This course will introduce students to the Medical Humanities, an interdisciplinary research field that acknowledges questions of health and illness as related in the first place to the experience of being human, and hence deserving to be studied beyond a mere biomedical viewpoint. What can history, philosophy, art, or literature teach us about health, disease, practices, and care policies? How can humanities have an impact on medical practice and vice-versa? By analysing various sources (novels, essays, artworks, graphic novels, movies), we will examine how arts and humanities offer different ways of thinking about health, illness, healing, and care, which are complementary rather than scientific.
This book encourages readers to consider the ethical and existential issues related to the experience of disease, care of the dying, health policy, religion and health, and medical technology. Part One includes such topics as the doctor-patient relationship, the history of disease, technology, medical education, death and dying, and the health of populations. Part Two draws heavily on major works, themes, and methods in the fields of literature and the arts. Part Three uses various tools and perspectives in philosophy to clarify definitions and goals of medicine. Part Four draws on religious studies and theology to address existential and spiritual issues as well as practical and cultural issues in medicine.
Since it was first published in 1995, The Wounded Storyteller has occupied a unique place in the body of work on illness. Drawing on the work of authors such as Oliver Sacks, Anatole Broyard, Norman Cousins, and Audre Lorde, as well as from people he met during the years he spent among different illness groups, Frank recounts a stirring collection of illness stories, ranging from the well-known—Gilda Radner’s battle with ovarian cancer—to the private testimonials of people with cancer, chronic fatigue syndrome, and disabilities. Their stories are more than accounts of personal suffering: they abound with moral choices and point to a social ethic.
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