Medical humanities is an emerging field that uses the methods of humanistic inquiry to engage the discourses of medicine, health, and medical science. This minor is based in the Department of English and draws on many other departments in Arts and Science. For all students, a medical humanities approach offers modes of scholarly inquiry and possibilities for reflection on the complex interplay of biology, narrative, and human history. This multidisciplinary discourse provides ways of considering and reconsidering illness, health, healing, trauma, birth, death, and disability, and offers new ways of looking at history, society, literature and culture, and technology. The field is energized by scholarly research and pedagogical approaches designed to enrich professional training in medical and health careers and encourage self-reflection and emotional support for medical students and practitioners. Through the medical humanities, we explore perspectives on human bodies and what becomes of them, and also how human minds formulate and tell those stories individually and collectively.
The minor also provides an opportunity for students to study with a wide array of Arts and Science faculty whose research interests examine medicine through the lenses of the humanities, arts, and social sciences. While taking courses at a global site is not a requirement, the minor in Medical Humanities includes a global studies component that enables students to make academic progress on the minor while participating in a study-away experience.
Minor Declaration
To declare a minor in Medical Humanities, contact the director of the minor, Prof. Perri Klass (perri.klass@nyu.edu) or the administrator for the Medical Humanities minor (medhum@nyu.edu).
Program Requirements
The minor in Medical Humanities requires four 4-credit courses (16 credits) completed with a grade of C or better (courses graded Pass/Fail do not count). Two of these courses are required, and two are chosen from a list of approved electives. While this list is fairly comprehensive, students with questions about an elective that is not listed may reach out to medhum@nyu.edu. One of the four courses may be taken outside of the College of Arts and Science in another division of New York University; the minor’s steering committee may, from time to time, add non-CAS courses to the list of approved electives.
Students may either double count one course as an elective for this minor and a College Core Curriculum requirement or double count one course between this minor and a second minor or a major. They may not do both. Petitions to double count more than one course for other majors or minors will be considered by special permission of the director of the minor in Medical Humanities.