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 IU Indianapolis campus who have strong teaching and research interests in the area of health care.
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.
Students completing the Medical Humanities & Health Studies B.A. program will achieve the following:
Know
- That human experiences of physical and mental health, disease, illness and healing are defined within the context of social, cultural, economic, historical, religious, and legal contexts, and
- How these factors impact the perception, delivery and effectiveness of medicine and health care.
Understand
- The human dimensions as well as the socio-cultural, economic and ethical complexities that arise both in illness and health care practice, and
- How the humanities and social sciences can be used to apply more effectively the life science and technological advances that address health issues.
Be able to
- Use the humanities and social sciences ( e.g., literary narrative, bioethical considerations, socio-economic and historical analysis) to understand the human experience of health, illness and healing;
- Critically read, evaluate and interpret multiple sources of information and competing perspectives to understand health problems and issues more thoroughly, and
- Present such analyses in forms using the conventions and standards of the appropriate academic disciplines.
The Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in Medical Humanities and Health Studies (MHHS) requires satisfactory completion of the following:
- A minimum of 120 credit hours is required for a B.A. degree from the IU School of Liberal Arts.
- A minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.0 (C) is required for graduation.
- A minimum of 30 credit hours must be completed after formal admission to IU Indianapolis.
- A minimum of 21 credit hours of major coursework must be completed in residence in the IU School of Liberal Arts at IU Indianapolis. Course work completed on an IU-administered or IU co-sponsored Overseas Study program counts as residential credit.
- A minimum grade of C (2.0) is required in each major course.
- Once a course has been applied toward one requirement, it cannot be used to satisfy a second requirement, except where explicitly stated otherwise. In addition, except in cases of variable title courses, internships, and other special courses, no course will be counted more than once toward graduation.
- Completion of one of the following tracks: Medical Humanities, Health Social Science, or the Individualized Track.
IU Indianapolis General Education Core
A list of accepted courses in the IU Indianapolis General Education Core can be found here.
Core Communication (6 credits)
- ENG-W 131: Reading, Writing, and Inquiry I (3 credits) or ENG-W 140: Reading, Writing, and Inquiry: Honors (3 credits) completed with a grade of C (2.0) or higher
English for Academic Purposes (EAP) sections of ENG-G 131 have been designated for students whose first language is not English.
- COMM-R 110: Fundamentals of Speech Communication (3 credits)
Analytical Reasoning (6 credits)
- College math from List A (3 credits)
- List A or List B (3 credits)
Cultural Understanding (3 credits)
- A world language course is recommended
Life and Physical Sciences (6 credits)
- A laboratory science component is required
Arts/Humanities and Social Sciences (9 credits)
- Arts & Humanities (3 credits)
- Social Science (3 credits)
- Additional Arts & Humanities or Social Science (3 credits)
Transfer students entering IU Indianapolis from another public university in Indiana who have completed the transferable general education core at their home campus will not need to complete the IU Indianapolis General Education Core.
Liberal Arts Baccalaureate Competencies
First-Year Experience (1-3 credits)
- SLA-S 100: First Year Success Seminar
- Other: First Year Seminar from another school at IU Indianapolis
Transfer students with 18 or more credit hours are not required to take this course.
Writing Proficiency (3 credits), completed with a grade of C (2.0) or higher, chosen from the following:
- ENG-W 230: Writing in the Sciences
- ENG-W 231: Professional Writing Skills
- ENG-W 270: Argumentative Writing
Transfer students may satisfy the writing proficiency by completing course work equivalent to ENG-W 231, ENG-W 230, ENG-W 270, or GEWR-UN 200 with a grade of C (2.0) or higher at another campus or institution.
Transfer students with 80 or more transfer credits may petition for exemption from the Writing Proficiency requirement. Petition available in the Miriam Z. Langsam Office of Student Affairs, Cavanaugh Hall room 401.
