This is an introductory course in medical anthropology. It provides a basic appreciation of how health and illness are explained and understood in a variety of different settings (both globally and in the Caribbean). Students will learn how a range of factors - cultural, political, economic and social - shape health-related knowledge and behaviour. Students will be introduced to the concepts and theoretical debates within medical anthropology and learn how knowledge gained through this sub-discipline can be applied to real-life public health issues. Students will observe Jamaican healing practices and systems and conduct their own research using the methodological tools acquired in the course.