Introduction to Medical Anthropology & Global Health
Winter 2026
Lecture meetings: Monday through Thursday 2:30-3:20pm
Smith Hall 120
Dr. Paula Francisca Saravia
Denny Hall 133
Mondays & Thursdays: 12-1pm
Section Meetings: Fridays (check your enrollment to make sure you have an assigned section)
“Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in healthcare is the most shocking and inhumane.”
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (March 1966)
Welcome to our course!
College can be a wonderful experience that inspires new ideas, activates your imagination, and connects you to new people. It can also be challenging. Everyone is welcome in this class, and everyone needs help and support from time to time. There will be times when you feel like you have it all together and other times where it feels like things are falling apart. It is part of my job to celebrate with students when things are going well and to help them when they are struggling. While I’m not a therapist, I can support you and connect you to resources when you need additional help. If you would like to talk, please reach out to me.
Course Description:
Why do health outcomes vary across the globe? How do culture, politics, and biology shape illness and healing? This course introduces medical anthropology as a critical approach to global health, with a special emphasis on Latin America and the Caribbean. Students will examine key theories, applied frameworks, and debates on health policy, ethics, and cultural competency, while exploring how biological and social factors interact to produce health inequalities. The course integrates genetics, biology, culture, and social factors to build a unified understanding of the origins of disease and other health-related conditions, while fostering critical thinking on strategies for healthier populations, equitable healthcare systems, and a sustainable world. No prior anthropology experience required—students from all disciplines are welcome.
Learning Goals
By the end of this course, students will:
- Thinking critically about health as a biosocial process.
- Explain the relationship between individual health experiences and larger sociocultural processes.
- Understand key concepts in health anthropology.
- Recognize the many ways health is a reflection of society.
- Describe the roles of diverse healers and health providers in clinical and non-clinical settings and analyze issues of cultural competency within medical pluralism
- Develop skills to write with clarity, focus, and brevity when analyzing health and illness.