Master of Philosophy in Medical Anthropology
Differences from 2016/17 to 2020/21
(See also the general notice at the commencement of these regulations.)
Within the Division of Social Sciences, the course shall be administered by the School of Anthropology. The regulations made by the divisional board are as follows:
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1. The Division of Social Sciences shall elect for the supervision of the course a Standing Committee, namely the Teaching Committee of the School of Anthropology, which shall have power to arrange lectures and other instruction. The course director shall be responsible to the Standing Committee.
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The examination shall consist of the following:
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1. Qualifying Examination
Every candidate will be required to satisfy the examiners in an examination for which, if he or she passes at the appropriate level, he or she will be allowed to proceed to the second year of the M.Phil. Candidates must follow a course of instruction in Medical Anthropology for at least three terms, and will, when entering for the examinations, be required to produce a certificate from their supervisor to this effect. Every candidate for the M.Phil. qualifying examination will be required to satisfy the examiners in four
writtenpapers,papersdescribed below, to be taken in the Trinity Term of the academic year in which the candidate's name is first entered on the Register of M.Phil. Students or, with the approval of the Divisional Board, in a subsequent year. Papers 1, 2 and 3 will each be assessed by a three-hour paper. Paper 4 (option) may be assessed either by one three-hour paper or by coursework essay. For those taking Paper 4 assessed by coursework essay, the essay must be submitted electronically via the University approved online assessment platform not later than noon of the Thursday of the second week of Trinity Term; each essay must be anonymous, accompanied by confirmation that it is the candidate’s own work, and submitted in electronic file format. The following four papers shall be taken:-
(1)
ConceptsCriticalofMedicaldisease, illness, health and medicine in global perspectiveAnthropologyThe scope of this paper includes discussion of cross-cultural concepts of health, disease, sickness, pain, illness causation, diagnosis and treatment, from conjoined socio-cultural perspectives and human ecology. It explores metaphor and narrative at the interface of biological and cultural processes, the distribution of disease patterns in the light of environmental change, social inequality, global mobility and marginality, and the co-existence of conventional, alternative, and traditional health systems.
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(2)
TheoryBioculturalandApproachespracticetoofMedicinebio-medicine and of other medical systemsThe scope of this paper includes issues of public health and policy on a comparative and global basis. It draws on ethnographies of particular societies to illustrate and test theoretical claims in medical anthropology. It discusses infectious diseases, specific health campaigns, evolutionary trends and life histories, alongside culturally defined concepts of risk, vulnerability, fate, evil, pollution, divination, religion, and shamanism.
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(3)
CriticalAnthropologiesmedicalofanthropologythe BodyThe scope of this paper comprises ecological and socio-cultural perspectives, and explores links to other fields and disciplines, including the place of material culture in medicine. It includes a critique of basic assumptions and methods in medical anthropology and consideration of the concept of well-being as being broader than conventional concepts of health. Themes for discussion include the phenomenology of the body, growth and personhood, gender, ageing and dying, notions of resistance and resilience, relationships between biodiversity and adaptability, reproduction, and fertility, and nutrition.
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(4) Option paper
Candidates must select one option paper from the list of those
taughtavailable,eachpublishedyear forby theM.Sc in Social Anthropology. Titlesend ofoptions will be made atthebeginningthird week ofeachMichaelmasacademic year, and candidates may select their option from any of Lists A, B, or CTerm.
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2. Final Examination
Candidates must follow a course of instruction in Medical Anthropology for at least three terms, and will, when entering for the final examination, be required to produce a certificate from their supervisor to this effect. The final examination shall be taken in the Trinity Term of the academic year following that in which the candidate's name is first entered on the Register of M.Phil. Students or, with the approval of the Divisional Board, in a subsequent year.
Each candidate shall be required:
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(1) to submit evidence of practical work and a research proposal in accordance with I below;
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(2) to submit a thesis in accordance with II below;
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(3) to present himself or herself for oral examination if required by the examiners. The oral examination may be on the candidate's written assignments, or dissertation, or both.
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I. Methods of fieldwork and social research
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Candidates are required to choose any two of the three courses listed above and shall
submitupload to theExaminationUniversitySchoolsapproved online assessment platform by noon onTuesdayThursday of fifth week of the third term of the second year of the course the portfolio of the two courses of practical work completed, together with a research proposal, accompanied by a statement that they are the candidate's own work except where otherwise indicated.The research proposal should not exceed 2,500 words. It need not be on the theme of the thesis, but should reflect the candidate
’’s competence in conceiving and structuring an independent research project.
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II. Thesis
Each candidate shall be required to submit a thesis of not more than 30,000 words (excluding references and appendices) on a subject approved by the supervisor. He or she shall send to the Teaching Committee of the School of Anthropology, with the written approval of his or her supervisor, and on the form provided for that purpose, a preliminary
TuesdayThursday of the fifth week of the Trinity term of the first year of the course. A further form, identical in its provision, and confirming or amending the earlier submission as necessary, shall be submitted to the above Committee(three copies)must betypewrittensubmittedand delivered tovia theExaminationUniversitySchools,approvedHighonlineStreet,assessmentOxford,platform not later than noon onTuesdayThursday of the fifth week of Trinity Full Terminof theacademicsecond yearin whichof theFinal Examination is takenM.Phil. Thedissertationthesis must be anonymous, accompanied by confirmation that it is the candidate's own work, and submitted in electronic file format. The thesis shall be provided with an abstract of up to 250 words, to be placed immediately after the title page. The word count shall be stated on theoutsidetitlefront coverpage of the thesis.The Examiners shall require a successful candidate to deposit a copy of his or her thesis in the Tylor Library. If the thesis is superseded by a D.Phil. thesis by the same student partly using the same material, the Divisional Board of Social Sciences may authorise the withdrawal of the M.Phil. thesis from the Tylor Library. Such candidates will be required to sign a form stating whether they give permission for their thesis to be consulted
.The examiners may award a distinction for excellence in the whole examination. -
III. Resits
In order to pass the degree, a student must pass all its assessed components. Where one or more components are failed, the student will be given the opportunity to re-sit or re-submit them once, as the case may be. Any subsequent award of the degree on successful completion of all the assessed components may be delayed by up to three terms, i.e. until the Examination Board next meets.