 My name is Orkide Behruzan. I'm a medical doctor and a medical anthropologist and the program director for the MA in Medical Anthropology and Mental Health. This is the time for interdisciplinary approaches to mental health and a time to gain a better understanding of health using diverse socio-political and cultural perspectives. In this program, we specifically focus on health in relation to institutional, historical and technological developments. And how health in general is not only a biomedical matter, but also a social one embedded in our understanding of gender, race, language, science and technology, religion and of course politics. We train aspiring analysts, consultants, practitioners, academics, advocates, educators and experts who will be able to tackle the grand challenges of our time. Hello, I'm David Moss. I'm a professor of social anthropology here at SOAS. I am currently involved in research on mental health care in diverse cultural settings of inner London. Mental health nowadays has become a major concern. But is there an outbreak and an increase in in mental health problems globally? Or is this more, there's more diagnosis or the way of diagnosing and treating has changed. So we'll ask questions about whether or not in the West or in the wider world, there is a mental illness epidemic. What do we mean by mental illness or disorder? What's the significance of psychiatry? What's culture got to do with this? And what can an anthropological perspective offer? Hello, my name is Fabio Igigi. I'm a lecturer in anthropology with reference to Japan. Anthropology for me is not a certain body of knowledge, but rather a way of being present in the world, a way of asking questions like why, for example, do we organize the world in a binary way when it comes to gender? Why is power and property distributed differently in different societies? What role does culture play in the definitions of health and illness and how do these definitions shape the individual experience of illness? These are the questions that medical anthropology is trying to address. So it is all about keeping one eye trained on the very intimate and personal experience of people and the other eye trained on the very large institutional structures and to master this double vision without reducing one to the other is in my view one of the biggest challenges of medical anthropology. And this is the skill that you acquire in this course. Hi, my name is Nana. I am a student at SOAS. I'm in my second year. I decided to take medical anthropology and I haven't looked back because it's been so insightful again into how, you know, our own positionality, our own background, our culture experience. So for me as a black British guardian, how that shapes my outlook and how that then influences how I care for patients and clients that I meet from all over the world. And it's really helped me, I think, to think about how I can be more considered in my care, how I can listen better as well, so that the care that we're providing is effective and actually helpful for people. This course is informed by a unique combination of clinical, psychological, philosophical and anthropological research and perspectives. Everyday inter-disciplinarity is part of the identity of our institution. Specifically, we draw on the clinical and scientific expertise of our teaching staff with a wide range of backgrounds, including medicine and psychiatry. Students will be introduced to the perspectives of medical and psychological anthropology and anthropological studies of health and well-being in relation to institutional belief systems, philosophies and practices. They will also learn about the bioethical implications of cultural and technological changes around us and a wide range of healing philosophies and practices. This enables them to engage with current affairs and global conditions pertaining to health, inequality, conflict and justice. Students can customise their own plan of study by taking modules from other departments at SOAS. Of course, at SOAS you have access to a wide range of regional expertise and deep knowledge of board languages, religions, philosophies, value systems, literary and artistic expressions. I was raised in London, but on the outskirts. And honestly, being in the hustle and bustle of London, of central London, seeing people go to work, having conversations with people face-to-face, where possible, has really added to the experience at SOAS. It's right in the heart of London, right in the heart of the hustle and bustle. Lots of events and fun things going on. It's really inspiring. This course is suitable for students with an intellectual interest in anthropological approaches to the study of health and mental health in particular, as well as for those who work in healthcare. Students come to us from all over the world, following undergraduate studies in social sciences and the humanities or biomedical sciences, or following careers in development, policy and public health-related fields. Significantly, this course is also suitable for medical students, students of biomedical sciences, and healthcare professionals who'd like to explore the overlaps between ethnographic thinking and clinical thinking, and to incorporate ethnographic methods and culturally informed approaches in their clinical studies.