UNIVERSITY OF GUAM

COURSE OUTLINE

Course Number: AN450 College (or sponsoring Unit): CAS

Course Title: BIOMEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY Credit Hours: 3

Date of Final Approval: ___________

Semester Offered: Fall/Odd years

Course counts as: _____ general education requirement

_____ part of an Anthropology program major

_____ elective

1. CATALOG DESCRIPTION: This course focuses on the interactions of health, human behavior and human biology. This approach to the understanding of disease and health in human populations grows out of the tradition of holism in anthropology. Topical coverage of the course includes (1) health and disease in evolution, (2) paleopathology and paleoepidemiology, (3) the influence of culture, class and ethnicity on human behavior and disease patterning, (4) the introduction of new diseases through human migration and colonization, (5) the impact of acculturation on population health, and (6) case studies on the interaction of culture, human biology and disease patterning among Pacific Islanders.

2. COURSE CONTENT: Lectures/Seminars will cover:

a. Introduction to the course; Introduction to the fields of Medical and Biomedical Anthropology

b. Epidemiology and Biomedical Anthropology as complementary disciplines

c. Culture and ecology: understanding the determinants of disease patterning (focus on Kuru among the Fore of PNG)

d. Health and disease in prehistory; disease and evolution

e. Human health and social, cultural and physical environmental change

f. Human adaptability and health

g. Communicable Diseases I.: Parasitic diseases among Pacific Islanders

h. Communicable Diseases II.: Sexually transmitted diseases among Pacific Islanders

i. Applied anthropometry and body composition studies: Their contributions to the study of chronic non- infectious diseases

j. Chronic Non-Infectious Diseases I.: Cancer distribution among Pacific Islanders

k. Chronic Non-Infectious Diseases II. Cardiovascular Diseases among Pacific Islanders

l. Chronic Non-Infectious Diseases III.: Non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus among Pacific Islanders

m. The patterning of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Parkinson's Dementia (ALS/PD) complex in Pacific populations: Focus on ALS/PD on Guam; previous and current research

n. Traditional healers and modern medicine on Guam: Focus on ALS/PD on Guam

3. RATIONALE FOR THE COURSE: The primary objective of this course is to strengthen appreciation of the biocultural dynamics of human health and disease. This course will be especially useful and edifying to students of anthropology and the allied health disciplines. Insight will be gained as to the manner in which health and disease are influenced by - and, in turn, can affect - cultural practices, social organization, demography and population biology, as well as the trajectories of human history. Given the areal focus on the Pacific Islands, this course will be particularly useful for prospective students in the Micronesian Studies Program, as well as Nursing students, and future Pacific Islands health researchers and clinical practitioners.

4. SKILLS AND BACKGROUND REQUIRED OR EXPECTED: Students should have completed AN101 and either NU203 or AN222. Also open to other students with equivalent background, with the consent of the Instructor.

5. TEACHING METHODOLOGIES AND ANTICIPATED CLASS SIZE: The first six sessions (see Course Content, above) will be covered by lectures and slide presentations. Thereafter, a seminar format will be adopted for many sessions, in which students will rotate in terms of primary and secondary responsibilities. Abstracts of assigned readings will be prepared by primary presenters in advance of the seminar, and copies made available to the other students and instructor. Each student will be expected to participate fully as a discussant during each seminar. The Instructor will serve as a moderator, discussant and overviewer during the seminars. Additionally, Guest Lecturers from Guam's biomedical, public health and academic communities will be recruited for presentations in their areas of expertise. An ideal class size would be 10-12 students.

6. ADDITIONAL COURSE DESCRIPTORS: None

7. LEARNING OBJECTIVES FOR STUDENTS: Learning objectives include developing an appreciation of biocultural dynamics in the patterning of human health and disease. A prime objective for future anthropologists, as well as health researchers and clinicians, is gaining insight into the host of ecological, historical and evolutionary processes that have affected and continue to affect the biological constitutions and well-being of Pacific Islanders. Such insight will provide a foundation for considering and evaluating applied anthropological and public health "solutions" to health and wellness promotion in the Pacific region.

8. METHODS OF EVALUATION: Evaluation will be based on assessments of seminar presentations, preparedness and participation, group project work and contribution to the group project report. The group project will involve students in the instructor's research on health-related aspects of physique and body composition of Guamanian school children and/or UOG students. Graduate students, in addition, will be required to write a major term paper, and present a report on same to the class.

9. REQUIRED AND RECOMMENDED TEXTS AND/OR STUDY GUIDES:

Required core text:

McElroy, Ann and Patricia K. Townsend (1989) MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY IN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE, 2nd ed. Boulder: Westview Press.

Other texts from which readings will be assigned [in addition, a number of journal articles will be placed on Reserve for required and recommended reading]:

Harrison, G.A., J.M. Tanner, D.R. Pilbeam and P.T. Baker (1988) HUMAN BIOLOGY: AN INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN EVOLUTION, VARIATION, GROWTH, AND ADAPTABILITY. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Howells, William White 1973 THE PACIFIC ISLANDERS. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.

Janes, Craig R., Ron Stall and Sandra M. Gifford (1986) ANTHROPOLOGY AND EPIDEMIOLOGY: INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF HEALTH AND DISEASE. Dordrecht: D. Reidel Publishing Company.

Landy, David (ed.) (1977) CULTURE, DISEASE AND HEALING. New York: Macmillan.

Lilienfeld, Abraham M. and David E. Lilienfeld (1980) FOUNDATIONS OF EPIDEMIOLOGY. New York: Oxford University Press.

Overfield, Theresa (1985) BIOLOGICAL VARIATION IN HEALTH AND ILLNESS. Menlo Park, CA: Addison-Wesley Pub. Co.

Swedlund, Alan C. and George J. Armelagos (eds.) (1990) DISEASE IN POPULATIONS IN TRANSITION: ANTHROPOLOGICAL AND EPIDEMIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES. New York: Bergin and Garvey.

10. SUBSEQUENT COURSES: AN310 (Physical Anthropology of Pacific Populations), AN320 (People of the Pacific), AN/GE341 (Cultural Ecology), SO494 (Population Dynamics), BI412 (Biometrics), NU306 (Health Assessment Theory), NU401 (Introduction to Research in Nursing), PY475 (Micronesia and Mental Health) and SW313 (Research Methods for Health and Social Services)

THE CALENDAR OF ASSIGNMENTS, ATTENDANCE AND GRADING POLICIES ARE TO BE INCLUDED IN THE COURSE SYLLABUS.