Culture and Mental Health Project (Outline and Paper): Students will complete a culture and mental health research project for the course. This project will involve choosing a mental health condition that has a culturally specific manifestation (idiom of distress or culture bound syndrome) or a mental health condition (broadly defined) that develops from, or is shaped by, a social/cultural/behavioral process. Students will complete a detailed outline of their paper and complete a final paper on their chosen topic. The outline and paper will reflect a detailed review of the literature focused on the mental health problem, a review of culturally-specific aspects of the problem, and potential (culturally appropriate) methods of addressing the problem. Example titles of projects are ‘Globalization and farmer suicides among rural Kenyan men, ‘The legacy of colonialism on substance abuse in the Caribbean’, or ‘Suicide among Information Technology workers in Bangalore, India’.

Paper Outline is due April 27th at 11:59pm via Canvas online submission. The Outline should be 4-5 pages in length, single spaced, and contain a references list with at least 5 relevant peer review articles or books to be discussed in the presentation and final paper. This assignment will be used to evaluate the adequacy of the topic area and if alterations need to be made. Instructors will provide feedback on the topics and suggest changes if needed. Completing the Outline is worth 15% of your overall grade. In order to receive credit, the outline must sufficiently meet the assignment requirements outlined in the syllabus and reviewed in class.

Please use the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) citation style. A guide for JAMA style can be found here: AmericanMedicalAssociationStyleJAMA.pdf