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University Communications
More and more Americans are embracing non-Western or "alternative" medical beliefs from acupuncture to holistic healing. Why is it that so many of us now accept notions that would have been scoffed at in the 1950s? Michael McQuaide, professor of sociology at Oxford College of Emory University, will discuss the topic in his lecture, "From Acupuncture to Shamanism, the Search for Well-being," the next offering in Emory's Great Teachers Lecture Series. The lecture is free and open to the public, and will take place at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 23 in 207 White Hall on the Emory campus. For more information, call Evening at Emory at 404-727-6000. To see a campus map, go on-line to www.emory.edu/MAP/. McQuaide, who has worked with shamanistic healers in the Andes Mountains and in the Amazon Basin, will discuss the emergence of alternative health care beliefs-the notion that loneliness is a predictor of cancer, for example-into mainstream American culture. He also will discuss the common elements among many of these alternative techniques and-in broad terms-the content of some of the current beliefs as well as those gaining popularity, such as holistic healing, spirituality in healing and environmental factors in healing. McQuaide also will touch on similarities between contemporary forms of alternative medical beliefs and ancient shamanism (a religion based on the belief in good and evil spirits controlled by a medicine man). McQuaide, a member of the Oxford faculty since 1979 and a popular professor among students, enjoys teaching methods that remove students from familiar environments. Not only have his courses involved international travel to such places as London, Ecuador and the Amazon, but his class "Social Problems in Contemporary Society" has taken more than 400 undergraduate students into Atlanta's hospitals, water treatment facilities, prisons, drug counseling centers and nursing homes to learn more about and analyze social problems. Winner of three "Professor of the Year" awards and the 1996
Fleming Award for Teaching and Service, McQuaide is an integral part of
the Oxford faculty. He has published more than 10 articles and papers, has
served on countless committees and is a member of the Southern Sociological
Society and the Society for the Study of Social Problems, among others. Return to Archived GTLS Releases |
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Last Update - January 2, 2000
OXFORD'S MICHAEL MCQUAIDE
EXPLORES THE NEW ACCEPTANCE OF ALTERNATIVE HEALTH CARE TECHNIQUES IN EMORY'S
GREAT TEACHERS LECTURE