The minor requires 18 credit hours. Please see the Medical Humanities course catalog page for a list and description of the courses that always count for the minor.
Additional special topics courses offered by the participating units may also count. A current list will be distributed to students in the minor each semester and also appears below:
Spring 2025 Electives
JUST 385 - Disability and Justice
REL 450 - Religion and Society
SCOM 448 - Communication, Culture, and Identity Communication
SOCI 395 - Sociology of the Body (section 2 only)
Fall 2024 Electives
ANTH 395 - Plagues and Pandemics
HIST 365 - Sex and Gender in the Near East
SCOM 313 - Rhetoric of Disability Advocacy
SOCI 335 - Disability and Society
Spring 2024 Electives
HIST 365 - Plagues and Pandemics
PHIL 390 - Racism and Racial Injustice
SOCI 395 - Sociology of the Body
Fall 2023 Electives
ANTH 395 - Evolution of Health and Disease
ENG 405 - Epidemics in Global Anglophone Fiction
SCOM 313 - Rhetoric of Disability Advocacy
SOCI 335 - Disability and Society
Spring 2023 Electives
ANTH 395 - Women, Culture, Power: Africa
HTH 380 - Health Communication
Fall 2022 Electives
HIST 374 - The Southern Plantation: Race, Space and Gender in an American Landscape
PHIL 390 - Special Topics in Philosophy
Gender, Race and Class
REL 450 – Religion and Society
Religion & Medicine
WRTC 426 - Special Topics in Writing, Rhetoric and Technical Communication
Section 1 – Designing for Cultures, Audiences & Communities
Section 2 – Rhetorics of Disability Representation
Spring 2022 Electives
WRTC 430 Contemporary Rhetorical Theory and Practice - Disability Rhetorics
Fall 2021 Electives
ANTH 395 Evolution of Health and Disease (Section 1 ONLY)
In this class, we’ll be drawing on work done in two different, but related, subdisciplines of biological anthropology. In examining the hard evidence for the history of disease, we’ll be making use of the methods and findings of paleopathology (the study of ancient disease). The broader evolutionary perspective will come from the relatively new field of evolutionary medicine, which attempts to understand human susceptibility to disease in adaptive terms, as well as to provide explanations for all aspects of human health.
ENG 385 Special Topics in Film Study: Race and Hollywood (Section 1 Only)
ENG 408 African American Theatre and Performance (Section 1 Only)
IDLS 395 Global Infectious Disease (Section 2 ONLY)
REL 300 Race and Religion (Section 1 Only)
WRTC 426 Writing Women's Health (Section 1 Only)
Spring 2021 Electives
HIST 439 Selected Topics in American History
Childhood, Adulthood and Old Age
HIST 489 Selected Topics in World History
Pandemics in African History
SCOM 370 Introduction to Health Communication
An introduction to the study of the theory and practice of communication in health- and medical-related fields. Emphasis on communication interaction between professional health providers and patients/clients. Consideration of strategies that promote effective communication between health/medical professionals and patients/clients.
Fall 2020 Electives
ANTH 395 Evolution of Health and Disease (Section 1 ONLY)
In this class, we’ll be drawing on work done in two different, but related, subdisciplines of biological anthropology. In examining the hard evidence for the history of disease, we’ll be making use of the methods and findings of paleopathology (the study of ancient disease). The broader evolutionary perspective will come from the relatively new field of evolutionary medicine, which attempts to understand human susceptibility to disease in adaptive terms, as well as to provide explanations for all aspects of human health.
MHUM 200E COVID-19 in Perspective
In this course, our faculty team will use our combined expertise to offer perspective and understanding about COVID-19 as an infectious disease. Student learning will be cross-disciplinary, and the main learning goal of this course is that students will acquire the content and skills for a complex understanding of one of the largest global challenges in the past century. Students will learn about COVID-19 from different perspectives, including history, epidemiology, ethics, and rhetoric and communication. Cannot be taken if you have received credit for the summer version of this course (see below).
Summer 2020 Electives
CHEM 280/HTH 391/HIST 341/PHIL 103/WRTC 426 COVID-19 in Perspective
In this course, our faculty team will use our combined expertise to offer perspective and understanding about COVID-19 as an infectious disease. Student learning will be cross-disciplinary, and the main learning goal of this course is that students will acquire the content and skills for a complex understanding of one of the largest global challenges in the past century. Students will learn about COVID-19 from different perspectives, including history, epidemiology, ethics, and rhetoric and communication.
