39113 - ANTHROPOLOGY OF HEALTH

Subject type: Basic

Coordinator: Jordi Sarola Gassiot

Trimester: First term

Credits: 6

• Spanish
• Catalan

The subject of Anthropology of Health belongs to module 1 of Basic Training of the Degree in Human Nutrition and Dietetics. It is a branch of anthropology that focuses the study on health and illness from a cultural and social perspective. It is concerned with understanding how different cultures and societies perceive, experience and respond to health, illness and well-being. We will add the alimentary fact, transversal to all societies. 

The subject recognizes that health is not simply a biological issue, but is deeply intertwined with social, economic, political and cultural factors. The study of traditional belief and healing systems, alternative medicine practices, the influence of food at a social and cultural level. 

The anthropology of health is concerned with understanding health and illness from a cultural and social perspective, exploring the diversity of practices, beliefs and knowledge systems related to health, especially food, in the different cultures and societies. 

This subject aims to introduce the human being in the field of health and nutrition. The social sciences relate the concept of culture to the beliefs, values, symbols and lifestyles of a group. The representations regarding the food of the cultural groups are intimately linked to the practices that are transmitted from generation to generation. 

The aim of the course is to bring the student closer to understanding and development in the acquisition of tools and skills that allow responding to the different needs raised in a social and multicultural context. And understand the theoretical and/or methodological content that the social sciences have developed in the sociocultural study of food-related processes. 

Topic 1. Introduction to the anthropology of health

Topic 2. Anthropology of human nutrition 1 

Topic 3. Human adaptation and sociocultural context 

Topic 4. Food and cultural identity 

Topic 5. Food and social differentiation 

Topic 6. Globalization and food particularisms 

Seminar 1, 2, 3 and 4.

The evaluation system will be carried out according to the guidelines of the Academic Regulations for Undergraduate Teaching at Pompeu Fabra University. The results obtained for the student body will be expressed in numerical grades, in accordance with the scale provided for in Royal Decree 1125/2003, of September 5, for which the European system of credits and the system of qualifications in university degrees of an official nature and valid throughout the national territory:  

0,0 - 4,9: Suspension (SS) 

5,0 - 6,9: Approved (AP) 

7,0 - 8,9: Notable (NT) 

9,0 - 10: Excellent (SB) 

According to the Academic Regulations for degrees, there will only be one official call that will cover two different evaluation periods: 

1. Ordinary period, which takes place in an integrated way in the training process and during the teaching period. 

2. Extraordinary period, in which the student can be assessed again for tasks, activities or tests that have not been passed satisfactorily within the framework of the first period. 

ordinary period 

Evaluation of the face-to-face modality: 

Evaluation of the virtual modality: 

Extraordinary assessment period 

Requirements to pass the continuous assessment (AC):  

- Mandatory minimum achievement in the subject and seminars of 75%, absences due to illness or injury are included.  

- If the continuous assessment is not passed due to non-compliance with any of the necessary requirements described above, the student will fail the subject.  

Recovery: Within the same course, there is the possibility of recovering skills not achieved during the subject. In accordance with current regulations, in the evaluation activity of the exam, you can only choose to retake the subject, if it has been suspended. In the case of those who did not present, it will not be possible to opt for recovery. 

Assignments: All assignments must be submitted through the Virtual Classroom on the date indicated. No late work will be accepted. The seminars will be mandatory (75% minimum attendance). The average grade obtained in the continuous assessment will be averaged with the final exam grade. To pass the final exam it will be necessary. Total or partial copying in any of the learning activities will mean a "Not Presented" in the subject, without the option to take the make-up test and without prejudice to the opening of a file for this reason. Therefore, plagiarism or copying someone else's work will be penalized according to the Regulations on the rights and duties of students of Pompeu Fabra University. The University will be informed and a serious offense will be placed on the file.  

To facilitate the appropriate citation of texts and materials it is necessary to consult the orientations and guidelines for academic citation available at the website of the Library. 

Counihan, Carole, van Esterik, Penny, & Julier, Alice (Eds.). (2018). Food and Culture. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315680347   

Germov, John & Williams, Lauren (2017). In Sociology of Food and Nutrition: The Social Appetite. Oxford, UK: University Press.  

Fischler, Claude (1995). The (h)omnivore The taste, the kitchen and the body, Barcelona, ​​Ed. anagram