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Pre-requisites:
HUMA 1301 or equivalent. This “Nature, Science and Medicine” section is especially intended
for students interested in the interdisciplinary relations between the arts / humanities and science /
medicine, including students working toward the minor in Medical and Scientific Humanities (MaSH) or
the future major in Humanistic Studies of Science, Medicine and Technology (HSSMT). This class is
also valuable for students interested in creative writing and those training to be primary and secondary
teachers.
* This course counts toward the minor in Medical and Scientific Humanities (MaSH) *
Course Description:
In this course we will explore concepts of nature and human nature through various forms of
medical and scientific writings, including: nature writing, nature poetry, science fiction, scientific and
medical essays, and film. We will consider many of the complex ethical issues that arise from new
discoveries in medicine and the sciences. We will learn a variety of ways to “read” and “write” about
nature and human nature and consider how such texts are “artful” as well as “scientific.” We will learn to
identify rhetorical strategies (persuasive techniques), practice troubleshooting our own drafts, and
enhance our understanding and use of creative writing techniques.
Some of the questions we will examine include: What is nature? What is “natural”? How do we
value the natural world? How did medical and scientific ways of knowing about life (human and
otherwise) develop? Have physicians always cared for patients in the same way over time? How have
medical ethics developed? To what extent can medicine be considered an art, a science, an applied
technology? With what consequences for patient care and outcomes? What kinds of issues will face us as
individuals in an increasingly medicalized body, in an increasingly scientific and technological society?
How can the ancient “technologies” of reading and writing adapt to these changes and empower us to
meet such challenges?
The course format will be primarily discussion with a few descriptive or informative mini-lectures
and videos, and will include special units on animated representations of nature and literature and
medicine. By popular demand, students will have the option of working on “personal statements” for
applications to Medical School / Graduate School for extra credit.
Course objectives:
Students will read and discuss a wide variety of literary forms and genres, demonstrating the
ability to interpret and analyze themes and issues using various critical methods, including formal,
historical, biographical and cultural approaches. Students will experiment with writing many different
forms of literary expression, including poetry, descriptive prose, expository prose, 1st-person narratives
and rhetorical argument. Students will also write in-class essay and objective exam, and research, write
and revise an analytical and interpretative paper, using primary and secondary sources.
Required Texts:
1. Reading the Environment (RE), ed. Melissa Walker, Norton, 1994 (selected sections)
2. ELECTRONIC RESERVE: Science and the Human Spirit, Fred White, ed. (SHS; selections)
3. Willa Cather, O Pioneers, Dover
4. Miyazaki, Hayao, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (graphic novel)
5. A Life in Medicine: A Literary Anthology (LM), Robert Coles, ed.
6. Students must also purchase ONE from the following options (for 5-7 pp paper):
Pam Houston, Cowboys are my Weakness
J. Bove, A Mile in Her Boots Solas House, 2006
J. Krakauer, Into the Wild
Ted Kooser, Delights and Shadows, Copper Canyon Press, 2004 (poetry)
A. Gore, An Inconvenient Truth
S. Levitt and Dubner, Freakonomics Wm Morrow, 2006
Michael Pollan, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, 2006
Atul Gawande, Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science, 2003
Eva Salber, The Mind is Not the Heart: Recollections of a Woman Physician, Duke, 1989
J. Groopman, How Doctors Think
* With prior permission, students may also substitute one of the following options: Rachel Carson, Silent
Spring; Diane Ackerman, Natural History of the Senses, Vintage, 1991; Lester Brown, Plan B; Malcolm
Gladwell, Blink or Tipping Point; S. Pinker, Stuff of Thought; G. Edelman, Second Nature (available at
Half-Price or amazon)
* Note: Most class days will be divided into two halves (A and B), with a short 10-15 min. break.
Have all readings listed under a particular class day, read FOR that class day’s discussion. *
Wk 1: W. Jan. 9:
A: Introduction to the course: class cards; syllabus; course objectives and themes.
Reading & vocabulary journals. Learn names. Distribute hand-outs, 30 min. reading break.
B: The Human-Nature Interface:
Read and discuss: Loren Eiseley, “Judgment of the Birds” SHS, (xerox handout, pp. 300-309)
Wk. 3: W. Jan. 23: Argument/ POV: Natural Knowledge and Scientific Authority
A: Discuss reading: The Genesis War, SHS: pp.210-221; Extraterrestrial Life, SHS: pp.142-160; Animal
Rights, SHS: pp.174-188
B: Video: Flock of Dodos (hand in Q&A sheet)
Wk 4: W Jan. 30: “Natural” Debates – Within and Without the Human Animal
A: Discuss reading: Roderick Nash “Why Wilderness,” RE 74-83; Edward Abbey, “Serpents of
Paradise,” RE 51-57; Aldo Leopold, “Thinking Like a Mountain,” RE 49-51; John McPhee, “Los
Angeles Against the Mountains,” RE 280-285; E.O. Wilson, “Krakatau,” RE 185-191
B: Panel Reading / discuss: Genetic Engineering, SHS: pp.191-207; Swenson and Wade, SHS: pp. 340-
343
Wk 5: W. Feb. 6: Form and Function / Style and Content: “Sciencepoetry” / Science Fiction
A: Hand-in / Discuss homework: Write a “science” or nature sonnet (14 lines, formal or informal) and
discuss verse reading: Whitman, Frost, Jeffers, Cedering, R.H.W. Dillard as in SHS: pp. 270-271;
287; 290; 335-339;
B: Discuss prose reading: Hawthorne, Poe, Clarke, and Selzer, SHS: pp.240-256; 258-266; 293-298;
315-324.
Wk 8: W. Feb 27: UNIT EXAM: 2 parts: 30 point in-class essay and 70 point objective section.
You will have 2 hours, 15 min. to complete the exam
[* This would be a good week to begin reading the book you selected for your paper!]
Wk 12: W. Mar. 26: The Human - Nature Interface: Medicine as Art / Science I
A and B: Discuss reading: from A Life in Medicine (LM): Preface, Introduction and Part One:
Physicians Must be Altruistic, pp. xv-65
B: Bring thesis paragraphs and 1 page abstracts/outlines; discuss paper writing process
Wk 14: W. Apr. 9: The Human - Nature Interface: Medicine as Art / Science III
A and B: Discuss reading from LM: Part Three: Physicians Must be Skillful, pp. 139-240
* Graded drafts returned, with comments *
Wk 15: W. Apr. 16: The Human - Nature Interface: Medicine as Art / Science IV
A and B: Discuss reading from LM: Part Four: Physicians Must be Dutiful, pp. 241-end
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