HIS 2710 - HISTORY OF MEDICINE

credits: 3.0
This course is a survey of the intellectual and cultural history of medicine from ancient times through the twentieth century. Will follow a largely chronological approach using both primary and secondary sources. The focus will be on medicine as an evolving set of ideas about health, sickness, and the body; medicine as a practice; and medicine as a profession. Will pay particular attention to the way in which medical ideas both reflected and shaped the social and cultural practices of their respective eras. Also, will look at the mechanisms through which ideas about medicine have evolved over time and been transmitted among cultures. Objectives: A) Identify, describe, and explain key ideas, events, and people associated with the history of medicine; B) Identify, describe, and explain the evolution of ideas about medicine over time; C) Identify, describe, and explain the interchange of ideas about medicine among cultures; D) Compare and contrast ideas about medicine across different time periods and cultures. Method of Instruction: Lecture and discussion; re-enacting historical medical procedures optional. Method of Evaluation: Three in-class exams, three papers on assigned readings, quizzes, and short in-class exercises. Meets *GLP Distribution Requirement.