Overview

The Health Humanities Track in the Master of Humanities program is especially designed for graduate students who are interested in this relevant and contemporary multi- and interdisciplinary field. Health Humanities teaches students the ways in which humanities disciplines interrogate relationships among health, medicine and society and what those disciplines reveal about biomedical knowledge as well as healthcare policies and practices. It provides focused studies of medicine, health and healthcare through disciplines such as history, ethics, literature, media studies, cultural studies, critical disability studies, bioethics and philosophy, and the visual arts, paying particular attention to power relationships within health care, such as patient-doctor relationships, and categories of difference, such as gender and race. It provides a deep exploration of the diverse and powerful representations of the human experience of illness, suffering, disability and death.

 Target Audience

This track will invite a range of students interested in careers related to health care professions. It is especially relevant for students with interests in pursuing degrees and/or doctoral work in related fields such as bioethics; health communication; history of medicine; literature / narrative medicine; and critical disability studies. Areas of application for a Health Humanities Track include the three principal domains of the health professions--research, clinical practice, and education--as well as healthcare settings such as clinics, hospitals and outreach/advocacy groups. It also includes non-profit community-based organizations focused on health and healing through the arts; arts and health administration, research and education; and finally, publication.

Suggested Advisors

English: Dr. Gillian Silverman 
History: Dr. Marjorie Levine-Clark
MH/MSS Assistant Director: Dr. Lorna Hutchison
Communication: Dr. Lisa Keranen
WGST Director: Dr. Sarah Hagelin
Center for Bioethics and Humanities, Anschutz Campus: Dr. Therese Jones 
Center for Bioethics and Humanities, Anschutz Campus: Dr. Dan Goldberg

 Track Requirements: 

Master of Humanities Core Requirements:

HUMN 5025: Foundations and Theories in Interdisciplinary Humanities (every fall)
HUMN 5013: Methods and Practices of Interdisciplinary Humanities (every spring)
HUMN 5023: Research Perspectives in Interdisciplinary Humanities

HEHE Track Requirements In addition to the program’s core required courses, the following are required:

  1. HEHE 5000 Foundations of Health Humanities
  2. HEHE 5100 Foundations of Health Care Ethics
  3. A minimum of 12-credit hours of Health Humanities-related graduate course work (this may include the option of a field-related internship), and
  4. Complete a final project or thesis on a Health Humanities topic

 Suggested Elective Courses for the Track

Below is a list of pre-approved courses for the track. Be aware that it is not comprehensive and that departments change their offerings regularly. Always check with the department to see when a given course might be scheduled. Also, check with your MHMSS program advisor to discuss additional course opportunities.

ANTH 5290 Anthropology and Public Health
COMM 5500 Health Communication 
COMM 5550 Rhetorics of Medicine and Health 
GEOG 5230 Hazard Mitigation and Vulnerability Assessments
GEOG 5235 GIS Applications in the Health Sciences
HEHE 5250 Topics in Media, Medicine and Society;
HEHE 5350 Narrative Principles and Practices in Healthcare
HEHE 575) Pain, Its Paradoxes & the Human Condition
HLTH 6070 International Health Policy and Management
PHIL 5242 Bioethics
PSCI 5354 Environmental Politics and Policy

For more information about this or any track within the Master of Humanities or Social Science programs, contact: Dr. Lorna Hutchison, MH/MSS Assistant Director: lorna.hutchison@ucdenver.edu or
Therese Jones, Center for Bioethics and Humanities, therese.jones@ucdenver.edu
Dan Goldberg, Center for Bioethics and Humanities, daniel.goldberg@cuanschutz.edu
E-mail: masterhs@ucdenver.edu
Website: http://clas.ucdenver.edu/mhmss
Office: Student Commons Building, 3203
Phone: 303-315-3565

For information on the HEHE Graduate Certificate contact: Dr. Therese Jones.