MEDICAL HUMANITIES: BODIES, CULTURES AND IDEAS (MA)

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About the course

Birkbeck's interdisciplinary MA Medical Humanities explores human health through the lenses of culture and history, examining how the practice of medicine represented in art, literature, film and other media, and how do those representations, in turn, determine how we understand and experience our own bodies and the realities of sickness and health.

This course is intended for arts, humanities and social sciences graduates, and offers an interdisciplinary approach to the fascinating, complex relationship between medicine and the humanities. On this course you will consider the development of clinical practices and institutions, the formation of medical expertise and authority, and the role of medical ethics and law, covering topics including infectious disease, diet and exercise, mental health and wellbeing, and disability.

You will also learn about the history of the medical humanities as an academic field and the debates that have shaped its identity and role, and you will develop valuable analytical, research and writing skills.

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