Academic Resources: graduate programs
Boston University School of Medicine
Degrees offered:
M.A.
Medical Anthropology Faculty:
Linda Barnes, Ph.D., M.T.S. (Ph.D. Harvard University; M.T.S. Harvard Divinity School) Associate Professor, Departments of Family Medicine and Pediatrics; Director, Boston Healing Landscape Project.
Issues in cross-cultural biomedical practice and integrative medicine; interdisciplinary study of medical anthropology and world religions, particularly in the U.S.; anthropology and history; globalization in the U.S.; social history and anthropology of Chinese medicine and healing traditions in western countries, particularly the U.S.
Lance D. Laird, Th.D, M.Div. (Th.D. Harvard Divinity School; M.Div. Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) Assistant Professor, Department of Family Medicine (pending); Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics; Senior Consultant, Boston Healing Landscape Project.
Interdisciplinary study of world religions and medical anthropology; issues in cross-cultural biomedical practice; cultural pluralism within American Muslim communities; Muslims and American healthcare systems; theories of nationalism, racialization, and identity; “lived religion”; applied anthropology.
Medical Anthropologists in Other Departments
Barbara Bokhour, PhD (Ph.D. Clark University) Assistant Professor, Department of Health Policy and Management, Boston University School of Public Health; Research Health Psychologist, Center for Health Quality, Outcomes and Economic Research.
Qualitative methods in health care research; practices of health professionals; patient-provider communication and the effect of culture on communication, racial and ethnic disparities in health, and the lives of individuals with chronic illness; roles of culture and communication in pediatric asthma management; hypertension management among veterans; psychology and discourse studies.
Harald K. Heggenhougen (Ph.D., New School University) Professor, International Health, B.U. School of Public Health; Professor, Anthropology Department
Socio-cultural aspects of health, including issues of equity, power and human rights, medical pluralism, alternative addiction therapies, and collaborative work on orphans in Uganda (and elsewhere).
Michael Silverstein, M.D., M.P.H. (M.D. Harvard Medical School; M.P.H. Harvard University School of Public Health) Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Boston University School of Medicine.
Community-based research with vulnerable populations of children and their families; harnessing potential of community organizations with infrastructures compatible with the delivery of preventive health care and mental health care; maternal depression; adaptation of non-pharmacologic evidence-based modes of depression therapy to the context of community-based home visitation programs.
Lee Strunin, Ph.D. (Ph.D. Brandeis University) Professor, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, B.U. School of Public Health. - Social and cultural aspects of health, illness and disease; alcohol and other substance use and misuse among different racial and ethnic groups of adolescents including potential risk for HIV/AIDS, other STDs, pregnancy and other health issues; relationship between age of drinking onset and consequences in later life in Italy; health status of workers and the human impacts of workplace injuries.
Faculty in Related Disciplines in Other Departments:
Alya Guseva, Ph.D. (Ph.D. University of California, San Diego) Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology. - Medical sociology; economic sociology, in particular, issues of rationality, uncertainty, risk and trust; rational underpinnings of markets, specifically markets for credit and insurance. Post-communist and state-socialist economies.Sigrun Olafsdottir, Ph.D. (Ph.D. Indiana University) Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology - Medical sociology, sociology of mental health, comparative research, political sociology, sociology of culture, gender, and research methods.
Patricia Rieker, Ph.D. (Ph.D. Pittsburgh) Visiting Professor, Department of Sociology - Medical sociology; effects of gender and other social determinants of health outcomes.
Program information:
The Masters Program in Medical Anthropology and Cross-Cultural Practice is designed as a two-year, full-time program requiring a total of 60 semester hours, a summer fieldwork or field practicum requirement, and five day-long professional development workshops. The program is offered through the Division of Graduate Medical Sciences (GMS) at B.U. School of Medicine, and has been designed to meet the requirements and standards of the Graduate Division for Masters training. The MA degree is awarded by Boston University School of Medicine.
Eight courses will be completed in the first year, and seven in the second year, plus a Special Project Course (4 credits) for writing the masters thesis. The fieldwork or field practicum will be undertaken during the summer after completion of the first year. Students are also required to participate in one professional-development workshop per semester, and in one during the summer.
The overall goal of the Masters in Medical Anthropology and Cross-Cultural Practice is to provide interdisciplinary training in medical anthropology and cross-cultural clinical practice. The curriculum has been designed to provide students with a solid foundation in the theory and methods of medical anthropological and qualitative research, and in the student’s own area of concentration. Students also participate in anthropology-related skill and career-development workshops. The program will prepare students either for:
- leadership roles in the health professions, in response to the growing need for personnel trained in cross-cultural perspectives, methods, and skills
- incorporation of anthropological and qualitative methods, skills, and knowledge into research, teaching, and clinical work
- doctoral-level training and eventual academic positions
- a domestic focus on global health issues as these have entered the U.S. context as a result of globalization
The core curriculum for the proposed program incorporates state-of-the art, advanced training in:
- theory and its application to medical anthropological reserach
research design and related proposal development for ethics-committee review - qualitative and anthropological research and fieldwork methods
- proposal development for funding applications
- the student's own area of research concentration
- skill and career-development workshops
- techniques for translating medical anthropological research into clinical interventions and services
- strategies for effective public and professional communication of medical anthropology research through publication and presentations
The combination of a core curriculum and elective courses allows students to design a program tailored to their specific needs and career plans.
Original research experiences that result in a masters thesis (15,000 words) is required and emphasizes the integration of medical anthropology with the student’s own discipline or profession. This independent research must be advised by a three-member faculty committee, and presented at the end of the fourth semester to the student’s committee, and other faculty and students. The thesis, on a topic of the student’s choice, must demonstrate a solid research design; engagement in fieldwork and/or practicum with the collection of related data; the effective application of theory; and well written results.
Contact Information:
Linda Barnes, PhD, MTS
Boston University School of Medicine
801 Albany Street Building S - Room 319
Boston, MA 02119
Tel: 617-414-4534
Fax: 617-414-5511
URL: http://www.bu.edu/pages/masters/index.html