Tag: Anthropology
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An emigrant doctor’s linguistic journey on crutches
Zeynel A. KarciogluCharlottesville, Virginia, United States I am a linguistic cripple like many other immigrants. When I came to the United States as a foreign medical graduate I was rather young, but the neurocognitive linguistic skills of my Turkish mother tongue were already established in my cortex. The Turkish language, as inherited from my parents,…
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When you cannot decide witch doctor to consult
Florence GeloRosemary HarrisPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, United States Physicians often face practical dilemmas when treating patients from cultures whose belief systems may differ greatly from those underlying Western medicine. Non-Western healing modalities often attempt to integrate the spiritual and physical, and in some instances, traditional healers may be appropriately integrated into patient care. Dr. Harris uses the…
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Death by voodoo: truth or tale?
Judith N. WagnerMunich, Germany “Their medicine men have tremendous power over them: if they doom one of them to die, the unfortunate will accept his fate, isolate himself from his family and pass away within a short time.” I vividly remember the octogenarian, fragile but lively lady occupying the seat beside me on a flight…
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To mount a camel
Larry ZaroffStanford University, California For the West, Afghanistan is a country difficult to understand. Though largely Muslim, it is a society made up of multiple ethnic groups and classes, beset by ideological disagreements, with disconnected provinces that are unstable, unconquerable, and often anarchic. All Afghans are culturally mixed, yet are highly independent, believe strongly in…