigation, hazard, etc., and explore various risk theories. Of particular interest is examining the conditions under which factors of social inequality, such as ethnicity, socio-economic status, gender, as well as environmental factors, lead to unequal risks for different population groups. Using specific natural disasters from both the Global North and South as examples, students analyze the health impacts of disasters and explore prevention approaches. The seminar is designed to be interactive and includes English-language texts and film excerpts. Die Unterrichtssprache ist Englisch/Deutsch bilingual, Sie können im Seminar immer Deutsch sprechen und Ihre Prüfungsleistung auf Deutsch ablegen.

Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:
• Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of key terms and theories related to disasters.
• Analyze the impact of socio-economic, cultural, and environmental factors on varying risks within populations.
• Evaluate health consequences resulting from natural disasters.
• Critically assess and propose preventive strategies in response to disasters.
• Engage in interdisciplinary discussions on the implications of disasters, considering both the Global North and South contexts.

In seinen Memoiren über das Erdbeben in Haiti in 2010, The World is Moving Around Me, schrieb Dany Laferrière in Bezug auf die literarische Verarbeitung:
„Are writers already at work? Will we see a race to write the great earthquake novel or the major essay about reconstruction? And the winner—will it be a Frankétienne or a young, unknown woman novelist? Dalembert or a German writer who’d never even heard of Haiti before the event? Don’t forget that the great novel of the Haitian dictatorship (The Comedians, 1996) was written by Graham Greene, an Englishman. The earthquake is aplanetary event. It belongs to everyone. (139-140)“

Wie werden Katastrophen kulturell verarbeitet, und wem „gehört“ diese literarische Auseinandersetzung mit dem Extremereignis? In diesem Seminar lesen wir uns ein in ausgewählte Katastrophen der Geschichte mit einem Fokus auf Asien. Nach einer Einführung in „was ist eine Katastrophe“ sowie in Risikotheorien, schauen wir uns die Kontexte weniger ausgewählter Ereignisse an:
- Der Boxing Day Tsunami 2004 in Sri Lanka
- Das Erdbeben von 2010 in Haiti
- Das Industriedesaster von Bhopal in Indien sowie
- Die Dreifachkatastrophe von Fukushima in Japan
und lesen hierzu jeweils 1 Buch und ggf. weitere, kürzere Texte, anhand deren wir uns die künstlerische Verarbeitung der Katastrophe genauer ansehen.

Die Unterrichtssprache in diesem Seminar ist deutsch, und mehrere Werke stehen auf Deutsch zur Verfügung. Da jedoch nur wenige Originalstimmen aus Südasien und Haiti übersetzt werden, stehen auch einige englischsprachige Bücher auf dem Plan. Sie können sich selbst aussuchen, welche Bücher Sie lesen – ich gehe davon aus, dass wir so eine Gruppe der ExpertInnen für die deutschsprachigen und eine Gruppe ExpertInnen für die englischen Texte im Seminar haben und gut diskutieren können.

Zu lesende Bücher (verfügbar zeitnah in der SuUB oder später als PDF bei StudIP):
Ashok Ferry: Love in the Tsunami
Sonali Deraniyagala: Nach der Welle
Myriam JA Chancy: What storm, what thunder
Indra Sinha: Menschentier
Yoko Tawada: Sendbo-o-te

Sie sollten hiervon mind. 1 Werk selbst komplett lesen; wir besprechen die Aufteilung noch im ersten Seminar.

According to World Health Organization (WHO), almost 1 in 8 of the world's population, or over 1 billion people, are active migrants. Two hundred and eighty-four million of these are internally displaced, 261,6 million are refugees, and 434 million are asylum seekers. Of these, 281 million are international migrants, and 35 million are children. Due to factors like poverty, insecurity, conflict, disasters, and environmental degradation, it is anticipated that the number of people living in transit will increase in the future.
Migration experiences are a major factor in determining health and well-being. In addition to physical and mental health issues which are common, refugees and migrants continue to be among the most vulnerable members of society, subject to discrimination, xenophobia, unfavorable living and working conditions, and insufficient access to health care. On the other hand, one of the main concerns in migration management is health. Given that everyone has the fundamental human right to health, states are obligated to protect immigrants' health regardless of their immigration status. For migrants to make a meaningful contribution to the societies in which they reside, they must also be in good health. Health risks for migrants may eventually affect the communities that receive them. Therefore, health is a cross-cutting issue that affects border management, labor, integration, and social cohesion, among other aspects of migration management.
In this seminar, we will explore what is meant by "migration health", the factors influencing migrants health, and the international legal frameworks that govern the obligations of nations to protect the health of migrants.