GMS Spring 2014 course: Religion, Culture and Public Health available as IH Credit!
Religion, Culture and Public Health
(shhh! Can we talk about this?)
GMS MA 622 A1
Spring Semester, 2014
***This course counts for the 8 credits for IH that can be taken outside of IH course offerings.
Faculty:
Lance D. Laird, Th.D.
Assistant Director, MA Program in Medical Anthropology & Cross-Cultural Practice
Department of Family Medicine, Division of Graduate Medical Sciences
What is this course about?
This medical anthropology course will critically and self-reflectively examine multiple dimensions of the relationship between religions, religious communities and health in the context of public health projects and organizations, both domestic and international. Among topics explored:
· Christian missions and healing
o Is it still the same old thing?
o Using medicine for religious goals
o Do other religious traditions do “missions”?
· Global health and/as “mission”
o Public health “proselytizing” for religious, political, economic, and scientific values
o Using religion for other goals
· Religion, Spirituality and Health
o Is religion good for you? (e.g. prayer, church attendance, stress and longevity)
· Religion, discrimination, and health
o How does social exclusion affect the person? (e.g., Islamophobia, racism, heterosexism)
· Faith-based public health organizations
o (e.g. Muslim clinics and anti-smoking campaigns, Buddhist HIV/AIDS outreach, Jewish service organizations)
· Religion as barrier:
o abortion, contraception, conspiracy theories and alternative healing
· Religious health assets:
o What are they? Can you measure them?
o What is the “value” that “religion” brings to public health work?
TOP 5 REASONS TO TAKE THIS COURSE:
1. You want to be a critical participant in policy discussions about religion and government public health collaborations
2. Public health is more than just a job for you; it is a “vocation.”
3. You are planning to work for or with a faith-based organization.
OR You’ve worked with one before
OR You never want to work for a faith-based organization
AND You are suspicious of them
BUT You recognize how pervasive they are in public health
4. You are preparing to be a medical or public health missionary
OR You can’t stand missionaries
5. You want to save the world with public health campaigns
OR You want to save bodies and souls together
