Woman receiving a vaccination. (Image courtesy of U.S. AID.)
Instructor(s)
Prof. Erica James
MIT Course Number
21A.460J / WGS.620J
As Taught In
Spring 2005
Level
Undergraduate
Course Description
Course Features
Course Description
This course provides an exploration of colonial and postcolonial clashes between theories of healing and embodiment in the African world and those of western bio-medicine. It examines how Afro-Atlantic religious traditions have challenged western conceptions of illness, healing, and the body and have also offered alternative notions of morality, rationality, kinship, gender, and sexuality. It also analyzes whether contemporary western bio-medical interventions reinforce colonial or imperial power in the effort to promote global health in Africa and the African diaspora.