Globalization and Health Inequalities (CULT 568)

2021 Spring
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Cultural Studies(CULT)
3
10
Ayşecan Terzioğlu aysecan@sabanciuniv.edu,
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English
Doctoral, Master
--
Formal lecture,Interactive lecture
Interactive,Communicative,Discussion based learning
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CONTENT

This course introduces recent theoretical perspectives and ethnographic work which explore how the political and medical authorities as well as the lay people, discuss the effects of globalization and global encounters on health inequalities, and how the global and local health policies address these inequalities. It covers such topics as the role of global health institutions in addressing the health inequalities, tensions between states’ priorities and global impositions in defining and applying health policies, competition between biomedicine and alternative medical systems, local interpretations of global medical technologies and local conceptualizations of global epidemics. The course also includes nuanced approaches to the global and local ethical issues around the body, gender, life, illness, birth, death and pharmaceutical industry

OBJECTIVE

Understanding how global, national and local political, economic and cultural inequalities are reflected, reproduced and challenged in the health realm and medical institutions, since the 19th century onwards. Writing a term paper based on an original research on the social and political aspects of health inequalities.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

  • Learn different disciplines in social sciences and humanities approach the issues of health inequalities at global and local levels.
  • Acquire an understanding on how the historical and current political, economic and cultural inequalities are reflected, reproduced and challenged in the health realm and medical institutions.
  • Learn about the social constructions of health, illness, body, life and death in particular cultural contexts.
  • Explore different cultural patterns of discriminations, marginalizations and stigmatizations based on health and illness issues.
  • Explore how the patients and lay people challenge the existing health inequalities through patient activisms and lobbying.

PROGRAMME OUTCOMES


1. Develop and deepen the current and advanced knowledge in the field with original thought and/or research and come up with innovative definitions based on Master's degree qualifications 5

2. Conceive the interdisciplinary interaction which the field is related with ; come up with original solutions by using knowledge requiring proficiency on analysis, synthesis and assessment of new and complex ideas. 5

3. Evaluate and use new information within the field in a systematic approach. 4

4. Develop an innovative knowledge, method, design and/or practice or adapt an already known knowledge, method, design and/or practice to another field; research, conceive, design, adapt and implement an original subject. 4

5. Critical analysis, synthesis and evaluation of new and complex ideas. 5

6. Gain advanced level skills in the use of research methods in the field of study. 5

7. Contribute the progression in the field by producing an innovative idea, skill, design and/or practice or by adapting an already known idea, skill, design, and/or practice to a different field independently. 5

8. Broaden the borders of the knowledge in the field by producing or interpreting an original work or publishing at least one scientific paper in the field in national and/or international refereed journals. 5

9. Demonstrate leadership in contexts requiring innovative and interdisciplinary problem solving. 4

10. Develop new ideas and methods in the field by using high level mental processes such as creative and critical thinking, problem solving and decision making. 4

11. Investigate and improve social connections and their conducting norms and manage the actions to change them when necessary. 5

12. Defend original views when exchanging ideas in the field with professionals and communicate effectively by showing competence in the field. 5

13. Ability to communicate and discuss orally, in written and visually with peers by using a foreign language at least at a level of European Language Portfolio C1 General Level. 4

14. Contribute to the transition of the community to an information society and its sustainability process by introducing scientific, technological, social or cultural improvements. 5

15. Demonstrate functional interaction by using strategic decision making processes in solving problems encountered in the field. 5

16. Contribute to the solution finding process regarding social, scientific, cultural and ethical problems in the field and support the development of these values. 5


1. Develop the ability to use critical, analytical, and reflective thinking and reasoning 5

2. Reflect on social and ethical responsibilities in his/her professional life. 5

3. Gain experience and confidence in the dissemination of project/research outputs 4

4. Work responsibly and creatively as an individual or as a member or leader of a team and in multidisciplinary environments. 5

5. Communicate effectively by oral, written, graphical and technological means and have competency in English. 4

6. Independently reach and acquire information, and develop appreciation of the need for continuously learning and updating. 5


1. Develop a thorough knowledge of theories, concepts, and research methods in the field and apply them in research design and data analysis. 5

2. Assess the impact of the economic, social, and political environment from a global, national and regional level. 5

3. Know how to access written and visual, primary and secondary sources of information, interpret concepts and data from a variety of sources in developing disciplinary and interdisciplinary analyses. 5


1. Demonstrate an understanding of the different approaches, concepts, and theoretical legacies in the interdisciplinary field of Cultural Studies. 5

2. Identify interconnections of knowledge within and across the disciplines of sociology, anthropology, literature, visual studies, philosophy, and psychology. 5

3. Demonstrate an understanding of the multiple methodologies used in cultural analysis; in particular, ethnographic fieldwork, participant-observation, interviewing, oral history, focus group discussions, textual criticism, and visual analysis 5

4. Cultivate a critical approach to the study of culture, articulating the relations between culture, power, and history; exploring cultural diversity and socio-cultural change at the local, national and global level; and exploring the corresponding demands for rights and social justice. 5

5. Be able to conduct original research and develop sound analysis of phenomena in the realm of cultural production, consumption, and representation; develop and present advanced oral and written evaluations of one's research and arguments. 5


