Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Anthropology

  • Franz Boas (1858–1942): Titan of Anthropology

    Hailed as the “Father of American Anthropology”, Franz Boas was well ahead of his time in challenging prevailing racial theories and promoting an understanding of diverse human cultures. He influenced a generation of younger scholars who followed his way of thinking, greatly contributing to the study of culture, race, and language and laying the groundwork…

  • Paul Farmer, MD (1959–2022)

    Paul Edward Farmer was an American medical pioneer anthropologist, academician, and physician. He co-founded and was chief strategist of Partners in Health (PIH), an international nonprofit organization that since 1987 has provided health care services, undertaken research, and advocacy on behalf of the poor and sick. Dr. Farmer grew up in Alabama during much of…

  • Margaret Mead (1901–1978), controversial anthropologist pioneer

    Margaret Mead is remembered as one of the most important, though controversial, anthropologists of the twentieth century. She became famous through her classic work Coming of Age in Samoa (1928), in which she described the life and sexual practices of teenagers on two Samoan islands in the South Pacific. Her books were widely read and…

  • Spirit possession in Jewish folklore: The dybbuk

    Howard FischerUppsala, Sweden In the folklore of both Eastern European and Mediterranean Jews, a certain kind of possession was considered a real threat. A demon called a “dybbuk” was a malicious, possessing spirit, believed to be the soul or ghost of a dead, sinful person. The dybbuk was almost always the spirit of a Jewish…

  • The interplay of spirituality and traditional medicine in Indonesia

    Shabrina JarrellCharleston, West Virginia, United States In the cultural fabric of Indonesia, spiritual healing has thrived for centuries. The practice of spiritual and traditional healing remains relevant alongside modern medical advances. The contrast and interplay of traditional wisdom and contemporary influences is particularly apparent in a nation characterized by rich cultural diversity. While interest in…

  • Adolf Bastian, pioneering anthropologist

    Adolf Bastian (1826–1905) was one of the pioneers of modern anthropology, born June 26, 1826, in Bremen, Germany. This multicultural port city exposed him to many different cultures and customs, eventually igniting his interest in studying different societies. From his father, who belonged to a well-known merchant family, he inherited a strong instinct for business…

  • Studying mummies and eggs: The delights of paleopathology

    Paleopathology is the study of disease by using mummified and skeletal remains, documents, early books, paintings, sculptures, and coprolites. Earlier investigators such as Esper and Cuvier focused on non-human specimens, but later ones expanded their interests to humans. They studied the ancient Egyptians and found evidence of osteoarthritis, tuberculosis, leprosy, and smallpox, as well as…

  • Marc Ruffer, founder of paleopathology

    Sir Marc Armand Ruffer (1859–1917) is considered the founder of paleopathology, the study of disease in human remains. He was born in Lyons, France, the son of Swiss banker Baron Jacques de Ruffer and a German mother. He was educated in Germany and France, Oxford and London, and worked for a short time on rabies…

  • More on Arthur Aufderheide, the mummy doctor (1922–2013)

    Arthur C. Aufderheide (1922–2013) received his undergraduate degree in anthropology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1943 and his PhD from the University of Chicago in 1952. After completing his education, he became a professor at the University of Minnesota in Duluth and spent most of his active life there. Aufderheide’s major contribution to anthropology…

  • Tattoos in the twentieth century

    Howard FischerUppsala, Sweden “It was in 1972 and you didn’t really go around showing tattoos or talking about them…And now all of a sudden it has become the thing to do.”1– Cher, American singer, actor Placing dyes or pigments into the dermis to form a design dates back at least 12,000 years. Tattooing was seen…