Research Guides: Medical Anthropology: Find Background Information

Background on Anthropology

These reference works offer reliable background information on anthropological thought and methods. Check the reference lists at the end of relevant entries for citations to books, articles, and other materials on your topic.

The Encyclopedia of Medical Anthropology offers a more detailed overview of topics within medical anthropology. But you can also use the medical anthropology entries in general anthropological encyclopedias to identify major scholars and areas of interest.

Encyclopedia of Medical Anthropology
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Describes the cultural practices relevant to health in the world's cultures and provides an overview of important topics in medical anthropology. Many of these essays include extensive bibliographies for further reading.
Encyclopedia of anthropology
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A collection of over 1000 articles that focus on topics in all branches of anthropology. A search for "medical" within this encyclopedia returns entries on biomedicine, clinical anthropology, ethnomedicine, and other relevant topics.
21st century anthropology
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Provides overviews of topics and situates them within larger questions. The recommended readings are often quite substantial. Note also the related articles that are listed at the ends of entries.

You can find the entry on Medical Anthropology under "Applied Anthropology."
International encyclopedia of the social & behavioral sciences
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This encyclopedia covers a vast array of topics in all social science disciplines. You can browse and search the table of contents online. To read the actual entries in the print encyclopedia, go to Reference area on the 1st floor of McCabe.
Routledge Encyclopedia of Social and Cultural Anthropology (2010)
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Swarthmore students can read this encyclopedia as an ebook. If you're interested in a particular topic (e.g. indigenous knowledge), use the "Search Within" box (located above the table of contents) to find the relevant entry. You'll find more precise results if you enclose the search terms in double quotes "like this."
Biographical Dictionary of Social and Cultural Anthropology
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The editor includes historical figures as well as currently practicing anthropologists. Note the Index of Interests, so that you can find the anthropologists who work on capitalism or on violence.