Medical Anthropology Lecture Series

Anthropology at Berkeley

Medical Anthropology Lecture Series

DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY, HISTORY AND SOCIAL MEDICINE
PRESENTS THE HISTORY OF HEALTH SCIENCE & MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
SEMINAR SERIES.

February 23rd, 5-7pm Gifford Room, 221 Kroeber Hall

The Dialectics of Indigenous Knowledge and Critical Epidemiology A lecture by Dr. Jaime Breilh Director of the Health Area of the Universidad Andina "Simón Bolívar"

Abstract: During the so-called post normal period of science, the issue of transdisciplinary and intercultural knowledge building has become an important focus. The field of health research is touched by this important debate with its epistemological and methodological implications. Latin American researchers of the collective health/social medicine movement have pioneered the introduction of innovative social determinants of health and health rights perspectives; and as part of that movement, have stressed the need for intercultural science, in an scenario of increasing recognition of ethno-cultural diversity. The intertwining of critical epidemiology and indigenous knowledge played an important role in the introduction of the principle of sumac kawsay (humanly living) as a fundamental health right, which is a guiding principle in the new Ecuadorian Constitution.

For information about this year's Medical Anthropology Lecture Series, please see the DAHSM website.