ANTHRO 1829 Health Science and the "Replication Crisis": Anthropological Perspectives

Dr. Lindsey Zeve

Th 3-5:45pm

Over the last two decades, health scientists have grown increasingly concerned about a perceived methodological crisis centered on the reliable replication of research findings—a crisis exacerbated by growing public mistrust in science, which reached a fever pitch in the wake of the global COVID-19 pandemic. This seminar draws on anthropological perspectives to examine critically what has come to be known as the "replication crisis" in health science. Framing the crisis both as a moment of danger and of radical possibility, together we will explore how debates over replication illuminate deeper questions regarding the nature, stakes, and commitments of health science and its objects of study, as mediated through themes of representation, causality, error, epistemic virtue, risk, uncertainty, and objectivity. In doing so, we will consider how scientific authority is constructed and contested; how the replication crisis affects public trust, lay participation, and broader engagements with health and science; and unexpected opportunities the crisis may present to advance the cause of health equity. Through ethnographic readings, case studies, and interdisciplinary scholarship, students will analyze the drivers of the crisis and consider its implications for the future of scientific knowledge-making and health care delivery.