Undergraduate
Liberal Arts Pathways Minors
Liberal Arts Perspectives on Culture and Health
The Pathway Minor is a 15-credit program of study intended to add depth to the learning experience within the general education core by integrating knowledge and praxis around themes of relevance to the students’ college and professional experiences from the perspectives of the humanities and the social sciences.
Liberal Arts Perspectives on Culture and Health
The Liberal Arts Perspectives on Culture and Health is a 15-credit program focused on equipping students with the tools to understand health and healing from multiple perspectives and the ability to understand and communicate with diverse communities. As part of the minor requirements, student will participate in an engaged experience that enables them to demonstrate their ability to interact and communicate with people from different cultures. This minor will benefit any student with an interest in cultural issues around health, and those who plans to pursue a career in health, counseling, and human or social services.
As part of the urban research and health campus, the IU School of Liberal Arts at IU Indianapolis has a commitment to preparing students to serve an increasingly global and multicultural populace. In particular, the School of Liberal Arts has identified health and medicine as an area of excellence with a deep well of faculty expertise. The interdisciplinary Liberal Arts Perspectives on Culture and Health Pathway Minor will help students improve the knowledge and skills to work with people from different cultures with the goal of enhancing the health and well-being of individuals and communities.
Pathway Minor Learning Objectives: Liberal Arts Perspectives on Culture and Health
- Describe how differences in regionality, socioeconomic status, access to resources, race, ethnicity, gender, age, ability, and other categories affect the health of individuals and communities around the world. This objective correlates to the Problem Solver category of the Profiles.
- Demonstrate how to participate in public conversations about health, communicating and collaborating with others to expand understanding of health concerns in a variety of contexts. This objective correlates with the Communicator category of the Profiles.
- Compare the experiences of individuals and groups whose experiences with health, illness, and wellness differ from one’s own, and recognize how such differences affect personal and professional experiences. This objective correlates with the Communicator and Community Contributor categories of the Profiles.
- Apply understanding of key issues in health studies to an engaged learning experience or project using a high-impact practice that allows the student to make a contribution to broader public understanding of health. This objective correlates with the Innovator and Community Contributor categories of the Profiles.
Liberal Arts Perspectives on Culture and Health requires satisfactory completion of the following requirements:
- completion of properly distributed credit hour requirements for the baccalaureate degree in effect when the student was admitted to their home school,
- completion of 15 credit hours, with a minimum grade of C in each course,
- completion of 12 credits at IU Indianapolis,
- no more than two course from any one department/program,
- to declare the minor, complete the School of Liberal Arts online declaration form here.
Required Courses (9 credits)
- ENG-W 131: Reading, Writing, And Inquiry OR ENG-W 140: Reading, Writing, and Inquiry: Honors
- COMM-R 110: Fundamentals of Speech Communication
- MHHS-M 201: Introduction to Medical Humanities
Thematic Concentration (3 credits):
- ANTH-E 445: Medical Anthropology
- COMM-G 391: Global Health
- EALC-E 397: Traditional Chinese Medicine Culture
- ECON-E 387: Health Economics
- FREN-F 334: French for the Medical & Technical World
- GEOG-G 410: Medical Geography
- MHHS-M 492: Ethics and Policy in Organ Transplantation
- REL-R 300: Yoga, Health, and Mindfulness
- SOC-R 381: Social Factors in Health & Illness
Engaged Experience (3 credits):
- COMM-C 482: Intercultural Communication (Health-Focused) (Study Abroad-Poland)
- EALC-E 351: Intercultural Understanding across the Health Care Disciplines (Study Abroad-Japan)
- ENG-L 478: Illness Narrative (Faculty-Lead Research/Artistic Work)
- HIST-H 418: History of International Humanitarian Assistance (Faculty-Lead Research)
- REL-R 384: Religion, Ethics, and Health (Service Learning)
- SOC-R 385: AIDS and Society (Service Learning)
NOTES:
- Students may petition to have any 300-/400-level Liberal Arts elective with a RISE designation and health focus count toward their engaged experience. For example, a student may complete an internship, individual research project, service learning project, or study abroad with a health focus.
- Students may petition to have one course from outside of the School of Liberal Arts count toward their pathway minor, if it meets the learning objectives. Examples of courses that can be petitioned to count include:
- General Education Core Courses:
- HLSC-H 250: Health & Rehabilitation Systems Across World
- HLSC-H 264: Disability & Society
- PBHL-S 120: Introduction to Community Health
- Thematic Electives:
- PBHL-S 315: Community Health
- PBHL-S 340: Cultural Competency in the Promotion of Health
- Engaged Experiences:
- Study Abroad (Public Health).
- General Education Core Courses:
Students may petition, either before or after taking a course, to count a course toward the minor. They will include:
- course number, title, instructor and term of instruction
- a copy of the syllabus
- statement of how the course meets specific Learning Outcomes of the minor
- completed assignments (if course is finished) that best demonstrate Learning Outcomes