Analytical Proficiency (3 credits), chosen from the following:
- ECON-E 270: Introduction to Statistical Theory in Economics and Business
- PHIL-P 208: Causality and Evidence
- PHIL-P 262: Practical Logic
- PHIL-P 265: Introduction to Symbolic Logic
- POLS-Y 205: Analyzing Politics
- SOC-R 359: Introduction to Sociological Stats
Analytical Proficiency is in addition to the Analytical Reasoning area in the IU Indianapolis General Education Core. Analytical Proficiency courses may be shared with major requirements if applicable.
Life and Physical Sciences Laboratory
One laboratory science course is required, but may be part of the coursework taken in the IU Indianapolis General Education Core.
Arts and Humanities (3 credits) - Courses in one’s first major field of study cannot be used to fulfill this requirement
100 or 200 level course chosen from the following disciplines
- Africana Studies (AFRO)
- American Studies (AMST)
- American Sign Language (ASL) excluding World Languages courses
- Classics (CLAS) excluding World Languages courses
- Communication Studies (COMM-R, excluding COMM R-110, and COMM-T only)
- East Asian Languages and Cultures (EALC) excluding World Language courses
- English-Creative Writing or Writing and Literacy (ENG-W), excluding courses in the Writing Proficiency area.
- English Literature (ENG-L)
- Film Studies (FILM)
- Folklore (FOLK) excluding FOLK-F 101
- German (GER) excluding World Language courses
- History (HIST) excluding HIST-H 105, HIST-H 106, HIST-H 108, HIST-H 109, HIST-H 113, HIST-H 114
- Latino Studies (LATS)
- Museum Studies (MSTD)
- Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS)
- Philosophy (PHIL)
- Religious Studies (REL)
- Spanish (SPAN) excluding World Language courses
- Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) excluding WGSS-W 105
- World Languages and Cultures (WLAC)
Social Sciences (3 credits) - Courses in one’s first major field of study cannot be used to fulfill this requirement
100 or 200 level course chosen from the following disciplines
- Africana Studies (AFRO)
- Anthropology (ANTH)
- Communication Studies (COMM-C and COMM-M only)
- Economics (ECON)
- English-Linguistics (ENG-Z)
- Folklore (FOLK)
- Geography (GEOG)
- Global and International Studies (INTL)
- History (HIST): only HIST-H 105, HIST-H 106, HIST-H 108, HIST-H 109, HIST-H 113, HIST-H 114
- Journalism and Public Relations (JOUR)
- Latino Studies (LATS)
- Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS)
- Political Science (POLS)
- Psychology (PSY)
- Sociology (SOC)
- Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS)
World Language and Perspectives (0-14 credits) - This requirement may be satisfied in one of the following ways:
- Completion of second-year proficiency in a single world language.
- Languages include:
- American Sign Language (ASL)
- Arabic (NELC-A)
- Chinese (EALC-C)
- French (FREN)
- German (GER)
- Japanese (EALC-J)
- Spanish (SPAN)
- Second-year proficiency is demonstrated by:
- passing the full second-year sequence of courses in a single language or
- completing a third or fourth-year course1
- Languages include:
- Completion of third-semester proficiency in a single world language and one course in History selected from HIST-H 108, HIST-H 109, HIST-H 113, or HIST-H 114.
- Completion of first-year proficiency in a single world language; one history course selected from HIST-H 108, HIST-H 109, HIST-H 113, or HIST-H 114; and one course selected from the Global History and Perspectives list:
- ANTH-A 104: Intro to Cultural Anthropology
- CLAS-C 213: Sport and Competition in the Ancient World
- EALC-E 232: China Past and Present: Culture in Continuing Evolution
- ENG-L 245: (The Empire Writes Back) Intro to Caribbean Literature
- GEOG-G 130: World Geography
- HIST-H 108: Perspectives on the World to 1800
- HIST-H 109: Perspectives on the World since 1800
- HIST-H 113: History of Western Civilization I
- HIST-H 114: History of Western Civilization II
- INTL-I 100: Intro to International Studies
- LATS-L 228: An Interdisciplinary Look at U.S. Latino/a Identities
- POLS-Y 217: Introduction to Comparative Politics
- POLS-Y 219: Introduction to International Relations
- REL-R 212: Comparative Religions
- Non-English native speaker with approved waiver.
