Honors Medical Humanities Concentration: Arts, Humanities, and Science (HMH/AHS)
Students must earn a "C" or better in each course taken to fulfill a concentration requirement.
Advisory Board:
Dorotha Lemeh
Michael Harrawood
Jacqueline Fewkes
Rachel Corr
Julie Earles
Ashley Kennedy
Wairimu Njambi
Bill O'Brien
Miguel Vazquez
Laura Vernon
Healthcare professionals (physicians, nurses, psychotherapists, occupational therapists, biomedical engineers, language pathologists, etc.) must be able to relate to patients on a human level - morally, by being sympathetic or empathetic; interpersonally, by being able to elicit appropriate responses and communicate effectively; and creatively, in their ability to analyze patients' symptoms and conditions to effectively diagnose and recommend treatment. The Wilkes Honors College's undergraduate concentration in Medical Humanities is predicated on the notion that these skills should be developed and honed throughout a students' academic career prior to entering the health care profession. As an undergraduate, interdisciplinary program, the Medical Humanities concentration is founded on the notion that a pre-med or healthcare curriculum can be enhanced by integrating into those curriculum elements of the arts, humanities, and sciences that provide valuable insight into human nature, the human condition, the nature of understanding, and creative discovery. For this reason, the Honors College interprets the Medical Humanities broadly to include, and indeed require, multiple disciplines of study. Such a broad-based education assists students in becoming more observant and reflective, and trains them in multiple methodologies, all of which help to promote integrity, ethics, and humane, holistic approaches to public health and healthcare.
The Honors concentration in Medical Humanities provides students a pathway to medical school and the healthcare profession. This undergraduate concentration supports the analytical approaches based on reason and method used in the sciences and encourages creative problem solving methods, intuitive thinking, and other methods of learning and discovery which facilitate understanding and communication.
While a significant number of programs in Medical Humanities offered at other Universities focus on medical ethics, the WHC Medical Humanities takes ethics as a component of the program, but not the primary contribution from the Humanities. This program requires students to engage in multiple forms of analysis and critique from the perspectives of multiple academic disciplines, such as anthropology, biology, chemistry, creative writing, economics, environmental studies, history, law, literature, philosophy, political science, visual arts, and women's studies. Through a trans-disciplinary approach, students are better able to recognize, identify, and engage the various ways in which understanding (in the form of narratives, patterns, correlations, causal connections, etc.) occurs. Students in this concentration also develop skills in analyzing the source of organizing structures that inform our understanding, and the effects of those structures on individuals, culture, and society. Though students pursue courses relevant to their career interests, a core curriculum, which is inclusive of all the disciplines, serves as the foundation of the the Medical Humanities Concentration: Arts, Humanities, and Science.
The Medical Humanities concentration was spearheaded by the efforts of Professor Dorotha Lemeh (Art) and Dr. Amy McLaughlin (philosophy).
Summary of Medical Humanities: Arts, Humanities, Science Requirements:
| Honors Introductory Courses in Arts, Humanities, and Science | 3 courses; 7 credits* |
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Additional Courses: |
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Honors Courses in Related Disciplines: |
5 courses; 11-19 credits |
| Honors Thesis | 6 credits |
| Honors Internship or Study Abroad (See graduation requirements) | |
| Total Credits | 42-53 credits |
*A 1 credit IDS course in Arts, Humanities, and Science is planned to be offered in the future as one of the 3 introductory courses. Until it is offered, the requirement of introductory courses is 2 courses, 6 credits.
For Pre-Med Students:
Admission into medical school requires additional coursework that will increase the number of credit hours needed. See pre-med requirements.
Pre-med students may take 4 courses towards their General Education requirements:
BSC 1010/L (4 credits); CHM 2045/L (4 credits); MAC 2311 (4 credits); MAC 2312 (4 credits)*
Additionally, pre-med students need to take the following courses for entrance into medical school:
MAC 2312 (4 credits)*; CHM 2046/L (4 credits); CHM 2210 (3) and CHM 2204L (1); CHM 2211 (3) and CHM 2205L (1); PHY 2048/L (5); PHY 2049/L (5); and 4 additional Biology credits (such as BSC 2084/L).
Some medical schools may also require BCH 3033/L (4). Students may also want to take PCB 3063 (4) and PCB 4102 (4).
In sum, pre-med students will need to take at least 26 credits and as many as 38 credits beyond courses taken for the General Education and Medical Humanities Concentration requirements.
Pre-med students will be taking between 68-91 credits in order to fulfill concentration and pre-med requirements.
*For students who enter with college credit for Pre-Calculus and MAC 2311, MAC 2312 would be an additional 4 credits.
For more information about the Wilkes Medical Scholars Program visit http://www.fau.edu/divdept/honcol/admissions_med.htm
"For the physician, knowledge comes from without, and from education and study, enabling him to help patients. Wisdom, on the other hand, is an introverted element of the doctor's psyche, coming from within... and it is what makes him look not at the disease, but at the bearer of the disease. It is what creates the link that united the healer with his patient, and the exercise of which makes him a true physician, a true healer, a true child of Hermes. It is Wisdom that tells the physician how to make the patient a partner in his own cure. Instead of calling them Knowledge and Wisdom, let us call them Science and Humanism" -Novelist Robertson Davies in a 1994 Gilman Lecture at the Johns Hopkins Medical School.
