[Linganth] new book for teaching: Language and Health in Action

[Lynnette Arnold]

Dear colleagues,

I am writing to let you know about a volume I am involved in Language and
Health in Action
<https://global.oup.com/academic/product/language-and-health-in-action-9780198933922?lang=en&cc=cr>
that
has just come out with Oxford University Press. The book includes all new
scholarship at the intersection of linguistic and medical anthropology and
is designed for undergraduate teaching in anthropology and beyond. I invite
you to consider adopting it for teaching if it is a good fit for your
courses.

We conceptualized the book to introduce anthropology and pre-health
students to the ways that language and health practices shape each other.
Over three years, we have worked closely with contributing chapter authors
and solicited feedback and input from undergraduates at UMass Amherst and
Colgate University, where two of us co-editors taught the manuscript and
received enthusiastic positive reviews from students.

The book includes a foreword written by Charles Briggs that lays out the
history of work at the linguistic-medical anthropology intersection, an
afterword by Mara Buchbinder that discusses the value of centering language
and narrative approaches in medical school curriculum, a foundational “Key
Concepts” chapter, and 15 original research chapters that are organized
across five thematic sections, each with a short section introduction:
Clinical Interaction, Language Access, Community and Communicability,
Health and Environment, and Healing Practices.

Chapters are written in accessible prose and include clearly defined terms
and immersive examples from qualitative and ethnographic research. To
support instructors and students, each chapter concludes with a set of
reflection and discussion questions. And we have compiled a list of
complementary multimedia resources that is available on a companion website
<https://global.oup.com/booksites/content/9780198933922/#13>.


For your reference, here is a flyer for free access
<https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KHY73OuBa84KEc-QaGcq3ijl85ZmN_0-/view?usp=sharing>
to the “Key Concepts” chapter, which will be available until June 17. You
might also check out this podcast episode
<https://www.buzzsprout.com/1930383/episodes/19040971> with book editors
and contributors, as well as this short blog post
<https://campanthropology.org/2026/05/04/arnold-guzman-avera-and-corwin-on-language-and-health-in-action/>
about our goals for the book and our process of collaboration.

You can also use the code on this flyer
<https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zGNcARZX5Teaflb0vdc1Y0SmJsuTXjIS/view?usp=sharing>
for a 30% discount code for the paperback version of the book. If you would
like to ask your institutional library to acquire the book, you can do so
using this form
<https://academic.oup.com/pages/get-help-with-access/recommend-to-your-librarian?title=Language%20and%20Health%20in%20Action&printISBN=9780198933915>
from Oxford University Press.

We would be pleased to hear from you and are happy to answer any questions
you might have.

Best,


Lynnette Arnold

Jennifer Guzmán

Emily Avera

Anna Corwin
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