Recent decades have witnessed the emergence of illness and disability autobiographies as a unique field of literary and sociological study. Autobiographies written by individuals experiencing illness bring to the fore issues of subjectivity and embodiment, while simultaneously reflecting larger social, political, and cultural realities. This course introduces the field of illness and disability autobiography as well as prominent scholarship in this field. The primary goal of the course is to examine issues of embodiment and voice in illness narratives. The course will examine the relationship between illness and disability narratives and their familial, social, and institutional contexts. Finally, this course addresses the issue of “personal to political” narratives—illness and disability narratives as they relate to broader advocacy and activism. As narrative is both analytical and practical, this course combines theoretical articles with a variety of illness autobiographies and illness narratives. The course incorporates short weekly narratives based on a personal illness experience of a student’s own or that of a close family member or friend.
This course contributes to the Master of Science in Narrative Medicine Program.
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.
History
Subject Area
Medicine
Geographic Region
Middle Atlantic
University or College
Columbia University
Funding Status
Private
Endowment (according to NACUBO's U.S. and Canadian Institutions Listed by Fiscal Year 2020 Endowment Market Value and Change* in Endowment Market Value from FY19 to FY20) ($1,000)
11257021
Annual Tuition and Mandatory Fees 2021-2022 ($) (Resident; Non-resident, where applicable)
63530
Course Title
Illness and Disability Narratives: Embodiment, Community, Activism
Terminal Degree of Instructor(s)
MD/MPH
Position of Instructor(s)
Senior Lecturer in the Discipline of Narrative Medicine
Academic Year(s) Active
2021/22; course is likely to be longer running, but no archives available.