Our third year HIV/AIDS and Global Health module, which explores broader anthropological questions around HIV/AIDS, illness and healing, sexual and reproductive relationships, and global health. As part of the module students are required to design a HIV awareness poster or research proposal. This week, we are featuring a research proposal by Nanchang Gadong on HIV Read More…
Category: medical anthropology
James Davies’ new book ‘Sedated: How Modern Capitalism Created our Mental Health Crisis’
James Davies’ new book Sedated has just been released with Atlantic Books. In Britain alone, more than 20% of the adult population take a psychiatric drug in any one year. This is an increase of over 500% since 1980 and the numbers continue to grow. Yet, despite this prescription epidemic, levels of mental illness of Read More…
Being Human: Is obesity best understood as a social or biologically/evolutionarily-driven phenomenon?
As part of our first year Being Human module, students write an essay where they consider social and biological anthropological perspectives on a key topic in anthropology. This week we are featuring an essay by Katie Goode. Katie’s bio: I am a first-year anthropology student from Berkshire. I came across anthropology unexpectedly when looking for Read More…
CRESIDA seminar by Ayaz Qureshi on valuing stigma in Pakistan’s HIV prevention
On 17 March 2021, Dr Ayaz Qureshi from the University of Edinburgh presented a webinar in the CRESIDA seminar series titled ‘NGOs and valuing stigma in Pakistan’s HIV prevention’. A recording of the talk is below.
Spotlight on… James Davies
Position: Reader in Social Anthropology and Mental Health at the University of Roehampton Bio: James obtained his doctorate in social and medical anthropology from the University of Oxford in 2006 with a dissertation the construction of the psychotherapeutic practitioner. He is also a qualified psychotherapist and has practiced in various settings, including the NHS. James Read More…
HIV/AIDS & Global Health: HIV among older adults in South Africa
Our third year HIV/AIDS and Global Health module, which explores broader anthropological questions around HIV/AIDS, illness and healing, sexual and reproductive relationships, and global health. As part of the module students are required to design a HIV awareness poster or research proposal. This week, we are featuring a poster assignment by Hovnan Gulbenkian Eayrs on HIV among Read More…
Anthropology of Life and Death: Exploring concepts of life and death through the lens of pregnancy loss
As part of our third year Anthropology of Life and Death module, students explore cross-cultural understandings of life and death. This week, our featured essay is by Jack Robson. Jack’s bio: I am a final year anthropology undergraduate student, having studied the majority of my degree part-time alongside work. When I discovered anthropology a number Read More…
Potency, poison cultures, and the politics of toxicity: Processing mercury in Asian medicines
This week in the CRESIDA seminar series, Barbara Gerke (University of Vienna) is sharing her research on the politics of toxicity in Asian medicines. Come and join us on Thursday, November 21st at 2.30pm in Room 2025 at Parkstead House to learn more. Abstract This presentation introduces the key findings of Barbara Gerke’s second monograph Taming the Read More…
Sources of misdiagnosis in rapid HIV testing in Zimbabwe
This week in the CRESIDA seminar series, the speaker is our very own Nadine Beckmann (University of Roehampton), who is sharing her research on sources of misdiagnosis in rapid HIV testing, based on a qualitative study of clinic-based HIV testers in Zimbabwe. Come and join us on Thursday, October 10th at 4.15pm in Room G070 at Parkstead Read More…
Culture, Madness and Medicalisation: A history of madness before psychiatry
In our third year Culture, ‘Madness’ and Medicalisation module, students receive a critical introduction to today’s dominant psychological/clinical practices such as psychoanalysis, bio-psychiatry, psychotherapy, counselling and clinical psychology and the importance of anthropology in illuminating how psychological/clinical practices are dramatically shaping contemporary subjectivities and wider socio/cultural life. This year, our featured essay from the module is Read More…
