Exploring Illness Narratives, University of Pennsylvania (Perelman)

Illness is a call for stories, and stories are central to the practice of medicine. People who are sick, and people who care for the sick, become tellers and listeners of narratives whether they realize it or not. Narrative Medicine seeks to fortify our clinical practice with the capacity to recognize, attend to, honor, and be moved by those stories. To that end, we will learn to mobilize the skills of attention, interpretation, and analysis of narratives that can help us become more capable, compassionate, and astute caregivers. This interactive, discussion-based course was designed collaboratively by PSOM and humanities faculty at the University of Pennsylvania to introduce the principles and practice of Narrative Medicine by engaging with some of the foundational texts of the field, as well as by reading and discussing prose, poetry, and other kinds of texts that tell stories of health and illness. The sessions are themed around some of the core emotions experienced by clinicians and patients alike as we encounter together the depth and ambiguity of clinical care. Students will be encouraged (though not required) to write and share their writing in this course. UPenn does not currently offer any FOR-CREDIT courses that rely on narratives for teaching. In other words, courses that are firmly in the arts and humanities are all electives, NON-credit. This course is non-credit-bearing. This information has been collected for the Post-Discipline Online Syllabus Database. The database explores the use of literature by schools of professional education in North America. It forms part of a larger project titled Post-Discipline: Literature, Professionalism, and the Crisis of the Humanities, led by Dr Merve Emre with the assistance of Dr Hayley G. Toth. You can find more information about the project at https://postdiscipline.english.ox.ac.uk/. Data was collected and accurate in 2021/22.