Academic Resources: Graduate Programs
The University of Alabama
Degrees offered:
- B.A., M.A.
Medical Anthropology Faculty:
- James R. Bindon (Ph.D. Pennsylvania State University, 1981; Professor) Physical anthropology, chronic disease, human adaptability, growth and development; Oceania (jbindon@tenhoor.as.ua.edu)
- William W. Dressler (Ph.D. The University of Connecticut, 1978; Professor; joint appointment with the School of Social Work) Research methods, culture theory, cardiovascular disease, ethnicity and disease; Brazil, North America (wdressle@tenhoor.as.ua.edu)
- Keith P. Jacobi (Ph.D. Indiana University, 1996; Assistant Professor; joint appointment with Alabama Museum of Natural History) Human osteology, paleopathology, dental anthropology; Mesoamerica, Caribbean (kjacobi@tenhoor.as.ua.edu)
- Michael D. Murphy (Ph.D. University of California-San Diego, 1978; Professor) Religion, politics, psychological anthropology; Spain, Mexico (mdmurphy@tenhoor.as.ua.edu)
- Kathryn S. Oths (Ph.D. Case Western Reserve University, 1991; Associate Professor) Reproductive health, gender and ethnicity, research methods, treatment choice, international health; Latin America, Andes, North America (koths@tenhoor.as.ua.edu)
Program information:
- At The University of Alabama we take an explicitly biocultural approach to medical anthropology research. Our faculty includes both biological anthropologists (Bindon, Jacobi) and cultural anthropologists (Dressler, Murphy, Oths). Areas of research include: social and cultural influences on adult physiology, morphology and reproductive health (Bindon, Dressler, Oths); ethnicity and disease (Bindon, Dressler, Oths); effects of culture contact on skeletal and dental health (Jacobi); and, psychoanalytic theory (Murphy). We have ongoing research projects focusing on health and disease among Samoans (Bindon); African Americans (Bindon, Dressler); urban Brazilians (Dressler, Oths); Andalusians (Murphy); Maya of the historic period (Jacobi); and, contemporary and prehistoric Southeastern populations (Bindon, Dressler, Jacobi, Oths). (More information on faculty research can be obtained at the departmental website.) Recent MA theses have focused on: physician-patient communication in a prenatal clinic; social influences on pregnancy wantedness; treatment choice in a West Indian community; access to health care in Maylasia; and ethnicity, social support and depression.
- In both bachelor's and master's degree programs there is a four-field approach to anthropology. In the MA program there is also a strong focus on methodological training. We explicitly emphasize the integration of traditional ethnography and quantitative methods. All students are required to take a seminar in anthropological methods in their first semester, and most will also take at least one semester of biostatistics. There is also an emphasis on culture theory, including both the history of anthropological theory and the various branches of contemporary theory.
- Courses specific to the medical anthropology program focus include: Culture, Health and Healing; Myth, Ritual and Magic; Human Adaptability; Palopathology; and, Human Osteology. Related offerings include: Peoples of Latin America; Africans in the Americas; Cognitive Anthropology; and, Peoples of Europe.
- Admission to the Graduate School requires a GPA of 3.0 or a combined GRE score of 1500.
Address:
- Department of Anthropology
The University of Alabama
PO Box 870210
Tucaloosa, Alabama 35487-0210
Voice: 205-348-5947
Fax: 205-348-7937
Web: http://www.as.ua.edu/ant/index1.php - For more information, contact the Director of Graduate studies for the Department of Anthropology:
Dr. Ian Brown (ibrown@tenhoor.as.ua.edu). Requests for information can also be submitted via the departmental website.
