304CM Cluster Course: Body Images In Medicine And The Arts (3)
Open to all students, this course focuses on the human body as an object of
study in the history and practice of medicine. The class identifies a number of
key issues which affect the attitudes that contemporary physicians often have
about their patients based upon prevalent attitudes toward the human body in
our society. Societal values which shape our ideas about gender, physical
appearance, cosmetic surgery, obesity, and genetic abnormalities will be the
focus of determining the extent to which these issues may actually affect the
education of physicians and choices of medical treatment. The course examines
the evolution of these values historically through works of art and recurring
themes in literature. the course is interdisciplinary, involving lectures in
contemporary medicine, the history of medicine, the history of art, and
literature. It satisfies current baccalaureate requirements for
interdisciplinary coursework in the humanities. The course will not count
toward required courses for the major in art, art history, literature or
history. Prerequisite: Junior standing. Offered: Summer 1994.