U.S. Mexico Doctoral Dissertation: Biological Pathology and the Cultural Construction of Illness: A Comparative, Cross-Cultural Study of Two Folk Illnesses

0108978柏林该美洲计划奖将支持乔治·E·卢伯先生在佐治亚大学埃洛伊斯·A·柏林博士的指导下进行的论文研究。卢贝尔将在墨西哥恰帕斯的南弗朗特拉高等专科学校与奥斯特拉贝塔·纳扎尔·博特尔斯帕赫博士一起工作。他们将通过对两种民间疾病进行比较的跨文化研究来研究疾病的生物病理学和文化建构。具体地说，本论文的研究将调查两种民间疾病，Tzeltal Mayan Cha‘lam tsots和Mixe Metsk kuaay，这两种民间疾病代表着在几个中美洲文化中发现的潜在致命疾病的文化表现的地区差异，主要影响儿童。这项研究将结合人种学、临床流行病学和营养人体测量学方法，通过澄清生物学和文化在两个中美洲语言群体的疾病识别和文化建设中各自发挥的作用，来解决民族医疗系统生物文化研究中的一个关键空白。通过与南国高等专科学校的研究人员合作，这项研究将增加对这些和其他民族医学疾病的文化上适当和有效的治疗方法的了解和改进努力，这些疾病经常被当地医生忽视和不治疗。

0108978BerlinThis Americas Program award will provide support for dissertation research by Mr. George E. Luber, under the direction of Dr. Elois A. Berlin of the University of Georgia. Mr. Luber will work in Mexico with Dr. Austraberta Nazar Beutelspacher at El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, in Chiapas. They will study the biological pathology and the cultural construction of illness by carrying out a comparative, cross-cultural study of two folk illnesses.Specifically, this thesis dissertation research will investigate two folk illnesses, the Tzeltal Mayan cha'lam tsots and the Mixe metsk kuaay, which represent regional variations of cultural representations of potentially fatal illnesses, primarily affecting children, found in several Mesoamerican cultures. The research will involve a combination of ethnographic, clinical epidemiological and nutritional anthropometric methods to address a critical gap in the biocultural study of ethnomedical systems by clarifying the role that biology and culture each play in the identification and cultural construction of disease in two Mesoamerican linguistic groups. By working with researchers at El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, this study will increase understanding of and improve efforts to develop culturally-appropriate and effective treatments for these and other ethnomedical conditions often ignored and untreated by local doctors.