Native Americans and Health: Community Empowerment and Wellness
AMST 239
Spring 2019
| Section:
01
|
Health disparities are well documented among indigenous populations in North America. Native Americans and Alaska Natives continue to suffer from morbidity and mortality rates higher than other Americans in many categories, including chronic liver disease and cirrhosis, diabetes and obesity, assault/homicide, intentional self-harm/suicide, and chronic lower respiratory diseases. This seminar provides a historical overview of topics in health and health care, emphasizing the impact of social history--colonial histories and their sequelae, to be exact--on the etiology and epidemiology of health disparities in Native North America. Throughout the course, we will interrogate the changing sources of morbidity and mortality among indigenous peoples in the U.S., including the policies and practices that have been implemented to limit disease and improve health. Organized thematically, we focus on significant diseases or health issues, such as diabetes or alcoholism, as well as public health and community responses, initiatives, and interventions. Much of the material will engage with indigenous voices, centering what indigenous peoples say, feel, and do about health disparities, with the goal of moving toward indigenous models and understandings of disease, health, and well-being. |
Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS AMST |
Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
|
Fulfills a Requirement for: (AMST) |
|
Past Enrollment Probability: 75% - 89% |
SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Cathleen Cahill, FEDERAL FATHERS AND MOTHERS: A SOCIAL HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES INDIAN SERVICE, 1869-1933 Eduardo Duran and Bonnie Duran, NATIVE AMERICAN POSTCOLONIAL PSYCHOLOGY Mariana Leal Ferreira and Gretchen Chesley Lang (eds.), INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND DIABETES ANGELA GARCIA, THE PASTORAL CLINIC Margo Greenwood, Sarah de Leeuw, Nicole Marie Lindsay (eds.), DETERMINANTS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES' HEALTH: BEYOND THE SOCIAL Barbara Gurr, REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE: THE POLITICS OF HEALTH CARE FOR NATIVE AMERICAN WOMEN Jennie Joe and Francine Gachupin (eds.), HEALTH AND SOCIAL ISSUES OF NATIVE AMERICAN WOMEN David Jones, RATIONALIZING EPIDEMICS: MEANINGS AND USES OF AMERICAN INDIAN MORTALITY SINCE 1600 Linda Tuhiwai Smith, DECOLONIZING METHODOLOGIES: RESEARCH AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLES Irene Vernon, KILLING US QUIETLY: NATIVE AMERICANS AND HIV/AIDS
|
Examinations and Assignments: Assignments include weekly Moodle posts on the course readings, film screenings, etc.; active class participation including co-presenting the week's readings twice during the semester and leading discussion; one midterm short concepts essay (5 pages); and the final, capstone project: the production of an ethnographic digital story. A digital story allows you to synthesize what you have learned and demonstrate the relevance of Native American health to contemporary society. The topic you choose should engage with the methods and theories related to the major themes of the course and to relevant problems/issues of concern to professionals in the discipline of American Studies. The "final exam" is a screening of the digital stories in which students offer feedback and evaluation. |
Instructor(s): Jernigan,Kasey Times: ..T.R.. 01:20PM-02:40PM; Location: CAAS LOUNG; |
Total Enrollment Limit: 16 | | SR major: 8 | JR major: 8 |   |   |
Seats Available: -2 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 0 | JR non-major: 0 | SO: 0 | FR: X |
Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
|
|