Select 2 courses from the following list:
| Course # | Course Name | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| ANT 1933 | Honors Introduction to Physical Anthropology | 3 |
| ANT 2000 | Honors Introduction to Anthropology | 3 |
| ART 1014 | Honors Elements of Visual Thinking | 3 |
| EVR 2001 | Honors Introduction to Environmental Science | 3 |
| PHI 1008 | Honors Perspectives on Science | 3 |
| PHI 1993 | Honors Bioethics | 3 |
| PHM 1002 | Honors Human Nature | 3 |
| SYP 3401 | Honors Introduction to Cultural Studies | 3 |
| WST 3015 | Honors Introduction to Women's Studies | 3 |
Substitutions may be made with approval of the concentration advisory board.
II. Additional Coursework in the Arts, Humanities, and Sciences (AHS) (6 courses, 18-21 credits)
Students take 3 courses listed under Visual and Literary Narratives, and 3 courses listed under Ethics, Law, and Philosophy. Other courses may be counted toward this requirement only with the approval of the concentration advisory board.
Note: Only some of the courses listed below may be available any given semester. In addition, new courses appropriate to the Medical Humanities concentration may be added from time to time.
a) Narratives: Auditory, Visual, and Literary
Select 3 courses from the following list:
| Course # | Course Name | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| ARH 2701 | Honors Still and Moving Images | 3 |
| ARH 4930 | Honors Inventing Beauty | 3 |
| ART 1300C | Honors Drawing I | 3 |
| ART 2330C | Honors Drawing II: The Figure | 4 |
| ART 2824C | Honors Painting as Narrative | 3 |
| ART 3255C | Honors Scientific Illustration | 4 |
| ART 3383C | Honors Narrative Drawing | 4 |
| ART 3617C | Honors Animating the Graphic Novel | 4 |
| ART 4641C | Honors Contemporary Art, Gender, and Technology | 3 |
| ART 4934C | Honors Multimedial Narrative Expressions in Art | 3 |
| ART 4934C | Honors Special Topics in Art | 4 |
| AML 4310 | Honors Major American Writers | 3 |
| AML 4640 | Honors Native American Literature | 3 |
| AML 4640 | Honors Women in Literature | 3 |
| AML 4603 | Honors African American Literature | 3 |
| CRW 3010 | Honors Creative Writing | 3 |
| CRW 4930 | Honors Special Topics in Creative Writing | 3 |
| ENL 3432 | Honors Science, Alchemy, & Magic: England | 3 |
| ENL 4114 | Honors Literature and Film | 3 |
| ENL 4930 | Honors Death and the Victorians | 3 |
| IDS 2721C | Honors Graphic Narrative | 3 |
| LIT 1933 | Honors Comedy and the Devil | 3 |
| LIT 1933 | Honors Literature of War | 3 |
| LIT 2010 | Honors Interpretation of Fiction | 3 |
| LIT 2030 | Honors Interpretation of Poetry | 3 |
| LIT 2040 | Honors Interpretation of Drama | 3 |
| LIT 3432 | Honors Magic, Art, and Alchemy | 3 |
| LIT 3361 | Honors Postmodern Literature | 3 |
| MUS 1933 | Honors Music and Gender | 3 |
| PHI 3272 | Honors Media Philosophy | 3 |
| SYP 4803 | Honors Gender and Technology | 3 |
| Total | 3 courses | 9-12 credits |
*The following courses may also be counted as 'Narratives' courses and are regularly taught at Boca and Davie campuses of FAU: ART 1300C, ART 2330C, & ART 3383C.
