Major Requirements

Health and medical humanities major requirments


General Education (37-43 credit hours)


For details on required courses, refer to the General Education Program.

Foreign Language Requirement (6-8 credit hours)


For details on required courses, refer to the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Foreign Language Requirement .

Major Courses (36 credit hours)


Introductory Course (3 credit hours)

Health/Medical Humanities is an interdisciplinary field that uses humanistic perspectives to understand health and healthcare. The humanities have the potential to teach us about the embodied human experience, including suffering, healing, well-being, and flourishing. As an introduction to the Minor in Health/Medical Humanities, this course employs a holistic and integrated understanding of what it means to be human, in contrast to what has been called “biomedical reductionism.” Introduces health and the body through multiple ways of knowing; students experience a holistic, “whole-body” approach to understanding the body. Moving through embodied knowing, heartful knowing, narrative knowing, critical knowing, cultural knowing, collaborative knowing, contemplative knowing, aesthetic knowing, empathetic knowing, social knowing, ethical knowing, and systematic knowing, students are moved through narrative, arts-based, humanities, social science, and dialogic ways of thinking to intentionally and variously use stories, poems, mediated images, cultural artifacts, and artwork; physical sensations and emotions; knowledge of culture, history, and society; and contemplation and dialogue to contribute to deep sensemaking and critical examination of what it means to be an embodied human.

Research Methods Course (3 credit hours)

An overview of qualitative and quantitative methods that are commonly used across academic disciplines and in interdisciplinary research. Examines epistemological considerations that go into crafting an original research question, developing an appropriate research design, and critically analyzing evidence. These include exploring philosophical worldviews, reviewing relevant literature, understanding the relationship between theory and methods, considering ethical issues, and assessing the reliability of data. By studying methods across academic fields, students learn to engage with a broad range of existing scholarship and build a foundation for conducting their own interdisciplinary research.

Capstone (3 credit hours)

Students work independently with their advisor or other approved faculty member to create a specialized project emphasizing the student’s cumulative academic experience across the Health/Medical Humanities minor and other related coursework. Coursework typically includes portfolio preparation, a written report, and an oral report.

Elective Courses (9 credit hours)

Select from the following. If selecting a Topics Course from the list of electives below (e.g., AFRS 2050, AMST 3050), prior approval for the topic is required by the Program Director of Health & Medical Humanities.

Disciplinary Depth Coursework (18 credit hours)


Select 18 credit hours in a disciplinary field of study that complements your concentration. This may be a minor in a disciplinary department or an alternative course of study approved by the Director of Interdisciplinary Studies. A maximum of two courses (6 hours) from a student’s disciplinary depth coursework can count toward the electives in their Interdisciplinary Studies concentration, allowing completion of the major in 30 credit hours with proper planning. No more than two courses (6 hours) from another declared major can count toward the student’s Interdisciplinary Studies major.

Unrestricted Elective Courses


As needed to complete the credit hours required for graduation.

Degree Total = 120 Credit Hours


Progression Requirements


Students must maintain a minimum GPA of 2.0 to continue in the major.