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

0108978 berlinus美洲项目将为George E. Luber先生在乔治亚大学Elois A. Berlin博士的指导下进行论文研究提供支持。卢贝尔先生将在墨西哥恰帕斯州的El Colegio de la Frontera Sur与Austraberta Nazar Beutelspacher博士一起工作。他们将通过对两种民间疾病进行比较、跨文化研究来研究疾病的生物学病理学和文化建构。具体来说，本论文的研究将调查两种民间疾病，Tzeltal Mayan cha'lam tsots和Mixe metsk kuaay，它们代表了在几个中美洲文化中发现的潜在致命疾病的文化表征的区域差异，主要影响儿童。这项研究将结合民族志、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构中各自所起的作用，解决民族医学系统生物文化研究中的一个关键空白。通过与El Colegio de la Frontera Sur的研究人员合作，这项研究将增加对这些和其他经常被当地医生忽视和治疗的民族医学疾病的文化适当和有效治疗的理解和改进努力。

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.