Study Abroad
As part or the Culture & Health program, we offer immersive courses which combine classroom knowledge with real-world application. Below, you'll find information and images from previous expeditions.
Culture & Health in the Azores Islands
Terceira, Portugal
This study abroad course was organized with the Atlantis project as a guided shadowing
internship and seminar for pre-health/medical students at ETSU. Students shadowed
doctors 25 hours per week at the Hospital de Santo Espirito de Angra do Heroismo.
Students worked in small groups to wtiness the government-run European healthcare
system and shadow doctors in different specialty areas. Additionally, students participated
in a range of field trips and experiences outside of the hospital.
This trip, followed by courses in medical anthropology, highlighted for me not only the challenges that exist within an isolated context, but also parallel issues within our own healthcare system.
Ritual Healing in Cuba
Havana, Cuba
This study abroad course invited students to visit Havana, Cuba to study traditional
modes of healing as well as alternative and spiritual-based approaches, such as Santeria,
an Afro-Cuban based belief system. Students met several times with Community Project
Espiral, a grassroots project dedicated to educating young people on sustainable development.
Students had the opportunity to visit the museum of Afro-Cuban Culture in Regla, enjoy
a Brujo tour with Elias Aseff, specialist on Afro-Cuban religion and visit with local
herbal and spiritual healers.
As an aspiring optometrist at the time, I was especially interested that HHE would be offering reading glasses and artificial tears to patients.
The Himalayan Health Exchange
Western Himalayas, India
The ETSU Anthropology program participated in the Himalayan Health Exchange (HHE)
for many years with our final trip in 2015. During these years, we brought dozens
of students to travel to the Indian Himalayas as part of a larger medical and anthropological
expedition. The experience included socio-cultural and religious teachings of the
Western Himalayas with daily yoga sessions. In addition, students assisted in public
health clinics in rural areas with limited access to healthcare. Students also had
opportunities to investigate local history, religious beliefs and practices, modern
human adaptations, regional effects of globalization and monastic life and local healthcare.
