HSOC 154.601 Medical Anthropology of Alchohol Use
Cross-listed as ANTH 154.601
Offered:Spring 2010
Chrzan TR 4:30-6
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The morality, rights and responsibilities of alcohol use are hotly debated in the United States. The rhetoric of appropriate use ranges from Puritan-inspired abstinence campaigns, through health-promoting moderation arguments, to discourses legitimizing hedonism. The result of a lack of clear cultural paradigms for intoxicant use is clearly seen on college campuses, where movements for zero-tolerance alcohol bans coexist with social rituals that include binge drinking. The course will utilize medical anthropology theory to contextualize the phenomenon historically and cross-culturally and encourage students to critically analyze existing paradigms which determine acceptable usage and treatment modalities.
