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

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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.