Literature, Arts and Healing, Harvard University

This course will expose students to "biocultural" narratives of illness, in contrast to standard medical training's pervasive "biomedical" approach. We'll consider whether identifying and addressing conflicts in these distinct narratives may yield more effective patient-doctor communication, improved patient perceptions of care and better health outcomes, and increased student satisfaction with medical training experiences. We'll examine the impact of psychosocial/cross-cultural factors on illness experience and health outcomes, developing tools for measuring effects of creative self-expression on health outcomes in patients and on the educational experience of medical trainees, through fostering personal growth, tolerance of diversity, and deeper commitment to service. Readings from poetry and prose by Sontag, Morris, Lorde, Kincaid, Price, Woolf, W.C. Williams. Viewing of artworks by Matuschka, Crandall, Gimour, Dugdale, Corbat. Review of scientific papers from medical journals, public health information pamphlets, patient-advocacy magazines (eg. Poz, Mamm). Evaluation: 2 analytical essays on the literary texts, artworks, and /or scientific articles; 2 creative pieces engaging themes of empathy, compassion, cultural difference, and illness. This course is elective, 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.