The Department of Sociology and Anthropology sponsored Works in Progress Series continues. We’re now in our third year!
We’ll be meeting for our last session of the Fall 2017 semester on Friday, November 11th at 1 PM in Drinko Library, Room 402. We have had the same room and time slot all semester for all sessions of the series. Refreshments will be served.
Our fourth and final presenter of the series will be Dr. Paul Kadetz (Chair, Department of Public Health) who will present “Contagious words: Tracing antimicrobial resistance in rural China through the categories of naming antibiotics.”
Abstract: This mixed-methods Medical Research Council/Newton Fund/National Science Foundation of China funded research will trace the causal factors leading to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in rural Anhui province, China. In leading the qualitative component of this research, various anthropological methods (semi-structured interviews, participant observation, free lists and pile sorts) will be employed to identify which factors may be contributing to antimicrobial resistance in Anhui province, particularly cultural factors of treatment. One, heretofore unexamined, cultural factor may be the variations in understanding and naming of the English word “antibiotic” in Chinese. There is no single direct Chinese corollary for the word “antibiotic”. Nor is there a singular understanding of the term “antibiotic” either within generations of Chinese physicians or between physicians and the lay public. Part of this talk will examine how best to investigate the relationship between cultural transfers of biomedical knowledge that may become “lost in translation”, the mimesis that may result in such transfers, and the ultimate impact of these cultural differences on human health.
Please join us for what is sure to be a fascinating presentation and lively discussion.
We have OPENINGS for our sessions in Spring 2017 (TBA), so if you would like to submit a proposal for presenting at the WIP Series and getting valuable feedback on your works in progress, please see the submission portal here: https://tinyurl.com/MUWIPseries. Find more information about the series in general here: http://www.marshall.edu/dosa/calendar/wip/.