Geography 580/HSERV 586
Fall, 2005
Wednesdays 2:30-5:20, Smith Hall, Room 409
Professor: Dr. Jonathan D. Mayer, Professor, Geography, Epidemiology and International Health, and Adjunct Professor, Medicine (Infectious Diseases), Family Medicine, and Health Services
Office hours: Wed. 1:30-2:30 in Smith Hall, Room 412-C.
Tuesday 11-12 in Health Sciences F-259
Course email list: Hserv586a_au05@u.washington.edu
The purpose of this course is to provide a broad introduction to medical geography. It is assumed that students have some background in medical geography, epidemiology, or the health-related social sciences.
In a course/seminar that is as short as this, it is inevitable that some topics will not be covered. However, I am very open to student suggestions, preferences, and interests. On the first day of class, I will solicit your suggested changes to the course topics that follow. Thus, the topics are only suggested topics and are contingent upon specific interests.
There is no textbook for the class. Readings will be on electronic reserve, which may be accessed from the following website:
http://eres.lib.washington.edu
Follow the prompts, and search for either GEOG 580 or HSERV 586. The readings are identical. Since much of the class will consist of discussion, I will assume that all students will have done all of the readings prior to each class, with the exception of the first class session.
There is only one written requirement for this class: a term paper on a topic of interest to you. The paper can be empirical or more theoretical; however, it does need to deal with a topic that you can justify as having medical geographic content. The work that you cite does not need to have been conducted by geographers—you will find quintessentially geographic work by medical entomologists, geneticists, medical anthropologists, epidemiologists, and many others. Projects by small groups are acceptable, since this is the manner in which most research is conducted and published, as long as you clarify the separate responsibilities of each group member.
Papers should be approximately 30 pages long, unless you intend to submit it to a publication, in which case it should conform to the style and length of articles in that publication. Standard medical/public health citation format should be used.
Course Topics
September 28
Introduction and Organization
Reading:
Golledge RG. The nature of geographic knowledge. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 2002;92:1-14.
Kearns R, Moon G. From medical geography to health geography: novelty, place and theory after a decade of change. Progress in Human Geography 2002;26:605-625.
Rosenberg MW. Medical geography or health geography? Populations, peoples and places. International Journal of Population Geography 1998;4:211-226.
Parr H. Medical geography: care and caring. Progress in Human Geography 2003;27:212-221.
Structure of Medical Geography
October 12
The Ecology of Infectious Disease
October 19
Modeling the Geographical Spread of Infectious
Disease
October 26
Geographical Perspectives on HIV/AIDS
November 2
Geography and Chronic Disease
November 9
Geographical Information Systems and Medical Geography
November 16
Geographical Perspectives on Health Care Systems
November 23
The Dilemmas of Rural and Underserved Areas
November 30
Small Area Studies and Evidence-Based Medicine
December 7
Social Theory and Narrative in Medical Geography