Medical Humanities, B.A.

The Medical Humanities major is designed to prepare students to succeed in diverse health-related fields and/or graduate study.  The interdisciplinary degree integrates the humanities with science-focused education, emphasizing disciplines such as philosophy, the arts, literature, history, and the social sciences for a more empathetic and holistic understanding of health and illness. The interdisciplinary nature of the degree allows students to create their own focus of study. In each path of study, students will analyze issues of health, wellness, and illness through an interdisciplinary lens and explore the historical, philosophical, artistic, and religious/spiritual backgrounds of the medical sciences. Additionally, students will synthesize the ethical and social features of health, illness, and medicine. 

All students majoring in the Medical Humanities will take a 21-semester-hour core. Two curricular concentrations are available in the Medical Humanities: students can follow the Pre-Med curriculum (44-semester hour credits), which includes broad training in the sciences in addition to humanities coursework, or they can choose to focus their studies more deeply in the humanities with the Health Humanities track (18-semester hour credits). Both options provide flexibility to students to craft a curriculum that fits their interests while still providing essential instruction in the Medical Humanities.