The Anthropology Department is excited to announce important developments and changes in the Anthropology major and minor and in the minor in Public Health. In response to strong interest among students, the Department of Anthropology will offer beginning next academic year (2012-2013) a new Anthropology major and minor track called Global Health and Environment. The degree will read: AB Anthropology: Global Health and Environment. The Global Health and Environment emphasis within Anthropology is unique among peer institutions. It will address the interests of undergraduate students, build on existing strengths and resources in the Department of Anthropology, and enrich the quality and scope of student training for professional careers. What are the new major requirements? One important logistical change is that the number of credits necessary to complete all Anthropology major requirements and thus the requirements for the Global Health and Environment track is increasing from 28 credits to 34 credits, thereby providing a richer, deeper undergraduate major. NOTE: This increase does not affect students who have already declared the existing Anthropology major. What does this mean for future students? Future students including students who have not yet declared their major or minor can enroll in the traditional Anthropology major or minor or in the new major or minor track in Anthropology: Global Health and Environment. What does this mean for current Public Health minors? With this change the Public Health minor will be discontinued once all currently enrolled students who wish to enroll in and complete the current minor graduate. Rationale for the Global Health and Environment tracks There is a great deal of interest among students at Washington University in course offerings on illness and society. But the majority of students who take currently-offered courses in public health and medical anthropology at Washington University do not plan to go into medicine or into public health. They are interested in health issues in a broad liberal arts context that brings together scientific and humanistic approaches, develops critical perspectives on health problems and systems, permits students to engage in various kinds of academic research, and trains students for careers in diverse fields and for work across local, national, and global cultures. 1
While the fields of Global Health and Public Health overlap in important ways, they should not be conflated. Global Health, which is a major focus of medical anthropology, concerns itself with the broad ways that humans address and cope with issues of health, illness, and wellbeing in cross-cultural and cross-temporal perspectives. Because issues of health, healing, and wellness are situated in an environmental context (especially the natural physical environment but also the human built and created environment), it is essential that the study of human health be understood within a broad environmental framework. Public Health, while also dealing with issues of health and wellness at the population level, historically has addressed the ways in which communities develop and maintain organized responses to health threats, emphasizing technical innovations and programmatic activities for community wellness. The ways in which health, wellness, and its environmental context, broadly defined, are taught in the Department of Anthropology reflect a liberal arts approach, with multiple levels of analysis and various perspectives for thinking critically about health and environmental problems and frameworks. Global Health and Environment The new optional Global Health and Environment track in Anthropology will have a major and minor component. The requirements for the major and minor are listed below. Because these are optional tracks within the major, and not a stand-alone major or minor, all students enrolling in the track will have to take anthropology department requirements as well as fulfilling specific requirements for the track. Optional Anthropology Major Track: Global Health and Environment Anthropology majors may choose an optional track within the major called Global Health and Environment if the students interests lie primarily within this area of Anthropology. The Global Health and Environment track provides strong training for professional and graduate study. Students enrolled in the Global Health and Environment track must complete the Anthropology major required courses and the Global Health and Environment required and elective courses as outlined below. Total units required: 34 units Required departmental courses: 10 units Anthro 150A Introduction to Human Evolution Anthro 160B Introduction to Cultural Anthropology Anthro 190B Introduction to Archaeology Anthro 397 Proseminar: Issues and Research in Anthropology 1 credit Required courses for major in Global Health and Environment Track: 6 units 2
