General Approved Courses

Medical Humanities 1: Health, Wellness, and Conception of the Body.
This interdisciplinary course asks, what is health and who gets to have it? What is considered a “healthy” or “sick” body? We analyze historical and contemporary experiences of illness, medicine, and caregiving, including how patients represent their bodies and healing.

Medical Humanities 3:  Art and Medicine.
Art and Medicine analyzes the relationship between medicine and the visual arts from the late medieval to modern periods, covering topics such as anatomy, optical medical technologies, gender and race in medicine, and popular representations of disease and doctors.

Classics 10: Science and Specialized Terminology.
A study of English terms derived from Greek and Latin and important to contemporary medicine, science, and other professions, with emphasis on development of word-building skills. No prior knowledge of Greek or Latin required.

Dance 3: Scientific Concepts of Health.
Introduction to the scientific foundations of health, emphasizing those pertaining to success in college and lifetime wellness. Includes principles of cardiorespiratory, musculoskeletal, flexibility, and nutritional fitness. A variety of learning experiences will be offered to apply science to real life.

Gender and Sexuality Studies 60A: Gender and Science.
Examines science from a variety of feminist viewpoints in order to explore how science influences everyday life. Special attention is given to the ways science shapes our understanding of gender, race, and sexuality.

Gender and Sexuality Studies 110D: The Politics of Health and Medicine.
Focuses on cultural and political-economic analysis and representations of disease both within the U.S. and globally.

Philosophy 4: Introduction to Ethics.
Selected topics from the history of ethics, e.g., the nature of the good life and the moral justification of conduct.

Philosophy 5: Contemporary Moral Problems.
Selected moral issues of current interest, e.g., abortion, sexual morality, euthanasia, capital punishment, reverse discrimination, civil disobedience, or violence.

Philos 121A: Medical Epistemology. 
Analysis of epistemological issues concerning medical research and health care. Topics may include medical evidence, transmission of medical knowledge, medical expertise, the epistemology of medical disagreement, classification of illnesses, well-being, philosophy of pain, and medical decision making.

Philosophy 131C: Medical Ethics.
Analysis of moral issues concerning health care. Topics may include: just allocation of scarce medical resources, the doctor/patient relationship, genetic engineering, surrogate motherhood, abortion, euthanasia, or social policy concerning AIDS.

Medical Humanities 195: Capstone Seminar: The Clinical Moral Laboratory.
Interdisciplinary exploration of the clinical encounter, and the importance of meaning making in these “moral laboratories.” Students will enter the clinical space as participant observers, and reflect on how the clinical site informs and challenges reading practices.