Anthropology of the Body - AET100209

• Title: Anthropology of the Body
• Guaranteed by: Department of Ethnology and Central European and Balkan Studies (21-UESEBS)
• Faculty: Faculty of Arts
• Actual: from 2023
• Semester: summer
• Points: 0
• E-Credits: 4
• Examination process: summer s.:
• Hours per week, examination: summer s.:2/0, Ex [HT]
• Capacity: unknown / unknown (30)
• Min. number of students: unlimited
• 4EU+: no
• Virtual mobility / capacity: no
• State of the course: not taught
• Language: English
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Note: course can be enrolled in outside the study plan; enabled for web enrollment
• Guarantor: Mgr. Lenka Zahrádková; Mgr. Kamila Prokeš Axmannová

Annotation

English

Last update: PhDr. Barbora Půtová, Ph.D., Ph.D. (09.12.2019)

This course introduces students to the field of the anthropology of the body by exploring cultural notions of health,
illness, healing, reproduction and disability. The body can be considered not only as a biomechanical object but
also as a dynamic entity that reflects individual experiences and cultural and socially conditioned meanings,
practices, images, and norms. This course explores theoretical concepts of medical anthropology, as well as case
studies and evidence from various cultural contexts.
The course begins by addressing cultural understanding of childbirth, midwifery and obstetrics. Students will be
introduced to concepts of ‘biosocial framework‘ and ‘authoritative knowledge’ in order to understand cultural
variability of childbirth practices. Subsequently, students will explore cultural notions of health, illness and
disability, and will be introduced to the concept of ‘social constructivism’ and the body as an instrument of power
consolidation. Consideration will be given to the ethnomedical practices of healing. Students will explore case
studies from India, Cameroon, Tanzania, the Czech Republic and more.
During the course, students are expected to actively participate in discussions. Students will be encouraged to
share experiences from their home cultures or cultures of their interest.

Aim of the course

Last update: PhDr. Barbora Půtová, Ph.D., Ph.D. (09.12.2019)

In this course, students will gain an overview of the anthropology of the body and will better comprehend cultural factors influencing our understanding of health, illness, reproduction and disability. Particularly, students will be able to understand key concepts of anthropology of childbirth and midwifery, such as ‘authoritative knowledge‘, and ‚biosocial farmework‘. Moreover, students will gain understanding of basic theories and concepts of health, illness and disability, and the body as an object of power consolidation. Students will be familiar with the concept of ethnomedicine and will explore various cultural notions of healing.

Course completion requirements

Last update: Mgr. Lenka Zahrádková (06.02.2020)

Final mark will be calculated on the basis of following:

1. Attendance and active participation in discussions.
2. Individual Project - an Essay. Students will choose topics according to their interests. Assesment:
2a) In class discussion of chosen topic during the semester. 
2b) An Essay on chosen topic - to be submitted during the examination period.

Details on requirements and evaluation will be provided on the first day of teaching.

Literature

Last update: PhDr. Barbora Půtová, Ph.D., Ph.D. (09.12.2019)

Essential literature:

Jordan, B., 1992. Birth in four cultures: A crosscultural investigation of childbirth in Yucatan, Holland, Sweden, and the United States. Waveland Press.

Scheper-Hughes,N., Lock,M., 1987, Mindful Body: "The mindful body: a prolegomenon to future work in medical anthropology." Medical Anthropology Quarterly

Ingstad,B., White, S., R., 1995. Disability and the Culture, University of California Press

Other recommended literature:

Burton, John W. 2001. Culture and the Human Body. An Anthropological Perspective. Waveland Press.

Davis-Floyd, R., Cheyney M., 2019. Birth in Eight Cultures. Waveland Press.

Good, Byron. 2010. A reader in medical anthropology: theoretical trajectories, emergent realities. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, Blackwell anthologies in social and cultural anthropology.

Murphy, M. S., Klaus, H. D. (ed.), 2017. Colonized Bodies, Worlds Transformed: Toward A Global Bioarchaeology of Contact and Colonialism (Bioarchaeological Interpretations of the Human Past: Local, Regional, and Global). University Press of Florida.

Odent, M., 1984. Birth reborn. Random House Incorporated.

Womack, M. 2010. The Anthropology of Health and Healing. Plymouth: AltaMira Press.

Syllabus

Last update: Mgr. Lenka Zahrádková (06.02.2020)

Preliminary outline of the course: 

1. Introduction to the course
2. Theoretical and conceptual anchoring I
3. Theoretical and conceptual anchoring II
4. Cultures of childbirth: Understanding cultural diversity of childbirth practices. Introduction to the anthropology of childbirth and midwifery.
5. Notions of childbirth in the Czech Republic: Exploring historical and contemporary notions of childbirth, midwifery and obstetrics in the Czech Republic.
6. Culturally sensitive childbirth: Indigenous midwifery and the importance of culturally sensitive care. Exploring case studies from Northeast India, South America and Canada.
7. Implementation of Ayurveda as a medical system in Czech environment: Evidence from research
8. Health and disease in Sub-Saharan Africa: cultural diversity of conception of health and disease.
9. Folk medicine in the Czech Republic
10. Disability as a cultural and social construct: An example from field research on people with albinism in Tanzania
11. Interview with a guest or visiting a relevant exhibition (will be finalized according to the students’ preferences).
12. Ethnographic documentary screening on relevant topic followed by critical discussion
13. Summary of the course, final discussion and evaluation of the course