HTH 456 Grant Writing in Health Sciences
Increasingly social service and health providers are required to have grant writing skills and/or be responsible for obtaining external funds to support their positions, fuel projects, or promote programs. This course will provide the overview of grantsmanship skills. These skills include locating funding sources, improving collaboration skills, understanding program development and grant proposal preparation.
Spring 2020 Electives
ENG 360 Introduction to Ethnic American Literature
We will take up the question of immigration by focusing on narratives of arrivals and departures written by 20th and 21st-century immigrants from around the world. We’ll focus on stories AND silences, tracing the various routes to the United States they have carved into history and paying attention to the vision of America these immigrants bring with them. We’ll study short works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry as well as oral histories archived in Special Collections at JMU’s Carrier Library.
ENG 405 Advanced Studies in Anglophone Literature: Epidemics in Contemporary Anglophone Fiction
HIST 489 Section 2 Early Modern European History: Human Life-Cycles and Lived Bodies
The body and ideas of embodiment are major themes in social and cultural history. This seminar presents the human body as a "vehicle for being." Bodies are explored as always moving along a biological, sociological, cultural, and spiritual continuum from birth to death. The format will be a traditional seminar course with extensive weekly readings during the first two-thirds of the semester, followed by presentations of full-length research projects during the last third of the course.
SCOM 303 Special Topics in Health Communication: Media and Health
We will discuss things like social media and health (depression, wellness, body image), newspaper coverage/journalism and how we think about particular diseases.
SCOM 370 Introduction to Health Communication
An introduction to the study of the theory and practice of communication in health- and medical-related fields. Emphasis on communication interaction between professional health providers and patients/clients. Consideration of strategies that promote effective communication between health/medical professionals and patients/clients.
WRTC 358 Writing About Science and Technology: More Human Than Human
We’ll explore what it means to be human by examining fictional and factual accounts of “artificial” beings. By tracing the evolution of these entities—robots, androids, cyborgs, thinking machines and artificial intelligence—in the popular and scientific imaginations, we’ll better understand what our 21st-century definition of the human both includes, as well excludes.
Fall 2019 Electives
ANTH 370 Topics in the Anthropology of Gender
This course examines the many ways in which gender is constructed and negotiated in different historical and social contexts. Topics will vary with the instructor to include both cultural and biocultural perspectives.
ENG 496 Section 2: Food Writing
In this food writing workshop, food memoir, food journalism, and recipe essays take center stage as we consider the ways in which food shapes our lives. “Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are,” said seminal food writer Jean Brillat-Savarin. Through our reading and writing activities we will reflect on this bold statement and excavate our own lives for the food stories we have yet to write: stories of hunger, ritual, obsession, gluttony, connection, division, cultivation, family, friends, cooks, farmers, and much more. The works we read will offer tools for writing your own stories as well as the inspiration to claim and develop your own voice. We’ll also pay attention to how writers put stories together through structural maneuvers and the accretion of vivid details. In our writing activities, we’ll hone our skills in developing memorable characters, evocative settings, and layered scenes to deliver the story you were meant to tell, and through our writing workshops, we will help each other refine the quality of our writing.
REL 425 Religion and Medicine
What is the relationship between religion and medicine? How has the idea of healing been influenced by religious faith, historically and philosophically? This course explores a broad range of issues at the intersection of religion and science, from the question of what counts as "proof" to the existential crises that sickness can provoke. Historical perspective is balanced with case studies and current events to show how theoretical concerns affect real-world scenarios.
SCOM 468 Patient-Provider Communication
This course prepares students to be effective communicators in the patient provider context, whether they are in the patient, or the provider role. Students will examine communication from the standpoint of the provider as well as the patient, and will learn strategies to facilitate provider-patient collaboration and shared decision-making.
Spring 2019 Electives
ENG 405 Advanced Topics in Anglophone Literature: Global Epidemics
IPE 490 Section 1 Special Topics in Health and Human Services (1 credit)
SCOM 303 Special Topics in Health Communication: Media and Health
SCOM 370 Introduction to Health Communication
An introduction to the study of the theory and practice of communication in health- and medical-related fields. Emphasis on communication interaction between professional health providers and patients/clients. Consideration of strategies that promote effective communication between health/medical professionals and patients/clients.
