Medical Humanities
Typically, we approach the human body from a medical, diagnostic model. But physicians have long recognized that this approach to health and well-being is not sufficient for understanding our somatic life. The cross disciplinary minor in medical humanities provides students with a humanistic and social study of illness, health and the body. Drawing upon concepts found in the disciplines contributing to the minor, courses in the curriculum share the common focus of examining how individuals and institutions articulate and disseminate conceptions of the body, including constituent issues such as race, ethnicity, sexuality and gender.
Designed to complement any major and open to all undergraduates, the goals of the medical humanities minor include helping students:
- Think critically about ways in which conceptions of illness, health and the human body are shaped through disciplinary perspectives.
- Articulate the ways in which race, ethnicity, sexuality and gender are socially constructed.
The minor offers students a unique experience of better undertstanding the relationship between the humanities and medical sciences through the process of exploring the field of medical humanities.
To learn more about the minor, download the Medical Humanities brochure. We just added 17 more courses to the minor, bringing the total number of courses to 38!
To declare the minor, follow these steps. If you have further questions, contact Dr. Michael Klein at kleinmj@jmu.edu.
Participating Units
- School of Communication Studies
- Department of English
- Department of Health Sciences
- Department of History
- School of Integrated Sciences
- Program in Interprofessional Education
- Department of Philosophy and Religion
- Department of Psychology
- Department of Sociology and Anthropology
- Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies
- School of Writing, Rhetoric and Technical Communication
Advisory Board
Dr. Pia Antolic-Piper, Department of Philosophy
Dr. Rebecca Brannon, Department of History
Dr. Audrey Burnett, University Studies
Dr. Michael J. Klein, Department of Interdisciplinary Liberal Studies
Ms. Kristy Liskey, Physician Assistant Program