Cultural influences on the health care decisions of women from India is the topic of Pathways to Knowledge lecture

Cultural influences on the health care decisions of women from India is the topic of Pathways to Knowledge lectureMarch 11, 2003Judy Holmesjlholmes@syr.edu

Ph.D. candidate Haripriya Narasimhan will present the findings of her research on women’s health care decision making March 18 at 7 p.m. in the College of Law’s Grant Auditorium. Her presentation, “You Can’t Ask Them Anything: Tamil Kinship, Women and Decision Making Regarding Health in Tamil Nadu, India,” is presented by the Spring 2003 Pathways to Knowledge Lecture Series and is open to undergraduate students across the University.

Narasimhan’s research has looked into the ways in which women in Tamil Nadu make their decisions about the kinds of health care they access for themselves and their families. In a society where multiple health care systems compete, women’s attitudes toward biomedicine and other indigenous forms of heath care play a significant role in their decision-making process. While several factors affect the process, the lecture will focus on notions of womanhood and kinship from an anthropological perspective.

Tamil kinship, with its emphasis on cross-cousin marriage, has been presented by scholars as providing women with autonomy in making choices. Feminist research, however, has highlighted the complexities involved in marriage among kin, Narasimhan says. Narasimhan will discuss women’s attitudes regarding gender and kinship and their impact on health care decision-making.

The Pathways to Knowledge Lecture series is co-sponsored by the Department of Science Teaching in The College of Arts and Sciences and the Graduate School. The lecture series was established to provide Ph.D. candidates an opportunity to share their research with undergraduate students and to provide undergraduate students with insights into graduate education and an opportunity to broaden their horizons.