Medical Humanities PhD emphasis
The Graduate Emphasis in Medical Humanities is a formal component of graduate studies at the University of California, Irvine, in addition to the fulfillment of requirements towards the Ph.D., M.F.A., or M.A. degree in an array of fields in the Schools of Arts, Humanities and Medicine. The Emphasis allows students to gain interdisciplinary knowledge about the study of illness, health, healthcare and the body.
Requirements: Minimum course work for the graduate emphasis in Medical Humanities consists of three courses in consultation with the Graduate Emphasis director. Students can count courses taken to fulfill their departmental requirements toward their emphasis, if said courses are comprised of pertinent material and art approved by the Graduate Emphasis director. One of the three courses has to be core Med Hum 200. An upper-division undergraduate course with supplemental graduate level work after consultation with the instructor and the director can count toward the emphasis. For more information, please visit the catalog: http://catalogue.uci.edu/schoolofhumanities/specialprograms/medicalhumanities_emphasis/
Requirements: Minimum course work for the graduate emphasis in Medical Humanities consists of three courses in consultation with the Graduate Emphasis director. Students can count courses taken to fulfill their departmental requirements toward their emphasis, if said courses are comprised of pertinent material and art approved by the Graduate Emphasis director. One of the three courses has to be core Med Hum 200. An upper-division undergraduate course with supplemental graduate level work after consultation with the instructor and the director can count toward the emphasis. For more information, please visit the catalog: http://catalogue.uci.edu/schoolofhumanities/specialprograms/medicalhumanities_emphasis/
Professor Emily Baum (emily.baum@uci.edu) will take over as Director for the 21-22 academic year. Please feel free to contact Professor Baum if you have any questions.
Admission
Applicants must first be admitted to, or currently enrolled in, a Ph.D. program or state-supported Master’s program and submit an application form to the director of the emphasis. The application should include a signature of approval from the student’s advisor or program director.
PhD Emphasis Medical Humanities 2021-2022
Fall 2021:
Philosophy 131C - contact the professor to enroll for graduate credit
Medical Ethics
Prof. Brianne Donaldson
The last fifty years of scientific knowledge and technological developments have led to numerous ethical dilemmas that neither medicine nor law alone can adequately address. The emergence of biomedical ethics strains to fill this gap, confronting crucial new questions such as how to define life and death, how to allocate limited resources, how to justify research harms, and issues of social disparity and justice. This course will provide students the philosophical foundations of western normative ethics, with some reference to feminist ethics and non-western views. During the term, we will practice utilizing these ethical tools to examine cases related to: autonomy and confidentiality, pharmaceutical clinical trials, research on animals, reproductive technologies, and end-of-life decisions.
Anthropology 289G
Critical Medical Anthropology
Prof. Sherine Hamdy
This graduate seminar will offer an overview of contemporary theoretical and ethnographic approaches to illness and healing in different settings, while also studying the political economic distribution of risks that contribute to disease. Major themes include the anthropology of trauma, political ecological contexts of illness, and the uneven practices and effects of biomedicine throughout the world. We will also critically interrogate biomedicine's promise to reduce suffering by asking: how is suffering defined, whose suffering is acknowledged, and at what costs does global biomedicine aim to reduce suffering? We will be reading contemporary ethnographies in medical anthropology that speak to broader audiences, and pay attention to how we can translate medical anthropological insights more broadly.
Philosophy 131C - contact the professor to enroll for graduate credit
Medical Ethics
Prof. Brianne Donaldson
The last fifty years of scientific knowledge and technological developments have led to numerous ethical dilemmas that neither medicine nor law alone can adequately address. The emergence of biomedical ethics strains to fill this gap, confronting crucial new questions such as how to define life and death, how to allocate limited resources, how to justify research harms, and issues of social disparity and justice. This course will provide students the philosophical foundations of western normative ethics, with some reference to feminist ethics and non-western views. During the term, we will practice utilizing these ethical tools to examine cases related to: autonomy and confidentiality, pharmaceutical clinical trials, research on animals, reproductive technologies, and end-of-life decisions.
Anthropology 289G
Critical Medical Anthropology
Prof. Sherine Hamdy
This graduate seminar will offer an overview of contemporary theoretical and ethnographic approaches to illness and healing in different settings, while also studying the political economic distribution of risks that contribute to disease. Major themes include the anthropology of trauma, political ecological contexts of illness, and the uneven practices and effects of biomedicine throughout the world. We will also critically interrogate biomedicine's promise to reduce suffering by asking: how is suffering defined, whose suffering is acknowledged, and at what costs does global biomedicine aim to reduce suffering? We will be reading contemporary ethnographies in medical anthropology that speak to broader audiences, and pay attention to how we can translate medical anthropological insights more broadly.