WRTC 426 Section 1 Special Topics in WRTC/HON 300 Section 8: Body Talk
How do culture and language affect how we conceptualize and understand how a “normal” body looks? In this seminar, we will examine the ways in which bodies are conceived, examined and understood through the lens of medical and health humanities. We will examine course topics—including gender, sexuality, race, ableism and ageism, among others—through readings drawn from personal narratives in the form of essays, stories and graphic novels. Assignments will include the composition of analytical texts, and the creation of textual and graphic medical narratives, with students free to frame their final project from a disciplinary perspective of their choosing.
Fall 2018 Electives
ANTH 395 Special Topics in Anthropology: Evolution of Health and Disease.
HIST 439 Section 1 Selected Topics in American History—Babes in Arms and Hoary Heads: Childhood, Adulthood, and Old Age in American History
SCOM 370 Introduction to Health Communication
An introduction to the study of the theory and practice of communication in health- and medical-related fields. Emphasis on communication interaction between professional health providers and patients/clients. Consideration of strategies that promote effective communication between health/medical professionals and patients/clients.
Summer 2018 Electives
IPE 490 Section 1 ISS and APP of Family Caregiving (1 credit)
Students from any major engage in service learning with clients and staff of Caregivers Community Network (CCN), a program of information, companion care, friendly visits and support for family caregivers. Students are supported through opportunities to reflect on matters of caregiving and aging. Hours are negotiated and activities are tailored to student interests and learning needs.
Spring 2018 Electives
ENG 496 Section 2: Food Writing
In this food writing workshop, food memoir, food journalism, and recipe essays take center stage as we consider the ways in which food shapes our lives. “Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are,” said seminal food writer Jean Brillat-Savarin. Through our reading and writing activities we will reflect on this bold statement and excavate our own lives for the food stories we have yet to write: stories of hunger, ritual, obsession, gluttony, connection, division, cultivation, family, friends, cooks, farmers, and much more. The works we read will offer tools for writing your own stories as well as the inspiration to claim and develop your own voice. We’ll also pay attention to how writers put stories together through structural maneuvers and the accretion of vivid details. In our writing activities, we’ll hone our skills in developing memorable characters, evocative settings, and layered scenes to deliver the story you were meant to tell, and through our writing workshops, we will help each other refine the quality of our writing.
IPE 490 Section 1 Caregivers Community Network (1 credit)
Caregivers Community Network is a collaboration between JMU and Valley Program for Aging Services. In this course, you have the opportunity to learn about and reflect on aging, caregiving, and the implications of living with dementia.
SCOM 348 Communication and Gender
Study of theories and research regarding the influence of gender in various human communication contexts, both public and private. Emphasis on the critical analysis of existing theory and empirical research and the potential competent uses of communication for social change.
SCOM 370 Introduction to Health Communication
An introduction to the study of the theory and practice of communication in health- and medical-related fields. Emphasis on communication interaction between professional health providers and patients/clients. Consideration of strategies that promote effective communication between health/medical professionals and patients/clients.
WRTC 430/SCOM 343 Disability Rhetorics
In this course, we’ll follow the changing political and social positioning of disability from the rhetorical traditions of ancient Greece through the Commonwealth of Virginia’s eugenics law to the Americans with Disabilities Act, analyzing how our shared evolution is reflected in both legal and practical terms. This content provides a foundation from which to examine the contemporary rhetorical trends in disability studies, and the techniques employed by rhetors with disabilities to make their voices heard. This course requires regular written reflection, a disability narrative book review, an analysis of a built construct (e.g. a public staircase, or a bus stop), and culminates in an accessible, on-line final project that highlights individual members’ scholarly interests.
Fall 2017 Electives
ANTH 395. Special Topics in Anthropology: Evolution of Health and Disease.
ENG/WGS 370. Queer Literature.
SOCI/GERN 280. Social Gerontology.
SCOM 413: Advanced Special Topics in Communication Studies: Health and Media.
WRTC 430. Contemporary Rhetorical Theory: The Rhetoric of Mental Healthcare.
In this course, students will become familiar with the various streams of research through which rhetoricians engage with mental illness topics, including: rhetorical critiques of technical documents such as diagnostic tools; rhetorically-framed concerns for over-diagnosis; and arguments for how best to engage the public to end stigma.