Medical Narratives, Narrative Medicine

Narrative medicine is an approach grounded in the recognition that patients live and communicate their embodied experiences as stories. This approach underscores the need for medical practitioners to cultivate skills of observation, analysis, storytelling, and cultural competency -- skills that are traditionally developed in humanities coursework. In this course, students will hone their competencies in observation, close reading, and written and oral expression in French through readings of medical narratives. Texts will include Jean-Dominique Bauby, "Le Scaphandre et le Papillon"; Molière, "Le Medecin Malgre Lui"; Michel de Montaigne, "De L'Experience"; Marguerite Duras, "La Douleur"; and excerpts from works by René Descartes, Honoré de Balzac, Émile Zola, Olivia Rosenthal, and Philippe Lançon. Whether considering works of art, patient testimonials, or classic works of literature, we will observe carefully, describe and understand what we see, tell stories, and attend to the details of the stories that others tell. Prerequisite: In-Perspective.
Course Attributes: EN H; BU Hum; AS HUM; AS LCD; FA HUM; AR HUM

Medical Narratives, Narrative Medicine

MEDICAL HUMANITIES 375

Section 01