Learning Activities
The course will involve the use of a number of instructional methods to achieve its objectives, including the following: lectures, seminars, presentations and films as appropriate and useful.
Means of Assessment
Assessment will be in accord with the Douglas College student evaluation policy. Specific components
of evaluation will include some of the following: exams consisting of short answer questions and essay questions; research paper; seminar presentations; participation in class discussions.
Specific evaluation criteria will be provided by the instructor at the beginning of the semester and will vary according to the instructor’s assessment of appropriate evaluation methods.
Instructors may use a student’s record of attendance and/or level of active participation in the course as part of the student’s graded performance. Where this occurs, expectations and grade calculations regarding class attendance and participation will be clearly defined in the Instructor Course Outline.
An example of one evaluation scheme:
| Essay assignment |
40% |
| Mid-term examination |
20% |
| Final examination |
30% |
| Participation |
10% |
| Total |
100% |
Learning Outcomes
At the conclusion of the course the student will be able to:
- Discuss the scope and focus of Medical Anthropology
- Describe the relationship of traditional medical systems to modern clinical practices, their comparisons and contrasts.
- Compare and contrast the roles of traditional healers and modern biomedical practitioners.
- Discuss Shamanism and the Shamanic complex as major elements in traditional healing practices around the World.
- Describe the basic nutritional needs of human beings and explain how culture influences definitions of what is food and not food.
- Explain the concept of mental illness in relation to culture and belief.
- Discuss the concept of stress and cultural forms of stress management, as well as the long-term effects of stress on the body and mind.
Textbook Materials
Possible textbooks and materials to be Purchased by Students
McElroy, A. & Townsend, P. (2004). Medical Anthropology: An Ecological Perspective (4th edition).
San Francisco: Westview Press.
Maté, G. (2003). When the Body Says ‘No’: The Cost of Hidden Stress. NY and Toronto: A.Knopf., Ltd.