1. Demonstrate an understanding of the different approaches, concepts, and theoretical legacies in the interdisciplinary field of Cultural Studies. 5

2. Identify interconnections of knowledge within and across the disciplines of sociology, anthropology, literature, visual studies, philosophy, and psychology. 5

3. Demonstrate an understanding of the multiple methodologies used in cultural analysis; in particular, ethnographic fieldwork, participant-observation, interviewing, oral history, focus group discussions, textual criticism, and visual analysis 5

4. Cultivate a critical approach to the study of culture, articulating the relations between culture, power, and history; exploring cultural diversity and socio-cultural change at the local, national and global level; and exploring the corresponding demands for rights and social justice. 5

5. Be able to conduct original research and develop sound analysis of phenomena in the realm of cultural production, consumption, and representation; develop and present advanced oral and written evaluations of one's research and arguments. 5

ASSESSMENT METHODS and CRITERIA

  Percentage (%)
Assignment 20
Term-Paper 70
Participation 10

RECOMENDED or REQUIRED READINGS

Readings

March 2-4. Global Patterns before Globalization: Colonialism and Imperialism

?Intervention Pathologies?, ?Vitality of the State?. Ungovernable Life: Mandatory Medicine and Statecraft in Iraq, Omar Dewachi, pg. 9-63. Stanford University Press, 2017

?Introduction?, ?Medicine, Enlightenment and Islam?. Quest of Justice: Islamic Law and Forensic Medicine in Modern Egypt, Khaled Fahmy, pg. 1- 80. University of California Press, 2018

March 9-11. Medical Professions and Health Inequalities

?Doctors without Empires?. Ungovernable Life: Mandatory Medicine and Statecraft in Iraq, Omar Dewachi, pg. 65-81. Stanford University Press, 2017

?The Desirable?, New Organs within Us: Transplants and the Moral Economy, Aslıhan Sanal, pg. 15-110. Duke University Press, 2011

March 16-18. Pandemics: Old and New
?Ebola and Accusation Gender and Stigma in Sierra Leone?s Ebola Response?, Olive Melissa Minor, Anthropology in Action, vol: 24(2), pg. 25-25, 2017
?What Went Wrong: Corona and the World after the Full Stop?, Carlo Caduff, Medical Anthropology Quarterly, vol: 34 (4), pg. 467-487, 2020

March 23-March 25. Chronic Diseases and Inequalities

?Creating and Embedding Cancer in Botswana?s Oncology Ward?. Improvising Medicine: An African Oncology Ward in an Emerging Cancer Epidemic, Julie Livingstone, pg. 52-84, Duke University Press, 2011
?On the Possibility of a Disabled Life in Capitalist Ruins: Black Workers with Sickle Cell Disorder in England?, Simon M. Dyson et. Al, Social Science&Medicine, vol: 272, 2021
March 30-April 1. Mental Health

?Why and how Inequality Matters?, Jane D. McLeod, Journal of Health and Social Behaviour, vol: 56 (2), pg. 149-165, 2015

?Experiments in Scale: Humanitarian Psychiatry in Post-Disaster Turkey?, Christopher T. Dole, Medical Anthropology, pg.398-412, 2020

April 13-15. Big Pharma: Drug Industry and Inequalities

?Pharmaceutical Governance?, Joao Biehl. Global Pharmaceuticals: Ethics, Markets, Practices, Adriana Petryna, Andrew Lakoff & Arthur Kleinman (eds), pg: 206-239, Duke University Press, 2006
?Hydroxychloroquine Controversies: Clinical Trials, Epistemology, and the Democratization of Science?, Luc Berlivet&Ilana Löwy, Medical Anthropology Quarterly, vol: 34 (4), pg. 525-541, 2020

April 20-22. Refugee Health

?Refugee Health and Rehabilitation: Challenges and Response?, Fary Khan &Bhasker Amatya, Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine, vol: 49, pg: 378-384, 2017
?Access to Health Services for Migrants in Turkey?, Faize Deniz Mardin &Nuray Özgülnar, European Journal of Public Health, vol 26(1), 2016
April 27-29. Inequalities in Birth and Death

?Childbirth in Santiago de Chile: Stratification, Intervention, and Child Centeredness?, Marjorie Murray, Medical Anthropology Quarterly, vol: 26 (3), pg. 319-337, 2012

?The Culling: Pandemic, Gerocide, Generational Effect?, Lawrence Cohen, Medical Anthropology Quarterly, vol: 34 (4), pg. 542-560, 2020

May 4-6. Public Health and Humanitarianism
?An Apple a Day?. The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care, T.R. Reid, pg. 186-204, Penguin Books, 2009

?Governing Ebola: Between Global Health and Medical Humanitarianism?, Sophie Harman & Clare Wenham, Globalizations, vol: 15(3), pg. 362-376, 2018

May 18-20. Ethics and Inequalities

?Rethinking Medical Ethics: A View From Below?, Paul Farmer, Developing World: Bioethics, vol: 4 (1), pg. 17-41, 2004

?Bioethics, Human Rights and Childbirth?, Joanna N. Erdman, Health and Human Rights Journal, vol: 17 (1), pg. 43-51, 2015