b) Theoretical Systems: Ethics, Law, and Philosophy
Select 3 courses from the following list:
| Course # | Course Name | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| PHI 1933 | Honors Bioethics | 3 |
| PHI 2361 | Honors Ways of Knowing | 3 |
| PHI 2642 | Honors Ethics of Social Diversity | 3 |
| PHI 3644 | Honors Obligations | 3 |
| PHI 3670 | Honors Ethical Theory | 3 |
| PHI 4804 | Honors Critical Theory | 3 |
| PHI 4930 | Philosophy of Science | 3 |
| PHI 4930 | Knowledge and Reality | 3 |
| PHI 4930 | Honors Medical Philosophy | 3 |
| PHM 1002 | Honors Human Nature | 3 |
| POS 2041 | Honors Government of the U.S. | 3 |
| POS 2692 | Honors Punishment | 3 |
| POS 3626 | Honors Privacy | 3 |
| POS 3691 | Honors Law and American Society | 3 |
| POS 4603 | Honors Constitutional Law 1 | 3 |
| POS 4604 | Honors Constitutional Law 2 | 3 |
| POT 3021 | Honors History of Political Theory | 3 |
| SYD 4792 | Honors Race, Gender, Class, Sexuality, and Science | 3 |
| SYP 4303 | Honors Sex Panics in History and Society | 3 |
| WST 4504 | Honors Feminist Theory | 3 |
| Total | 3 courses | 9 credits |
III. Social Sciences, Health, and Global Learning Courses in Related Disciplines (5 courses, 11-19 credits)
Gender, History, Literature, and Social Science
| Course # | Course Name | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| AMH 3630 | Honors American Environmental History | 3 |
| ANT 1933 | Honors Introduction to Physical Anthropology | 3 |
| ANT 2000 | Honors Introduction to Anthropology | 3 |
| ANT 2240 | Honors Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion | 3 |
| ANT 2410 | Honors Culture and Society | 3 |
| ANT 3212 | Honors Peoples Around the World | 3 |
| ANT 3332 | Honors Peoples of Latin America | 3 |
| ANT 4242 | Honors Ritual and Symbol | 3 |
| ANT 4930 | Honors Visual Ethnography | 3 |
| ARH 4930 | Honors Special Topics in Art History | 3 |
| ART 4841C | Honors The Body in Art | 4 |
| CLP 4144 |
Honors Psychopathology (Abnormal Psychology) |
3 |
| CLP 4314 | Honors Health Psychology | 3 |
| EXP 3403 | Honors Sensation and Perception | 3 |
| GEO 3402 | Honors Human Geography | 3 |
| HUM 3320 | Honors Cont. Multicultural Studies | 3 |
| IDS 2931 | Honors Representation: Ideas & Art | 1 |
| IDS 2931 | Honors Visual Storytelling | 3 |
| IDS 3932 | Honors Psychological Disorders in Film | 3 |
| IDS 3932L | Honors Interdisciplinary Critical Inquiry Lab Seminar | 3 |
| IDS 4114 | Honors Latin American Religion in Transition | 1 |
| IDS 4930 | Honors Critical Theory and Media | 3 |
| IDS 4933 | Honors Hijab: Women and Boundaries | 3 |
| IDS 4933 | Honors Good and Evil in Film and Literature | 3 |
| IDS 4933 | Honors How and Why we Age | 3 |
| PSB 3340H | Honors Behavioral Neuroscience | 3 |
| PSB 3344H | Honors Drugs and Behavior | 3 |
| PSY 1012 | Honors General Psychology | 3 |
| PSY 4930 | Honors Psychotherapy Systems | 3 |
| SOP 3742 | Honors Psychology of Women | 3 |
| SPN 1933 | Honors Spanish for Medical Students | 3 |
| SPN 4930 | Honors Lit. and Medicine: Disease Constructs in PR | 3 |
| WST 3015 | Honors Women Studies | 3 |
| WST 4563 | Honors Representation of Female Bodies | 3 |
Economics, Environment, and Political Science
| Course # | Course Name | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| AML 3452 | Honors Environmental Imaginatio in American Lit & Culture | 3 |
| AMS 4332 | Honors Violence in the United States | 3 |
| ART 3385C | Honors Anatomy for the Artist & Illustrator | 3 |
| ART 3840C | Honors Environmental Art | 4 |
| ART 4256C | Honors Scientific Illustration II | 4 |
| ART 4934C | Honors Special Topics in Art | 4 |
| BSC 1011 | Honors Biodiversity | 3 |
| BSC 1933 | Honors Ecology of Atlantic Shores | 3 |
| ECO 4932 | Honors Special Topics in Economics | 3 |
| EVR 2001 | Honors Introduction to Environmental Science | 3 |
| EVR 2017 | Honors Environment and Society | 3 |
| EVS 3403 | Honors Global Environmental Issues | 3 |
| GIS 3053 | Honors Interdisciplinary Geographical Info Systems | 3 |
| IDS 2931 | H. History, Politics, Civilization, and Culture in Latin America | 3 |
| IDS 3930 | Honors Special Topics in Interdisciplinary Study | 3 |
| IDS 3932 | Honors Ethics in Business, Government, and Society | 3 |
| IDS 3932 | Honors (ICIS) Social Entrepreneurship | 3 |
| PCB 3351, 3351L | Honors Topical Rainforest and Lab | 3 |
| SPT 2530 | Honors Hispanic Culture and Civilization | 3 |
Nutrition, Health, and Technology
| Course # | Course Name | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| IDS 2931 | Honors Meaning of Food | 3 |
| IDS 4930 | Honors Technology and Culture | 3 |
| PSB 3344H | Honors Drugs and Behavior | 3 |
| SPN 4930 | Honors Lit. and Medicine: Disease Constructs in PR | 3 |
| WST 4563 | Honors Representation of Female Bodies | 3 |
IV. Honors Thesis
IDS 4970: Honors Thesis (6 credits):
A written thesis constitutes an honors thesis in the Medical Humanities Concentration. The thesis will integrate the student's studies and demonstrate her/his understanding of key areas of inquiry and its application in selected areas of study, as well as his/her readiness to pursue graduate study. The thesis will be written under the direction of a thesis committee consisting of a primary and second reader, and defended orally. Traditional textual formats as well as digital media may be employed.
Students are reminded that they must have 45 credits of upper level (3000 or 4000 level) coursework to graduate.