Medical Humanities certificate

The Medical Humanities Certificate bridges the gap between biomedicine and the cultural aspects of health by uncovering the ways that social and political structures shape experiences of illness and disability and even determine healthcare access and outcomes. The certificate trains students to mobilize skills from the liberal arts to scrutinize complex issues within the natural sciences and medicine. Such an interdisciplinary approach produces healthcare practitioners better prepared to grapple with the ethical complexities of modern medicine and, crucially, to communicate such intricacy to diverse stakeholders. By learning to apply the humanistic skills of interpretation, reflection, and subjectivity to subjects of medicine, students will enhance their ability to evaluate sources, analyze evidence, and formulate arguments. These skills are instrumental for developing fact literacy and combating the ongoing erosion of public trust in science, all of which are essential and necessary skills for competitive job candidates.

Requirements

15 hours, including 9 advanced.

Required course

  • HIST 3020 - Introduction to the Medical Humanities

 

Plus four courses (12 hours), including but not limited to, the following:

  • ANTH 4200 - Health, Healing and Culture: Medical Anthropology
  • ANTH 4220 - Anthropology in Public Health
  • COMM 3220 - Health Communication  (requires COMM 2020 as a prerequisite)
  • ENGL 3110 - Writing and Rhetoric in the Humanities
  • ENGL 4630 - Studies in Literature and Medicine
  • GEOG 3120 - Medical Geography
  • GEOG 4580 - GIS in Health
  • HIST 3021 - History of Medicine, 1400 to Present
  • HIST 3407 - Fitness Culture in U.S. History
  • HIST 4405 - History of the Body
  • HIST 4406 - Sickness and Health in U.S. History
  • JOUR 4212 - Science, Health and Environmental Reporting
  • PHIL 3160 - Philosophy of Death and Dying
  • PHIL 3250 - Philosophy of Science
  • PHIL 3440 - Bioethics
  • SOCI 3120 - Sociology of Health and Illness
  • SPAN 3550 - Spanish for the Medical Professions I  (requires SPAN 2050 as a prerequisite)

SPAN 3560 - Spanish for the Medical Professions II  (requires SPAN 3550 as a prerequisite)