W lam ls wak n [Good Health]: Reimag

Public health discourses have historically advanced an anthropocentric world view that reinforces the right to health of human beings, disconnected from the health of non-human nature and what the Lenape people refer to as Kahèsëna Hàki Mother Earth. For the Lenape and other American Indian nations, as well as among many Indigenous communities globally, the border between the body and the earth, between human and non-human, is more fluid than in Western knowledge systems. Since public health models are primarily shaped by Western ideologies that support narratives and methodologies in which humans dominate nature, the right to health invariably reflects this perspective. Consequently, what would the right to health look like if we delinked from Euro-American conceptualizations of human/non-human and instead drew on Lenape knowledge systems such as Lankuntawakan (the Lenape way of life) and wëlamàlsëwakàn (good Health)? This course will explore these complex questions by examining Indigenous theory, particularly the notion of Lankuntawakan, which comprises relationship, kinship, peace and a deeper understanding of well-being. Furthermore, we will examine various Indigenous research methods including community based participatory research, narrative storytelling, and oral history. This course will apply these investigative methods drawing on Indigenous theory and research methodologies to explore emergent public health questions.The primary goal for this course is for students to emerge as better informed to respond to the public health concerns of both Indigenous and nonindigenous peoples by leveraging Indigenous knowledge systems. Furthermore, we seek to ensure that students are well equipped in terms of theoretical and methodological knowledge to work alongside Indigenous communities on public health challenges. Students in this course will engage in weekly reflections that include artistic expression.