3.0

credits

Average Course Rating

What does it mean to be ill in America? How has the experience of illness in America changed across time and space, from the early 19th century to the present day, from the home, to the hospital, from the community clinic to the rural frontier? How might illness experience be different for Americans across the race, gender, and sexual orientation spectrums? How do medical providers and other caregivers relate to illness, sickness, suffering, and death? In this class we will approach these, and other questions regarding illness through a variety of methodological lenses, including literature, anthropology, sociology, and history. This course will encourage students to think critically about how trends in the history of medicine such as the rise and fall of American public hospital medicine, the regulation and standardization of medical education, improved and expanded medical technologies, and changing attitudes towards childbirth, death, and dying have impacted patient and provider experiences. Throughout the course, students will also take three field trips—to the Ronald McDonald House of Maryland, Johns Hopkins Hospital, and Gilchrist Hospice—and learn from special guests who have experienced particular illnesses as patients or providers. At least one prior course in History of Medicine is recommended but not required.