Salem College’s Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree and minor in Health Humanities provide an interdisciplinary exploration of human health—past, present, and across cultures and communities— through the methods and materials of the humanities and arts.
The Health Humanities major or the minor combined with another course of study prepares students who are interested in future careers in medicine, allied health, or public health. The program also prepares students for careers in areas such as policy, administration, arts, information science, advocacy, education, translation, law, ministry, and communication.
Salem College’s Health Humanities major or minor offers students the opportunity to explore the concept of health through a variety of academic fields. Useful for pre-med students or double-majors, this program allows students the flexibility to take courses across departments while offering a formal program of study. With a core curriculum focused on ethics, history, and narrative, Health Humanities students have the opportunity to take courses in Religion, Art History, Women and Gender Studies, History, English and Music, among others.
Health Humanities students bring intellectual curiosity and exploration as well as a desire to thoughtfully consider society, health, and art. They are prepared to fully engage with the rigorous curriculum and ask big questions that transform their personal and future professional perspective on well-being, healthcare treatment, and the human body. They develop their written communication skills through writing intensive courses.
As part of this interdisciplinary bachelor’s degree, faculty share their expertise on the concept of health and offer up thought-provoking syllabuses filled with a variety of literary and scientific texts, types of art, and cultural perspectives.
A Health Humanities major or minor offers connections to numerous career paths. When paired with a major in the sciences and further graduate study, here are a selection of healthcare career paths that students can pursue:
Students gain a complex understanding of human health that, with further graduate study, prepares them for careers such as:
Salem College’s major and minor in Health Humanities provide an interdisciplinary exploration of human health—past, present, and across cultures and communities— through the methods and materials of the humanities and arts. Through literature, history, religious studies, language studies, and the creative arts, students will investigate topics such as healing, illness, disability, gender, childhood, aging, embodiment, and mortality. The program approaches health and leadership as objects of critical study as it advances arts- and humanities-based approaches to topics marked by complexity and ambiguity.
The Health Humanities major or the minor combined with another course of study will prepare students who are interested in future careers in the health professions and public health, in graduate programs and careers in the humanities and arts, as well as a range of careers in areas such as policy, administration, advocacy, education, translation, law, ministry, and communication.
The major in Health Humanities requires a minimum of 30 semester hours: a four-course required core and six electives, taken from at least three different disciplines. No more than four courses may count toward both the Health Humanities major and a second major.
Required Courses:
Literary and Narrative Studies: Choose one:
ARTH 268. Art and Empathy (3 hrs)
ENGL 255. Rhetoric of Health and Medicine (3 hrs)
HHMN/ENGL/RELI 105. Narratives of Health and Healing (3 hrs)
Historical Studies and Perspectives: Choose one:
HIST 224. History of U.S. Health Policy (3 hrs)
HIST 248. History of Medicine (3 hrs)
HIST 282. Women, Healing, and Medicine in Early America (3 hrs)
Ethical Studies: Choose one:
HHMN 230. Ethics of Health and Healing (3 hrs)
HIST/ENVS/POLI 216. The Nuclear Age (3 hrs)
WGSS 250. Gender Violence (3 hrs)
RELI 320. Religion and Ethics (3 hrs)
HHMN 390. Senior Project in Health Humanities (3 hrs) (As an alternative, students may request to count a senior seminar in another of the Humanities or Arts.)
