WPOHFall2021

  Coca is an indigenous plant of South America with numerous alkaloid components, the most well-known one of which is the psychoactive component, cocaine.  Its leaves have been a staple in the Andean lifestyle for thousands of years.  Strong interest in coca use has existed in the anthropological world for decades. Areas of study have not only attempted to understand traditional use during the Incan empire and coca’s role in folk medicine , but also focused on factors that influence the ability of this native tradition to continue in the face of increasingly strict regulations of coca production. The Aymara people are an indigenous population of the Andes and Altiplano regions of South America. “Khoka” is an Aymara word that means “the tree.” This is the origin for our modern usage of “coca” Indigenous versus modern usage: In comparison to modern usage of cocaine isolates, the amount of the drug used by native peoples was and remains quite low with an estimated 60 grams ...

The Definition of "Drugs" varies from culture to culture deconstructing "drugs" is the first step towards understanding the complex history of the consumption of psychoactive substances. A category of substances taken into the body other than for the purpose of nutrition (food versus drugs) two categories: those taken for medicinal purposes, and those taken for psychological (hedonistic) purposes regulated by "law" so that illegal use (or unacceptable use) becomes ABUSE described as NARCOTICS (and further vilified because they are associated with marginal or criminal individuals) very new definition grounded in a capitalist culture were nations have the technology to produce and then sell substances to consumers New definition and use: unconstrained by traditional uses in cultures (commodification) social practices with meaning cultural context of consumption Bifurcated definition leaves no room for things we consume on an everyday basis without question c...

  Learning How To Look: "Deep Observation" and "Thick Description": Beginner's Mind (assume you know nothing and look at everything with fresh eyes) Take your time (hang out at your block at all different times of the day, weather, etc.) Look for the unusual in the usual Describe everything in as much detail as possible, you never know what will be important later. look everywhere: up, down, sideways. Click   here  for a great article on looking by a photographer and writer. What to Jot about:                                                                   Notes observations impressions personal feelings tentative explanations behaviors body language sketches of places words (vocabulary) scents, sounds Students need to make a distinction between what they OBSERVE and how they INTERPRET what they observe...

  “Until the academic discourse of medicine is expanded beyond the languages of molecules and drugs to include the language of experience and meanings, however, medical science will reinforce the profession’s resistance to the problems of illness rather than contribute to the broadening of its vision. Research that avoids the human side of disorder places the profession and its practitioners in iron chains of restricted knowledge. So fettered, medicine and doctors are unable to address some of the most difficult yet essential questions in the care of the chronically ill; the physician is prevented from having a personal stake in the patient’s condition, and medicine from applying moral knowledge to suffering.”-- Arthur Kleinman Read  HERE "An ethnography is the telling of a people's story" ( Translating Culture , 312). For the next semester, we will engage in an ethnographic project that entails participant observation  and  auto-ethnography , two of the pr...

 "As a member of World Perspectives on Health, I promise to work for the greater good of my classmates and the larger community. As part of this commitment, in discussion and debate, I promise to speak freely and respectfully and listen with equal respect and genuine desire for understanding to the speech of others. I do so to ensure that these discussions are aimed at greater understanding of the material and each other as human beings who deserve, unequivocally, both respect and freedom from unnecessary harm of any kind. When I feel threatened by another or their opinions, I promise to voice this to my classmates (or if this is too difficult, my professor) so that I also may feel safe and heard. This method of discussion is called  critical thinking/debate , and it is how this world may become a place of mutual respect and understanding. I have the power to make this world through my actions."