Students will read selections of philosophical, literary, and theological writing which address major components of the fields contributing to medical humanities, which will include discussions of the following topics: medical humanities as a discipline, ethics, medical ethics, bioethics, clinical ethics, narrative, patient care, or religious care. Students explore crucial questions about health, well-being, medicine, and social inequality in the twenty-first century, with a particular focus on how narrative works in medical contexts. Upon completing the course, students will be able to articulate the nature and importance of medical humanities from the perspective of each of the topic areas listed above and apply narrative to a number of medical contexts.

Every Fall

Previously: MDHS 200

This course will offer greater understanding of the history of medicine and how the hospital has become a central institution to life. Beginning with a historic and scientific discussion of child-birth, the course will then focus on cancer and diabetes as examples of diseases to which the human body is susceptible and conclude with a discussion of death as part of life. Central to each of these themes will be the ethical questions and complexities that cannot be separated from the practical aspects of caring for life. Through case studies, lab work, group projects, and invited guests, the class will offer students an understanding of the increasingly complex nature of the science of care.

Every other Spring, even years

Previously: BIOL 205, HIST 205