Assignment:
Continue exploring the cultural group you selected in Module 3 (paper 1). In paper 2, you will be exploring disease, illness, healing, and kinships for that same cultural group. Paper 2 must answer the following:
a. Provide a title to your paper; the title should include the name of the cultural group selected.
b. Research the selected cultural group's perspective of disease, illness, and healing. Remember a disease is a pathological condition of the body usually diagnosed by a physician. I am also asking you to research illness (not a disease) which is a feeling of not being normal or healthy that can be culturally mediated and not necessarily diagnosed or recognized as a pathological disease by western medicine (examples susto, evil eye, aire, etc...).
• Identify what are their beliefs when it comes to disease (pathological condition) and the role ethnomedicine plays in healing.
• Who does the healing in your cultural group (Medicine man/woman? Shaman? Healer? etc.)
• What is a common illness (culturally mediated condition) in this population and how is it treated?
c. Research Kinship and domestic life structures in your selected cultural group.
• How does the cultural group trace descent? (Unilineal (if so matriarchal or patriarchal)? Bilineal?) Explain.
• How are marriages established in this society? How are spouses selected (endogamous or exogamous)? Are there marriage gifts exchanged? Are marriages monogamous or polygamous? Explain.
• What is the typical household structure (nuclear vs. extended family)?
d. How is the cultural group changing (or is being changed) through globalization when it comes to ethnomedicine and domestic lives?
e. How can anthropologists work to help this population in the changing world? Search for information on what anthropologists are doing to help this population regarding the aspects you discussed, and what are the gaps (what is still missing that anthropologists can still work on to meet the needs of this group).
Include citations from the Miller textbook and a minimum of one NEW peer-reviewed journal article with a date within the last 10 years (the article from the previous assignment can be used if applicable, but you will still need an additional article). Remember to write in your own words by interpreting what you read and citing the source. Avoid long direct quotes. Avoid plagiarism by always citing your sources.
Short paper format:
All short papers should have a title, an introduction, a conclusion, and a References Cited page. All papers in the course must be:
• 2 to 4 pages
• typed
• doubled spaced
• font size 12
• written with proper grammar and syntax
• in American Sociological Association (ASA) citation and reference style.