Mar 28, 2024  
Undergraduate Catalog | 2021-2022 
    
Undergraduate Catalog | 2021-2022 Previous Edition

Health/Medical Humanities, Minor


Return to {$returnto_text} Return to: Academic Programs (by school/department)

Health/Medical Humanities is an interdisciplinary field that uses humanistic perspectives to understand health and healthcare. The humanities have the potential to teach us about the embodied human experience, including suffering, healing, well-being, and flourishing. The Minor in Health/Medical Humanities complements the movement toward primary and patient-centered care in healthcare and provides an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the effects of health, wellness, and illness on patients, on health professionals, and on the social worlds in which they live and work.  The program explores the experience of illness, mortality, fragility, health, and healthcare settings through literature, the arts, and the social sciences.  The minor supports the University’s health and medical-related programs by offering a cross-disciplinary approach that promises to enhance observation, empathy, communication, cultural understanding, human compassion and sensitivity, and creativity, among future healthcare providers.  In short, the minor immerses students in the human side of medicine and health, and leads to greater enhanced interpersonal relationships between patients and practitioners.  The minor supports the concept of “person-centered medicine,” and thus leads to an enhanced appreciation of the personhood and inherent humanness of patients and clients.  The minor is also intended to enhance personal reflection, critical thinking skills, and the ability to understand the personal, social, historical, and cultural contexts of health, illness, and medical care.  The minor is supported by faculty and courses across the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, including from departments of and majors in Africana Studies, Anthropology, Chemistry, Communication Studies, Criminal Justice, History, Language and Cultural Studies, and Philosophy.

Admission Requirements


Admission is limited and only Fall admission is accepted.  Students from any major may apply.  Applicants should submit to the program director their GPA, transcript, statement of purpose explaining how this minor brings together their areas of interest, and one faculty recommendation.  Deadline to apply for Fall admission is the Monday after Spring Break.

Minor Requirements


The Minor in Health/Medical Humanities requires 19 credit hours.  Students take two required courses.  Between these two courses, students take 5 approved elective courses from a range of departments from the social sciences, humanities, arts, and natural sciences.  Throughout, students investigate questions of health, healing, and disease from multiple disciplinary perspectives and integrate their insights in an interdisciplinary portfolio as a capstone project.  Because this is designated to be an interdisciplinary minor, no more than three courses in the student’s major may count toward the minor.

Introductory Course (3 credit hours)


Elective Courses (15 credit hours)


Select from the following:

Health/Medical Humanities Courses


The following courses may be repeated for credit with change of topic:

Other Courses


Other courses may be substituted for the above Health/Medical Humanities elective courses in consultation with the advisor or program director.  Examples of courses that would satisfy the requirements of the minor include (but are not limited to):

Total = 19 Credit Hours


Grade Requirements


Students must attain an overall GPA of 2.0 in all coursework within the minor.  No courses counted toward the minor may be taken Pass/No Credit.

Return to {$returnto_text} Return to: Academic Programs (by school/department)