When I initially signed up for the Medical Humanities course, it was as an elective. I still needed a few more hours of credit to earn my minor, and it simply looked like a more interesting class than the others that were being offered at the time.
On the first day, after I had been given a more clear view on just what exactly “Medical Humanities” meant, I found myself more intrigued by the class. I wanted to explore what trauma and illness could do to a creative mind, and how that in turn would affect their writing. My expectations were set, and I am pleased to say that by the end of the class, they were very much met.
It wasn’t just about illness, it was about trauma both emotional and physical. And we looked into a surprisingly diverse amount of material throughout the course of the class. The Decameron talked about the effects of a pandemic (the Black Death in this case), and how society reacted to widespread illness by breaking down and splitting into bands of like-minded survivors. Works like “The Honor is Mine” spoke of personal stories of illness, which can touch not only the victim but everybody around them. This prompted discussion on how doctors and loved ones need to come together to support and listen to the afflicted, and provide the right kind of support.
We spoke of emotional trauma when reading The Rape of Lucrece, and how a single action can ruin someone psychologically. Something like rape or the death of a loved one has repercussions that spread to everybody around them, and can cause massive change. And finally, the subject of mental health came when reading “The Yellow Wallpaper.” The importance of actively working with a patient to overcome mental issues comes through very strongly when we see the repercussions of basically ignoring the problem.
It was a fascinating course overall, and the open discussions about these complex issues encouraged the sharing and spreading of ideas between the students. And the wide range of literature that we discussed always kept the conversation interesting and brought up important topics that deserved to be addressed. This class is about more than literature; it is about real life issues, and anybody that is in a similarly difficult situation would benefit from taking the course and learning how to deal with it.
On the first day, after I had been given a more clear view on just what exactly “Medical Humanities” meant, I found myself more intrigued by the class. I wanted to explore what trauma and illness could do to a creative mind, and how that in turn would affect their writing. My expectations were set, and I am pleased to say that by the end of the class, they were very much met.
It wasn’t just about illness, it was about trauma both emotional and physical. And we looked into a surprisingly diverse amount of material throughout the course of the class. The Decameron talked about the effects of a pandemic (the Black Death in this case), and how society reacted to widespread illness by breaking down and splitting into bands of like-minded survivors. Works like “The Honor is Mine” spoke of personal stories of illness, which can touch not only the victim but everybody around them. This prompted discussion on how doctors and loved ones need to come together to support and listen to the afflicted, and provide the right kind of support.
We spoke of emotional trauma when reading The Rape of Lucrece, and how a single action can ruin someone psychologically. Something like rape or the death of a loved one has repercussions that spread to everybody around them, and can cause massive change. And finally, the subject of mental health came when reading “The Yellow Wallpaper.” The importance of actively working with a patient to overcome mental issues comes through very strongly when we see the repercussions of basically ignoring the problem.
It was a fascinating course overall, and the open discussions about these complex issues encouraged the sharing and spreading of ideas between the students. And the wide range of literature that we discussed always kept the conversation interesting and brought up important topics that deserved to be addressed. This class is about more than literature; it is about real life issues, and anybody that is in a similarly difficult situation would benefit from taking the course and learning how to deal with it.