PSYC 425 - Narrative Medicine

(3 credits)

Illness and disability have the potential of challenging an individual’s sense of identity and their world beliefs. As we encounter these challenges, we seek meaning, oftentimes through narrative, a story that is embedded within a societal context. A recent field of academic study, narrative medicine, seeks to raise the awareness of clinicians to encounter with their patients, rather than encounter their patients. This form of narrative humility encourages clinicians to approach and engage, in addition to treating and diagnosing. In this seminar course, we will encounter the intersection of the arts and health care. We will explore how our encounters with the arts can strengthen our encounters with other people, in all of their complexities. Prerequisites: PSYC 101. Fall.