Maya Koenig '11
Maya Koenig '11
Hometown Santa Cruz, CA
Major in "Medical Anthropology," Minor in French and Francophone Studies
What is your IIM about?
My IIM is about the intersection of medicine and culture. Key questions to the discipline include: what cultural and social factors aggravate or prevent the spread of disease? How does culture determine local interpretations of the body, bodily processes, health, and illness? What social and cultural functions does illness serve, and how does an understanding of these functions clarify reasons for patients' treatment choices? The major is a combination of anthropology, philosophy, and medical sociology. Fun and formative courses include the Biology and Culture of Deafness; Anthropology of the Body; Medicine, Body and Culture; and Biomedical Ethics.
When & how did you begin the IIM process?
I came across Medical Anthropology, somewhat unexpectedly, my freshman year. One day, reflecting on my academic interests in medicine and culture, I randomly combined the two, coming up with the discipline title, "Medical Anthropology," on my own. Upon further research, I found the subdiscipline not only exists, but is one of the fastest growing areas of anthropology, offering a critical perspective to contemporary medical research. I began the IIM process shortly after: meeting with academic advisors, identifying relevant courses, conferencing with supportive professors, finally submitting the forms the fall of my junior year.
Additional extracurriculars/internships/jobs/projects you're pursuing related to your IIM?
Extracurriculars play an essential role in my increasing understanding of medical anthropology. Some Brandeis extra-curricular, internship, and job opportunities I have participated in include: teaching children's Yoga at Lemberg Children's Center; working as a Hiatt World of Work (WOW) Fellow at Charlotte Maxwell Complementary Clinic (a center which offers free alternative healthcare to low income women with cancer in San Francisco and Oakland); partaking in two Experiential Learning (EL) courses, one in which I was fortunate to act as a co-coordinator of a health literacy project at Joseph M. Smith Community Health Center, the other in which I worked as a patient liaison for deaf and hard-of-hearing children in the Department of Otolaryngology at the Boston Children's Hospital in Waltham; presently, I feel honored to work with my advisor, Sarah Lamb, as a Schiff Fellow, conducting research on the social importance of complementary medicine in increasing patient-agency and working to create a syllabus that could be used in a future medical anthropology course at Brandeis. No matter what your interest, Brandeis provides a number of unique opportunities for getting involved. These are just a few.
Overall experience pursuing an IIM rather than an existing major?
For me, creating my own IIM has been an incredible ongoing process, one I would recommend to any student interested in pursuing his/her unique cross-disciplinary interests.