Module ANTH3151: MEDICAL AND NUTRITIONAL ANTHROPOLOGY

Department: ANTHROPOLOGY

ANTH3151: MEDICAL AND NUTRITIONAL ANTHROPOLOGY

Prerequisites

• Biological Anthropology I (ANTH2061) OR Biological Anthropology II (ANTH2011) OR Sociocultural Anthropology I (ANTH2051) OR Sociocultural Anthropology II (ANTH2041).

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To provide advanced understanding of anthropological approaches to the field of food and nutrition and address current theoretical and practical issues.
• To explore biocultural approaches in medica Anthropology, and address major issues of health care and their practical implications.

Content

• Nutritional Anthropology: The topics covered in the lectures and seminars will include the following: reproduction and physical activity, the concern for measuring nutritional stress, the relevance of international standards for growth and development, famine and uncertainty in food supply, the synergism between infection and malnutrition, and the impact of unequal food distribution.
• Medical anthropology: A range of topics are covered in lectures and seminars, such as the measurement of stress and well-being, maternal and child health, the determinants of child mortality, childcare strategies for working mothers, and health policies in the Third World.

Learning Outcomes

• Factual material: Main theoretical approaches in medical and nutritional anthropology.
• The measures of child growth and adult nutritional status.
• The range of human biocultural responses to food shortages.
• The energetic determinants of human reproduction.
• The critical understanding of the concepts of health, illness and disease.
• Knowledge of key health problems for women and children.
• Evaluation of practical steps to improve health care.

• Appreciation of the concept of health and its measurement across cultures.
• Ability to work in an inter-disciplinary way in the field of nutrition and health.
• Apply an ethnographic, multidisciplinary and comparative perspective to health issues.
• Read specialist literature in international publications within the fields of medical, socio-cultural and biological anthropology.

• Write essays at an advanced level, debating key issues in human health, supported by independent reading.
• Complete written essays under examination conditions.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• The formal components of the module use a range of teaching modes and methods, within an integrated framework to contribute to the intended learning outcomes as listed above.
• The module benefits from a balance between lectures and seminars, geared to the specific needs of the material.
• The lectures and seminars are carefully integrated.
• Audio-visual aids (video, sound, slides, powerpoint etc.) are used where appropriate.
• The informal components of the module utilise a variety of methods, including e-mail discussion groups, seminar presentations and associated oral discussions.
• Lectures will cover topics relevant for providing students with an understanding of theories currently available for the study of medical and nutritional anthropology.
• Lectures provide a traditional method of communicating not only fact but clear understandings of process and the relationship between issues.
• They are used for the primary delivery of material in medical and nutritional anthropology because they allow clear transmission of information in an active learning environment where students can question and seek clarification.
• Lectures introduce students to issues, structure the subject matter and provide a grounding in principal issues so they can progress to further learning and study.
• Lectures provide the framework for analysis and relevant background, theoretical and/or historical information, and are used to assist in the assimilation of technically demanding or conceptually difficult material.
• Students are expected to attend lectures.
• Practical classes and seminars provide an opportunity for students to discuss a series of topics and to make oral presentations.
• Students are required to attend the practical classes, which support the lecture programme, including seminars, videos and revision classes.
• Difficult, sensitive and unresolved issues can all be approached successfully through discussion in seminars and classes.
• Seminars and classes will cover topics relevant to the content of the module.
• Seminars and classes imply a higher degree of student involvement and teach subject-specific and generic skills.
• For anthropology students this medium cannot simply be replaced by texts or websites, though both are important adjuncts.
• Summative essays test skills of understanding, analysis, information collection and presentation, while final written examinations test assimilated knowledge and understanding and the ability to write succinctly and analytically at short notice.
• Summative assessment is one two and a half hour written examination (70%).
• One essay to be written by end of Epiphany Term of 2500 words (30% total) and Formative assessment is an essay plan in Week 11 and formative feedback on summative essay.
• Formative assessment takes place on a regular basis and may be regarded an integral part of the day-to-day teaching process.
• Formative feedback is given on Summative Essays as well as on two seminar presentations, including a one page written handout for distribution in class, scheduled at appropriate times.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Essay plan in Week 14. Feedback on summative essay.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University