Choose six courses not taken in the core requirements, drawing from at least three disciplines:
ARTH 230. Medicine in Art (3 hrs)
ARTH 260. Anatomy in Art, 1400-1900 (3 hrs)
ARTH 268. Art and Empathy (3 hrs)
CRWR 215. Literary Artist as Citizen (3 hrs)
CRWR 217. Introductory Prose Workshop (3 hrs)
CRWR 218. Introductory Poetry Workshop (3 hrs)
CRWR 315. The Art and Act of Revision (3 hrs)
ENGL 225/WGSS 225. Building Communities and Growing Resilience: Theater of
American Women Playwrights (3 hrs)
ENGL 235. Embodied Rhetorics (3 hrs)
ENGL 246. Trauma and the “Power of Fantasy” in Hayao Miyazaki’s Films (3 hrs)
ENGL 249. Gender, Race and Ethnicity in Shakespeare (3 hrs)
ENGL 255. The Rhetoric of Health and Medicine (3 hrs)
ENGL/REST 365. Symbolic Healing in Native American Literature (3 hrs)
HHMN /ENGL 214. Career Development for Health Humanities Students (3 hrs)
HHMN/RELI/ENGL 105. Narratives of Health and Healing (3 hrs)
HHMN 230. Ethics of Health and Healing (3 hrs)
HIST 207. Native American History (3 hrs)
HIST 209. African American History (3 hrs)
HIST 213. The Vietnam War (3 hrs)
HIST 215/REST 210. Critical Issues in the History of Race and Ethnicity (3 hrs)
HIST/POLI/ENVS 216. The Nuclear Age (3 hrs)
HIST 218. American Sexualities (3 hrs)
HIST/POLI 224. History of U.S. Health Policy (3 hrs)
HIST/REST 241. Women’s Leadership in Global Historical Perspective (3 hrs)
HIST 248. History of Medicine (3 hrs)
HIST 264. The Black Death (3 hrs)
HIST 282. Women, Healing, and Medicine in Early America (3 hrs)
HIST 286. Modern Japan (3 hrs)
MUSI 105. Women in Music (3 hrs)
MUSI 220. Special Topics in Music and Health (3 hrs)
RELI 217. Death and Dying in Religious Perspectives (3 hrs)
RELI 265. Religion and Migration (3 hrs)
RELI 340. Shared Stories: Jewish, Christian, Muslim (3 hrs)
SPAN 211. Medical Spanish (3 hrs)
SPAN 350. Latinx Seminar (3 hrs)
WGSS/RELI 215. Disability and Gender (3 hrs)
WGSS 250. Gender Violence (3 hrs)
The minor in Health Humanities requires the completion of five courses for a minimum of fifteen semester hours, two from the four core areas listed for the major. Others may be chosen from the major electives listed above, with the addition of HHMN 390. At least three of the five courses (9 hrs minimum) must be taken at Salem. Courses must be taken from at least three different disciplines.
Salem College’s Health Humanities major or minor offers students the opportunity to explore the concept of health through a variety of academic fields. Useful for pre-med students or double-majors, this program allows students the flexibility to take courses across departments while offering a formal program of study. With a core curriculum focused on ethics, history, and narrative, Health Humanities students have the opportunity to take courses in Religion, Art History, Women and Gender Studies, History, English and Music, among others.
Health Humanities students bring intellectual curiosity and exploration as well as a desire to thoughtfully consider society, health, and art. They are prepared to fully engage with the rigorous curriculum and ask big questions that transform their personal and future professional perspective on well-being, healthcare treatment, and the human body. They develop their written communication skills through writing intensive courses.
As part of this interdisciplinary bachelor’s degree, faculty share their expertise on the concept of health and offer up thought-provoking syllabuses filled with a variety of literary and scientific texts, types of art, and cultural perspectives.
A Health Humanities major or minor offers connections to numerous career paths. When paired with a major in the sciences and further graduate study, here are a selection of healthcare career paths that students can pursue:
Students gain a complex understanding of human health that, with further graduate study, prepares them for careers such as:
Salem College’s major and minor in Health Humanities provide an interdisciplinary exploration of human health—past, present, and across cultures and communities— through the methods and materials of the humanities and arts. Through literature, history, religious studies, language studies, and the creative arts, students will investigate topics such as healing, illness, disability, gender, childhood, aging, embodiment, and mortality. The program approaches health and leadership as objects of critical study as it advances arts- and humanities-based approaches to topics marked by complexity and ambiguity.
The Health Humanities major or the minor combined with another course of study will prepare students who are interested in future careers in the health professions and public health, in graduate programs and careers in the humanities and arts, as well as a range of careers in areas such as policy, administration, advocacy, education, translation, law, ministry, and communication.
The major in Health Humanities requires a minimum of 30 semester hours: a four-course required core and six electives, taken from at least three different disciplines. No more than four courses may count toward both the Health Humanities major and a second major.