Courses in World Language and Perspectives may also satisfy General Education Core Cultural Understanding.
1 Students interested in receiving credit for lower-division language courses, see the section ‘‘Special Credit for Foreign Language Study.’’
Advanced Courses
Students are required to have 42 credit hours in 300-400 level coursework including courses in their major. Of the 42 advanced credits, 9 credit hours must be 300-400 level coursework outside the first Liberal Arts major field of study and from the School of Liberal Arts. Students seeking dual degrees are exempt from completing 9 credits hours in 300-400 level coursework outside their major and from the School of Liberal Arts.
Major Requirements(30 credits)
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 478: Topics in Literary Study: Illness Narrative -or- MHHS-M 492: Topics in Medical Humanities and Health Studies-Narrative Medicine
- HIST-H 364: History of Medicine and Public Health
- PHIL-P 393: Biomedical Ethics
- REL-R 384: Religion, Ethics, and Health -or- REL-R 395: Religion, Death and Dying
Two Health Social Science Core Courses (6 credit hours), chosen from the following:
- ANTH-B 468: Bioarchaeology -or- ANTH-E 445: Medical Anthropology
- ECON-E 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*
- HIST-H 418: History of International Humanitarian Assistance
- MHHS-M 325: Ancient Medicine-Medical Terminology
- MHHS-M 390: A Body of Law: Medicine, Humanities & Law
- MHHS-M 410: Addiction Narratives
- MHHS-M 420: Culture of Mental Illness – Literary Representations
- MHHS-M 492: Topics in Medical Humanities and Health Studies: Such as-Ethics and Policy of Organ Transplantation, Finding Frankenstein, Motherhood in Medical Humanities, Narrative Medicine
- PHIL-P 383: ^Topics in Philosophy: ^Death, Dying, & Immortality; Ethics; Autonomy & Consent; Reproductive Ethics
- PHIL-P 393: Biomedical Ethics
- REL-R 323: Yuppie Yogis and Global Gurus
- REL-R 368: Religion and Healing
- REL-R 383: Power, Sex and Money
- REL-R 384: Religions, Ethics, and Health
- REL-R 395: Religion, Death and Dying
* 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.
^ Topics courses outside of MHHS-M 492 are restricted to the variable titles listed above
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
- COMM-C 325: Interviewing Principles and Practices
- 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
Social Science Electives, choose three courses (9 credit hours) from the following:
- ANTH-B 370: Human Variation
- ANTH-B 423: Human Osteology
- 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 390: A Body of Law: Medicine, Humanities & Law
- MHHS-M 410: Addiction Narratives
- MHHS-M 420: Culture of Mental Illness – Literary Representations
- MHHS-M 492: Topics in Medical Humanities and Health Studies: Such as-Ethics and Policy of Organ Transplantation, Finding Frankenstein, Motherhood in Medical Humanities, Narrative Medicine
- SOC-R 320: Sexuality & Society
- SOC-R 321: Women and Health
- SOC-R 327: Sociology of Death and Dying
- SOC-R 335: Aging and the Life Course
- 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.
Open electives
Candidates for a degree in the IU School of Liberal Arts must complete the IU Indianapolis General Education Core requirements, the baccalaureate competencies, and the requirements of their major department. Usually, students will still need to complete additional hours in order to reach the graduation requirement of 120 credit hours. These remaining credit hours are known as open electives.
Dual Degree Advantage
The Liberal Arts baccalaureate competencies are waived for IU Indianapolis undergraduate students whose first major is outside the School of Liberal Arts and whose second major is a Bachelor of Arts degree from the IU School of Liberal Arts at IU Indianapolis. Students are only required to complete the courses in their major of choice in Liberal Arts. The IU Indianapolis General Education Core or the Indiana transferable general education core must be successfully completed. Students must complete the degree outside Liberal Arts in order to have the Liberal Arts baccalaureate competencies waived for degree completion. The Liberal Arts baccalaureate competencies are only waived for students who actively pursue and complete another degree program outside of Liberal Arts. Both degrees must be completed at the same time.
