Dissertation Proposal
Emerging Trends in Holistic Herbalism toward Integration of Traditional Medicines
Human cultures are melding worldwide. This dissertation will explore the potential for integrated health systems to thrive within the rising world culture. The foundation of this work will be based on previous field research of traditional healing systems and a literature review.
Conditions seem favorable for the emergence of systems of integrated medicine despite the potential ideological clashes between different healing philosophies. This growth is evidenced in the alternative healing and health food movements, the budding of modern herbalism and the creation of integrated health clinics in the western world. This work will point to some of the possibilities ahead as the cultures of the world continue to interact more deeply via the media, the internet, travel and consumerism.
This project will start with a number of pilot interviews with eminent herbalist and plant researchers to identify the herbs most suitable for international recognition and the methods used to transform those herbs into medicine. From these interviews a questionnaire will be generated and this will form the basis of a survey of herbalists in Great Britain and the United States to gauge their awareness of these international herbs and the prevalence of them in their healing practices.
Through previous and current research, phenomenological studies, interviews with herbal healers and a study of herbal medicine efficacy, it will be possible to better understand the direction of holistic herbalism in the post-modern age.
Resources needed for this study include expenses for travel to different healers to conduct interviews as well as access to computer facilities and library materials.