Spring
4
This course examines diseases and healing in Africa and Africa's response to mental (psychotic) and physical (somatic) ills that plagued the continent from pre-history to mid-20th C. The course explores different healing practices and allows us to study how Africans have used science, religion, and cultural practices (such as witchcraft) to treat and protect themselves from diseases. The course also examines how state, power, and encounter influenced health and wellness. It is designed to extend our intellectual curiosity to non-Western cultures and practices involving medicine and human bodies.