M.A. Health and Society in South Asia

MAHASSA combines Medical Anthropology with South Asian Studies. Medical Anthropology includes comparable analysis of different medical and healing systems. A focus is placed on how medical practice is carried out and how states of disease and health are experienced in concrete, sociocultural contexts. To date, graduates of the MAHASSA degree programme have participated in development projects relevant to health, are employed in nongovernmental organisations in the health sector, in hospitals or by traditional healers, and have carried out research on topics such as health problems of migrants from South Asia in Europe, to name a few important projects.
More informatopn can be found here: MAHASSA - Department of Anthropology.

General Information

The Master of Arts in Health and Society in South Asia (MAHASSA) is a full-time degree programme at the South Asia Institute (SAI) at Heidelberg University. It is studied in English and the standard period of study is four semesters. MAHASSA features a combination of Medical Anthropology and South Asian Studies. Students also learn a South Asian language. The Master’s thesis is usually accompanied by a period of research or a work placement in South Asia. The degree programme is primarily aimed at two prospective groups. On the one hand, it is designed for students who intend on working in the field of foreign medical aid, and on the other hand, for students who are persuing a career in Anthropology or a related field.

Admission

Detailed information about the admission requirements can be found here.

Current Students

If you are already enrolled in this programme, you can find all the necessary information on this page.

Module overview & description

There are two study plans for the MA in Health and Society in South Asia which are different both in terms of structure and content. The study plan followed is chosen according to whether or not the student has prior knowledge of a South Asian language.
Detailed information about the modules can be found in the module handbook.

w/o knowledge of a South Asian language ▼

S.
1	Module 1 Basics Medical Anthropology 24 CP	Module 2 Current themes in med. Anthropology 24 CP	Module 3 Selec. themes in South Asian Studies 18 CP	Module 4 South Asian languages 12 CP	Module 5 Preparation M.A. thesis 18 CP
2
3
4	M.A. thesis 24 CP

with knowledge of a South Asian language ▼

S.
1	Module 1 Basics Medical Anthropology 24 CP	Module 2 Current themes in med. Anthropology 36 CP	Module 3 Selec. themes in South Asian Studies 18 CP	Module 5 Preparation M.A. thesis 18 CP
2
3
4	M.A. thesis 24 CP

Module handbook

Current Module Handbook
Current Module Handbook (german version)