Anthro 3283 Introduction to Global Health [] Anthro 361 Culture and Environment [] Elective Courses: 18 advanced units taken from the list below. Elective courses must be 300 level or higher, including 9 units at the 400 level. choose 4 electives from this column [12 credits] GLOBAL HEALTH 3059 Culture, Health & Medical Practice in China 3284 Public Health Research and Practice 3310 Health, Healing, and Ethics: Intro to Medical Anthropology 3612 Population and Society 3620 Anthropological Perspectives on the Fetus 3621 Anthropology of Human Birth 3625 Female Life-cycle in Cross-cultural Perspective 3626 Adventures in Nosology 3874 International Public Health 3875 Pharmaceutical Personhood 3876 Darwin and Doctors 4022 Transnational Reproductive Health Issues 4033 Culture, Illness, and Healing in Asia 4112 Body and Flesh: Theorizing Embodiment 4134 The AIDS Epidemic: Inequalities, Ethnography, and Ethics 4135 Tobacco: History, Culture, Science, and Policy 4136 Sexual Health and the City: Community-Based Learning Course 4253 Researching Fertility, Mortality, and Migration 4254 The Anthropology of Maternal Death 4595 Developmental Plasticity and Human Health 4881 Medicine and Anthropology 4882 Anthropology and Public Health 4883 The Political Economy of Health 4884 Anthropology of Sexually Transmitted Infections 4951/4961 Honors Thesis choose 2 electives from this column [6 credits] ENVIRONMENT 3053 Nomadic Strategies and Extreme Ecologies 3182 Ancient Africa: Social Mosaics and Environmental Challenges 3322 Brave New Crops 3472 Global Energy and the American Dream 3616 From Deep Ecology to Indigenous Ecological Identity 3656 Behavioral Ecology of the Great Apes 3662 Primate Conservation Biology 379 Archaeology and Climate Change 4061 Primate Community Ecology 4202 Evolutionary Genetics 4211 Paleoethnobotany and Ethnobotany 4213 Plants and American People: Past and Present 4214 The Archaeology of Food and Drink 4215 Anthropology of Food 4244 Oil Wars: America and the Cultural Politics of Global Energy 4282 Political Ecology 4517 Anthropology and Development 4771 Out of the Wild: Domestication and Socioeconomic Diversity in Africa 479 Climate, Culture and Human History 489 Seminar: Pathways to Domestication 4951/4961 Honors Thesis (Only one honors course may count towards the major requirements) Optional Anthropology Minor Track: Global Health and Environment Anthropology minors may choose an optional track called Global Health and Environment if the students interests lie primarily within this area of Anthropology. The Global Health and Environment minor track provides a solid foundation for those who might be interested in professional and graduate study but who do not choose to major in Anthropology. Students enrolled in the Global Health and Environment minor track must complete the Anthropology minor requirements listed below as well as elective courses as outlined. 3
Units required: 18 Departmental requirement: Any 100-level Introductory Anthropology course (Anthro 150, 160 or 190) Required courses for minor in Global Health and Environment Track: 6 units Anthro 3283 Introduction to Global Health [] Anthro 361 Culture and Environment [] Elective courses: 9 additional units taken from the list below. choose 2 electives from this column [6 credits] GLOBAL HEALTH 3059 Culture, Health & Medical Practice in China 3284 Public Health Research and Practice 3310 Health, Healing, and Ethics: Intro to Medical Anthropology 3612 Population and Society 3620 Anthropological Perspectives on the Fetus 3621 Anthropology of Human Birth 3625 Female Life-cycle in Cross-cultural Perspective 3626 Adventures in Nosology 3874 International Public Health 3875 Pharmaceutical Personhood 3876 Darwin and Doctors 4022 Transnational Reproductive Health Issues 4033 Culture, Illness, and Healing in Asia 4112 Body and Flesh: Theorizing Embodiment 4134 The AIDS Epidemic: Inequalities, Ethnography, and Ethics 4135 Tobacco: History, Culture, Science, and Policy 4136 Sexual Health and the City: Community-Based Learning Course 4253 Researching Fertility, Mortality, and Migration 4254 The Anthropology of Maternal Death 4595 Developmental Plasticity and Human Health 4881 Medicine and Anthropology 4882 Anthropology and Public Health 4883 The Political Economy of Health 4884 Anthropology of Sexually Transmitted Infections choose 1 elective from this column [] ENVIRONMENT 3053 Nomadic Strategies and Extreme Ecologies 3182 Ancient Africa: Social Mosaics and Environmental Challenges 3322 Brave New Crops 3472 Global Energy and the American Dream 3616 From Deep Ecology to Indigenous Ecological Identity 3656 Behavioral Ecology of the Great Apes 3662 Primate Conservation Biology 379 Archaeology and Climate Change 4061 Primate Community Ecology 4202 Evolutionary Genetics 4211 Paleoethnobotany and Ethnobotany 4213 Plants and American People: Past and Present 4214 The Archaeology of Food and Drink 4215 Anthropology of Food 4244 Oil Wars: America and the Cultural Politics of Global Energy 4282 Political Ecology 4517 Anthropology and Development 4771 Out of the Wild: Domestication and Socioeconomic Diversity in Africa 479 Climate, Culture and Human History 489 Seminar: Pathways to Domestication Frequently Asked Questions: Q: I am an Anthropology major and don t want to change my degree. Is the Anthropology major or minor going away? 4
