This course introduces the student to existing and emerging paradigms for studying the relationship among health, development, and global change, including political economy, political ecology, environmental justice, and human rights perspectives.  It will draw, in particular, on critical-interpretive literature in medical anthropology.  Selected ethnographies and case studies from Africa, Latin America, Asia and the Pazific will illustrate the various theoretical frameworks, with emphasis on the health effects of development. The final section of the course explores health policy and activism in the context of human rights based approaches to health.

At the end of the course the student will be able to:

• Analyse how changes in the global political economy, including the promotion of free trade and other neoliberal policies, are affecting health and well-being
• Evaluate how livelihoods and landscapes are being altered by these policies and practices and explore the health consequences of these changes
• Analyse how structural inequalities of gender, age, ethnicity, and race contribute to health disparities in the context of globalization
• Explore people's agency in the context of these global changes, particularly how human rights based approaches are being used to negotiate access to better health and treatment

30% online discussion forum

70% major project, 5000-6000 word essay

CHMD8014 Perspectives on Culture, Health and Medicine

CHMD8007 Health and Inequality in Latin America