This course examines the complex relationship between language, culture, and medicine, examining these cross-culturally through multiple theoretical and disciplinary lenses and within diverse cultural and linguistic contexts from around the globe. Some of the questions the pressing question in global public health that will we ask and seek to answer are also follows: What role does/should culture play in global health approaches? How does language and culture shape medicine (however practiced) and medicine shape language and culture? What impact does/should language and culture have in global public health and policies? What can we learn about from cross-cultural comparisons of varied notions of wellness, illness, and care for the sick? How do diverse ideas about the body and illness impact health-seeking behavior? How do language, culture, history, and economics help shape how populations perceive and respond to environmental risks and in some case contribute to their vulnerability?
Taught by Professor T.S. Harvey