Humanities (HUMN)

Interactions between healers and patients involve exchanges of trust and expectations of outcomes that differ from the ordinary transactions of daily life. These relationships are incompletely defined by simple contracts. This multidisciplinary course draws on primary and secondary sources in medicine, philosophy, art, ethics, and theology to address the essential elements of the patient/healer relationship. These questions will be considered in the Greco-Roman/Judeo-Christian antiquity, Medieval and early Renaissance Europe, 19th century industrial revolution, and the US in the 21st century.