A: No. Both the Anthropology major and Anthropology minor are available to all students. The only change is the major will require 34 credits for those students matriculating in 2012 or afterwards. Q: I am currently an Anthropology major but am thinking of adding the Public Health minor. Can I still do this? A: Yes. See Kirsten Jacobsen (kjacobsen@wustl.edu) to declare the Public Health minor. Q: Will I be able to switch from an Anthropology major to a Global Health and Environment major and still take the Public Health minor? A: No. Once a currently enrolled student switches to the Global Health and Environment major she is no longer grandfathered under the old rules and cannot take a major and minor in the same department. Q: Can I major in Anthropology and minor in Global Health and Environment (or vice versa)? A: No. Arts & Sciences regulations prohibit taking a major and minor in the same department. Q: How do I sign up for the Global Health and Environment major or minor? A: you will declare the Global Health and Environment major or minor in the same way you would any other degree. Students interested in declaring any anthropology major or minor may speak to Kathleen Cook (hkcook@wustl.edu) for pre-advising, declarations, and advisor assignments. Q: I am thinking about major in Anthropology but haven t decided if I want to take the Global Health and Environment track. How many credits will I have to complete to receive my Anthropology degree? A: All currently matriculated students can take the Anthropology AB degree by completing 28 credits and the established Anthropology course distribution requirements. However, once a student who is currently matriculated declares a Global Health and Environment track major she will be considered to be operating under the new major credit hour requirements and must complete 34 credits and the appropriate degree requirements. Q: I am currently an Anthropology major but want to switch to the Global Health and Environment major track. Do I have to take 34 credits as outlined for the track or am I grandfathered under the old system? A: All students interested in taking the Global Health and Environment major track must do so under the track guidelines as specified; thus, you would have to take 34 credits and meet the Global Health and Environment course distribution requirements. Q: I am currently a Public Health minor will the minor change or do I have to do anything? A: No; the structure of the Public Health minor will not change and as long as you are already enrolled you need not do anything. Q: I am a Public Health minor but want to switch to the new Global Health and Environment track. Can I do this? A: Yes. However, if you decide to take the Global Health and Environment minor track instead of the Public Health minor you will have to take it under the requirements as listed, which includes 18 credits and you must meet the Global Health and Environment minor course distribution requirements. Q: I am currently a Public Health minor but want to switch to the Global Health and Environment minor track. Do I have to take 18 credits as outlined for the track or am I grandfathered under the old system? 5
A: All students interested in taking the Global Health and Environment minor track must do so under the track guidelines as specified; thus, you would have to take 18 credits and meet the course distribution requirements. Q: What if I declare a Global Health and Environment track major but decide to change to an Anthropology major? A: If a student decides she wants to change the major from Global Health and Environment to Anthropology (or Anthropology to Global Health and Environment) she will have to drop the one and add the other just as with any major/minor declaration. Of course, the student will have to satisfy the requirements for the specific degree. Q: I m currently a freshman and want to take the Global Health and Environment track. If I decide to switch to the Anthropology major in my senior year, do I have to take 34 credits, or do I only have to take 28 credits because I am grandfathered under the old Anthropology major degree requirements? A: Once a student declares the Global Health and Environment track she will be required to complete 34 credits to graduate with an Anthropology degree of any sort. Q: The new Global Health and Environment major and minor requirements list a course called Introduction to Global Health. Is this a new course? A: At some time after this coming fall the course Anthropology 3283, Introduction to Public Health, taught by Professor Benson, will be renamed Introduction to Global Health (and given a new number). Professor Benson will continue to teach the course and it will fulfill the Public Health minor requirement to take Introduction to Public Health. Students who have taken the course or who enroll in fall of 2012 can count this course as part of the requirements for the Global Health and Environment major and minor. 6