210 A - Cultural & Historical Precedents for Latinos & Medical Care
Professor Belinda Campos
This course introduces the student to the history, culture, and social relations of Latinos/as in the United States as it pertains to health and medicine. The course begins with an examination of biomedicine as a cultural system and a critical examination of “cultural competence” to analytically situate the rest of the course material. Historical eras surveyed in the class include pre-Colombian life, the colonial period, and contemporary aspects of Latin American societies. Issues examined include identity and race/ethnicity, gender relations, family dynamics and social structure, and social incorporation, especially of the children of immigrants. In addition, the class will examine alternative healers, non-biomedical illnesses common to Latin Americans and Latinos, and the institutionalization of medicine.
Professor Belinda Campos
This course introduces the student to the history, culture, and social relations of Latinos/as in the United States as it pertains to health and medicine. The course begins with an examination of biomedicine as a cultural system and a critical examination of “cultural competence” to analytically situate the rest of the course material. Historical eras surveyed in the class include pre-Colombian life, the colonial period, and contemporary aspects of Latin American societies. Issues examined include identity and race/ethnicity, gender relations, family dynamics and social structure, and social incorporation, especially of the children of immigrants. In addition, the class will examine alternative healers, non-biomedical illnesses common to Latin Americans and Latinos, and the institutionalization of medicine.
211A – Latinos/Latinas and Medical Care: Contemporary Issues
Professor Alana LeBron
This course introduces the student to contemporary issues relevant to the medical care of U.S. Latinas/os from the perspective of interdisciplinary social and behavioral science. Like the 2nd year class, the course begins with a refresher examination of biomedicine as a cultural system and a critical examination of “cultural competence” to analytically situate the rest of the course material. Issues covered throughout the course include the role of power in health care access, immigration, social relationships and health, gender, reproduction, culture, social structure, and political economy. Discussion will be focused on analyzing how the experience of health and illness is shaped by these factors and, consequently, how Latinas/os are interpreted and constructed through the lens of medicine.
Winter 22:
Philos 221 - Medical Epistemology
Professor Bernecker
Analysis of epistemological issues concerning medical research and healthcare. Topics may include medical evidence, transmission of medical knowledge in the doctor-patient interaction, medical expertise, epistemology of medical disagreement, classification of illness, well-being, philosophy of pain, or medical decision making.
Philos 221 - Medical Epistemology
Professor Bernecker
Analysis of epistemological issues concerning medical research and healthcare. Topics may include medical evidence, transmission of medical knowledge in the doctor-patient interaction, medical expertise, epistemology of medical disagreement, classification of illness, well-being, philosophy of pain, or medical decision making.
Same as LPS 221A.
Restriction: Graduate students only.
Restriction: Graduate students only.
210 B - Cultural & Historical Precedent for Latinos & Medical Care
Professor Belinca Campos
This course introduces the student to the history, culture, and social relations of Latinos/as in the United States as it pertains to health and medicine. The course begins with an examination of biomedicine as a cultural system and a critical examination of “cultural competence” to analytically situate the rest of the course material. Historical eras surveyed in the class include pre-Colombian life, the colonial period, and contemporary aspects of Latin American societies. Issues examined include identity and race/ethnicity, gender relations, family dynamics and social structure, and social incorporation, especially of the children of immigrants. In addition, the class will examine alternative healers, non-biomedical illnesses common to Latin Americans and Latinos, and the institutionalization of medicine.
211B – Latinos/Latinas and Medical Care: Contemporary Issues
Professor Alana LeBron
This course introduces the student to contemporary issues relevant to the medical care of U.S. Latinas/os from the perspective of interdisciplinary social and behavioral science. Like the 2nd year class, the course begins with a refresher examination of biomedicine as a cultural system and a critical examination of “cultural competence” to analytically situate the rest of the course material. Issues covered throughout the course include the role of power in health care access, immigration, social relationships and health, gender, reproduction, culture, social structure, and political economy. Discussion will be focused on analyzing how the experience of health and illness is shaped by these factors and, consequently, how Latinas/os are interpreted and constructed through the lens of medicine.