Required Courses:
Literary and Narrative Studies: Choose one:
ARTH 268. Art and Empathy (3 hrs)
ENGL 255. Rhetoric of Health and Medicine (3 hrs)
HHMN/ENGL/RELI 105. Narratives of Health and Healing (3 hrs)
Historical Studies and Perspectives: Choose one:
HIST 224. History of U.S. Health Policy (3 hrs)
HIST 248. History of Medicine (3 hrs)
HIST 282. Women, Healing, and Medicine in Early America (3 hrs)
Ethical Studies: Choose one:
HHMN 230. Ethics of Health and Healing (3 hrs)
HIST/ENVS/POLI 216. The Nuclear Age (3 hrs)
WGSS 250. Gender Violence (3 hrs)
RELI 320. Religion and Ethics (3 hrs)
HHMN 390. Senior Project in Health Humanities (3 hrs) (As an alternative, students may request to count a senior seminar in another of the Humanities or Arts.)
Choose six courses not taken in the core requirements, drawing from at least three disciplines:
ARTH 230. Medicine in Art (3 hrs)
ARTH 260. Anatomy in Art, 1400-1900 (3 hrs)
ARTH 268. Art and Empathy (3 hrs)
CRWR 215. Literary Artist as Citizen (3 hrs)
CRWR 217. Introductory Prose Workshop (3 hrs)
CRWR 218. Introductory Poetry Workshop (3 hrs)
CRWR 315. The Art and Act of Revision (3 hrs)
ENGL 225/WGSS 225. Building Communities and Growing Resilience: Theater of
American Women Playwrights (3 hrs)
ENGL 235. Embodied Rhetorics (3 hrs)
ENGL 246. Trauma and the “Power of Fantasy” in Hayao Miyazaki’s Films (3 hrs)
ENGL 249. Gender, Race and Ethnicity in Shakespeare (3 hrs)
ENGL 255. The Rhetoric of Health and Medicine (3 hrs)
ENGL/REST 365. Symbolic Healing in Native American Literature (3 hrs)
HHMN /ENGL 214. Career Development for Health Humanities Students (3 hrs)
HHMN/RELI/ENGL 105. Narratives of Health and Healing (3 hrs)
HHMN 230. Ethics of Health and Healing (3 hrs)
HIST 207. Native American History (3 hrs)
HIST 209. African American History (3 hrs)
HIST 213. The Vietnam War (3 hrs)
HIST 215/REST 210. Critical Issues in the History of Race and Ethnicity (3 hrs)
HIST/POLI/ENVS 216. The Nuclear Age (3 hrs)
HIST 218. American Sexualities (3 hrs)
HIST/POLI 224. History of U.S. Health Policy (3 hrs)
HIST/REST 241. Women’s Leadership in Global Historical Perspective (3 hrs)
HIST 248. History of Medicine (3 hrs)
HIST 264. The Black Death (3 hrs)
HIST 282. Women, Healing, and Medicine in Early America (3 hrs)
HIST 286. Modern Japan (3 hrs)
MUSI 105. Women in Music (3 hrs)
MUSI 220. Special Topics in Music and Health (3 hrs)
RELI 217. Death and Dying in Religious Perspectives (3 hrs)
RELI 265. Religion and Migration (3 hrs)
RELI 340. Shared Stories: Jewish, Christian, Muslim (3 hrs)
SPAN 211. Medical Spanish (3 hrs)
SPAN 350. Latinx Seminar (3 hrs)
WGSS/RELI 215. Disability and Gender (3 hrs)
WGSS 250. Gender Violence (3 hrs)
The minor in Health Humanities requires the completion of five courses for a minimum of fifteen semester hours, two from the four core areas listed for the major. Others may be chosen from the major electives listed above, with the addition of HHMN 390. At least three of the five courses (9 hrs minimum) must be taken at Salem. Courses must be taken from at least three different disciplines.
See our Academic Catalog for all of our course offerings.
Salem’s Health Humanities major allows students to pursue an interdisciplinary bachelor’s degree that suits a wide range of future careers, preparing them as leaders informed by complex understandings of health. Courses in the health humanities offer students a variety of intellectual perspectives that will benefit them personally and professionally.
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