Undergraduate
Bachelor's Degree Programs
Medical Humanities and Health Studies
Major in Medical Humanities and Health Studies
The Medical Humanities and Health Studies (MHHS) Program offers an interdisciplinary curriculum to prepare undergraduates to understand the broader role and determinants of health and medicine in today’s world. Humanities courses raise questions of how human beings deal with health, medical intervention, illness and death. Social science courses provide insight into the social, economic and cultural contexts of health, illness and health care. Students benefit from the wealth of faculty in Liberal Arts and across the IUPUI campus who have strong teaching and research interests in the area of health care.
Sample topics addressed in the course of study include, among others: human values and ethics in medical decision making, patient care as an art form and scientific endeavor, the impact of geography, history and economics on the nature of and access to health care and medicine, cultural/ social definitions of health and provision of health care, global health and humanitarian intervention, technology as an improvement impediment to humanistic health care. These and other related issues are of particular importance in today’s environment of rapid medical-technological development and social change. This degree is unique, being among the first comprehensive MHHS degrees offered to undergraduates nationwide.
An academic foundation in MHHS can be valuable to students pursuing virtually any career path, including but not limited to social/ economic research, medicine, allied health professions, dentistry, health law, medical social work, nursing, public health, and public policy studies. Our graduates have directly gone on to pursue degrees in pharmacy, medicine, occupational therapy, and other health professions, as well as law and graduate school programs.
The Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in Medical Humanities and Health Studies (MHHS) requires satisfactory completion of the following:
- completion of general education and distribution requirements as indicated in the School of Liberal Arts section of the IUPUI bulletin that was current when the student declared a major in Medical Humanities and Health Studies
- completion of a total of 30 credit hours, with a minimum grade of C in each course
- 15 credits of the Medical Humanities & Health Studies major must be taken at IUPUI (effective Fall 2015)
- completion of one of the following tracks: Medical Humanities, Health Social Science or the Individualized Track
- a course will count only once, as either a core or an elective course
Major Requirements:
Common Core Courses (6 courses/ 18 credit hours):- MHHS-M 301: Perspectives on Health, Disease, and Healing (3 credit hours)
- MHHS-M 495: Independent Project/ Seminar in Medical Humanities and Health Studies (3 credit hours)
Two Medical Humanities Core Courses (6 credit hours), chosen from the following:
- COMM-C 392: Health Communication
- ENG-L 431: Topics in Literary Study: Illness Narrative
- HIST-H 364: History of Medicine and Public Health
- PHIL-P 393: Biomedical Ethics
- REL-R 384: Religion, Ethics, and Health
- ANTH-E 445: Medical Anthropology
- ECON-E 307 or 387: Health Economics Issues
- GEOG-G 410: Medical Geography
- REL-R 368: Religion and Healing
- SOC-R 381: Social Factors in Health and Illness – or – SOC-R 382: Social Organization of Healthcare
Choose one of the following tracks:
Medical Humanities Track- Core plus four courses (12 credit hours) of Humanities Electives
Humanities Electives, choose four courses (12 credit hours) from the following:
- COMM-C 392: Health Communication
- COMM-C 400: Health Provider-Consumer Communication
- ENG-L 431: Topics in Literary Study: Illness Narrative
- HIST-H 364: History of Medicine and Public Health
- HIST-H 373 History of Science & Technology I*
- HIST-H 374 History of Science & Technology II*
- MHHS-M 390 A Body of Law: Medicine, Humanities & Law
- HIST-H 418: History of International Humanitarian Assistance
- MHHS-M 410 Addiction Narratives
- MHHS-M 420: Culture of Mental Illness – Literary Representations
- MHHS-M 492: Topics in Medical Humanities and Health Studies: Perspectives on Medicine in Film
- PHIL-P 383 Topics in Philosophy: Death, Dying, & Immortality
- PHIL-P 383 Topics in Philosophy: Ethics, Autonomy & Consent
- PHIL-P 383 Topics in Philosophy: Reproductive Ethics
- PHIL-P 393: Biomedical Ethics
- REL-R 323 Yuppie Yogis and Global Gurus
- REL-R 368 Religion and Healing
- REL-R 383 Religions, Ethics, U.S. Soc*
- REL-R 384 Religion, Ethics, and Health
* Work in these courses must include a relevant health/medicine component. Please see an MHHS Faculty Mentor prior to selecting this course for an elective.
Health Social Science Track- Core plus one 3 credit hour Methods course plus three courses (9 credit hours) of Health Social Science Electives
Methods courses, one course (3 credit hours) from the following:
- ANTH-E 404: Field Methods in Ethnography
- ANTH-A 460: Topics in Anthropology: Anthropological Statistics
- COMM-G 310: Introduction to Communication Research
- ECON-E 270: Introduction to Statistical Theory in Economics
- GEOG-G 311: Introduction to Research Methods in Geography
- GEOG-G 338: Introduction to Geographic Information Systems
- HIST-H 217: The Nature of History
- SOC-R 351: Social Science Research Methods
- SOC-R 359: Introduction to Sociological Statistics
- SOC-R 493 Practicum in Sociological Fieldwork
- ANTH-B 370: Human Variation
- ANTH-B 468 BioArchaeology
- ANTH-B 474 Forensic Anthropology, Archaeology & Taphonomy
- ANTH-B 480: Human Growth and Development
- ANTH-E 391 Women in Developing Countries *
- ANTH-E 411: Wealth, Exchange, and Power in Anthropological Perspective *
- ANTH-E 421: The Anthropology of Aging
- ANTH-E 445: Medical Anthropology
- ECON-E 307: Current Economic Issues: Health Economics Issues
- GEOG-G 410: Medical Geography
- MHHS-M 492: Topics in Medical Humanities and Health Studies: African Health- Historical and Cultural Contexts
- SOC-R320: Sexuality & Society
- SOC-R 321: Women and Health
- SOC-R 327: Sociology of Death and Dying
- SOC-R 381: Social Factors in Health and Illness
- SOC-R 382: Social Organization of Health Care
- SOC-R 385: AIDS in Society
- SOC-R 410: Alcohol, Drugs and Society
- SOC-R 415: Sociology of Disability
- SOC-R 485: Sociology of Mental Illness
* Work in these courses must include a relevant health/medicine component. Please see an MHHS Faculty Mentor prior to selecting this course for an elective.
Health Topics Track- Core plus four courses (12 credit hours) chosen in consultation with an academic advisor. Health related topics may include areas such as Global Health, Women's Health, and similar topics.
