Health Humanities

The bachelor of arts and minor in health humanities provides students with an interdisciplinary exploration of human health—past, present, and across cultures and communities—through the methods and materials of the humanities and arts. Health humanities students thoughtfully examine cultural understandings of health, healing, and healers through history, narrative, art and ethics. This program provides a pathway for students who want to pursue health-related careers with a broad cultural understanding.

Salem’s Health Humanities students engage with the rigorous curriculum, ask innovative research questions, and refine their skills at reading, writing, and engaging in dialogue across differences. They critically examine cultural assumptions and preconceptions about how persons and communities define and achieve health.

• Students who take the program’s course in Career Development for Health Humanities explore potential career paths, create project proposals, hone their presentation skills, and learn how to convey the value of a humanities education to future employers and graduate schools.
• All Health Humanities majors will conduct an independent research project with a faculty mentor as their Health Humanities senior project.

Health humanities prepares students for careers in communications, community leadership, philanthropy, advocacy, education, translation, and chaplaincy, among others.  Combined with another field of study, this program prepares students for graduate programs in medicine, integrative medicine, allied health, and public health.