About the Program

The Medical Humanities program was founded in 2019 as a collaborative effort among faculty members in English (Casey Kayser), History (Trish Starks), Anthropology (Jonathan Marion), and Philosophy (Warren Herold). In 2020, Casey Kayser was named director of the program.

The medical humanities minor is designed to give students an overview of the ways in which various disciplines in the humanities inform, intersect with, and apply to understandings of the medical arts and sciences. The medical humanities minor is beneficial for students preparing for careers in health care, social services, and health-related fields, especially those who wish to understand how cultural, social, ethical, religious, literary, artistic, and other such perspectives can enrich conceptualizations and approaches to patient care.

Approaching medicine from a humanistic perspective will help future health care and social service practitioners view patients and individuals with greater empathy and awareness, as well as provide them with the tools to critically analyze their own experiences. The minor is also appropriate for students from disciplines within the humanities and social sciences interested in researching and practicing in such areas related to the historical, social, and cultural dynamics that have informed medical institutions and treatment; patient advocacy; medical law and ethics; narrative medicine; and art, music, or narrative therapies.