Xavier University
Open search dialog
Medical and Health Humanities Major (BA)

Medical and Health Humanities Major Curriculum (33-38 Credit Hours)

You must maintain at least a 2.0 average in the course work of the major. At least half of the courses (18-19 CH) must be taken at the 200-400 level. Coursework beyond the interdisciplinary introductory courses (categories 1 and 2) must span at least 3 Humanities disciplines (Classics and Modern Languages [ASLN or SPAN], ENGL, GDST, HIST, PHIL, THEO).

Introductory Course (3 Credit Hours)

  • ENGL 134 Intro to Medical and Health Humanities

Healthcare and Human Science Courses (6-11 Credit Hours)

  • SOCI 170 Comparative Healthcare Systems (3 CH, required)
  • Health/Medical Science (3 CH required, up to 8 CH possible). Choose from:
    • BIOL 102 &103 Life: Human Biology lecture and lab (3 CH) OR
    • BIOL 104 & 105 Life: Biology of Disease lecture and lab (3 CH) OR
    • BIOL 106 & 107 Life: Biology of Aging lecture and lab (3 CH) OR
    • BIOL 110 & 111 Life: Human Reproduction Today lecture and lab (3 CH) OR
    • CHEM 104 & 105 Chemistry: Life and Health lecture and lab (3 CH) OR
    • CHEM 150 & 151 Physiological Chemistry lecture and lab (4 CH) OR
    • BIOL 140 & 141 Human Anatomy & Physiology I for Allied Health lecture and lab (4 CH) AND BIOL 142 & 143 Human Anatomy & Physiology II for Allied Health lecture and lab (4 CH) (This sequence requires 8 credit hours) OR
      BIOL 160 & 161 General Biology I lecture and lab (4 CH) AND BIOL 206 & 207 Human Physiology lecture and lab (4 CH) (This sequence requires 8 credit hours and is appropriate for BIOL and BIMS majors/minors)

Required Courses (15 Credit Hours)

Distributed as indicated between the following categories. Courses that apply to more than one category may not be double counted.
  • 6 CH (TWO 3-CH courses) in Critical Health Studies (Approaches to humanness and human health studies that question and explore values and norms of knowledge production and representation). Choose from:
    • ASLN 291 Deafness Culture & Community§
    • ENGL 205 Lit & Moral Imag: Disability & Literature*
    • ENGL 205 Lit & Moral Imag: Health, Activism, Community*
    • ENGL 335 Doctors in Lit & Culture
    • GDST 208 Introduction to Disability Studies
    • GDST 258/THEO 258 Race, Religion and Healing
    • GDST/HIST 350 Medical Racism
    • HIST 199 Disability History†
    • HIST 199 History of Native American Health†
    • PHIL 200 Philosophical Perspectives: Humans, Animals, Machines*
    • PHIL 316 Philosophy & Psychology
    • SPAN 332 Spanish in Community Health Settings§
    • SPAN 3XX Latino Food, Identity & Health§
    • THEO 316 Disability and Theology OR THEO 372 Disability, Ethics, and Theology 
    • THEO 340 Health, Religions, Ethics
  • ONE 3-CH History of Medicine course. Choose from:
    • ENGL 205 Lit & Moral Imag: Early American Medicine*
    • ENGL 335 Doctors in Lit & Culture
    • ENGL 350 The Weird Nineteenth Century
    • HIST 199 History of Native American Health†
    • HIST 199 Disability History†
    • HIST 199 Who Gets Health Care?†
    • HIST 237 Epidemics in America
    • HIST 305/GDST 350 Medical Racism
    • HIST 319 Health and Medicine in Britain
    • THEO 316 (or THEO 372) Disability and Theology (new version of the course takes a historicist approach)
  • ONE 3-CH Narrative & Artistic Expression course. Choose from:
    • ENGL 135 Literature & Medicine
    • ENGL 205 Lit & Moral Imag: Disability & Literature*
    • ENGL 205 Lit & Moral Imag: Early American Medicine*
    • ENGL 205 Lit & Moral Imag: Apocalypses and Revelations*
    • ENGL 312 Scientific & Technical Writing
    • ENGL 316 Writing Illness & Health
    • ENGL 335 Doctors in Lit & Culture
    • ENGL 350 The Weird Nineteenth Century
  • ONE 3-CH 300+-level Bioethics course. Choose from:
    • GDST 350/HIST 305 Medical Racism
    • PHIL 329 Bioethics
    • THEO 312 Christian Health Care Ethics
    • THEO 327 Religion and Bioethics

Upper Level Courses (9 Credit Hours)

  • In the senior year, students choose ONE 3-CH upper-level seminar or 300-400-level course that requires a substantive research project. Choose from:
    • ENGL 316 Writing Illness & Health
    • ENGL 335 Doctors in Lit & Culture
    • ENGL 350 The Weird Nineteenth Century
    • HIST 319 Health and Medicine in Britain
    • SPAN 332 Spanish in Community Health Settings§
    • SPAN 3XX Latino Food, Identity & Health§
    • THEO 316 Disability and Theology OR THEO 372 Disability, Ethics, and Theology
    • THEO 340 Health, Religions, Ethics
    • THEO 416 Theology and Trauma
    • A Capstone Seminar in a Humanities Discipline that incorporates a Medical and Health Humanities-based research project may be substituted with program director approval.

Instructors of the listed upper-level courses have agreed to accept a MHH-focused thesis project within the parameters of the course research assignment. Medical and Health Humanities majors must then submit their completed or in-progress research for presentation (via either poster or oral presentation) to the spring Celebration of Student Research and Creative Activity hosted by the College of Arts and Sciences. See the director of the Medical and Health Humanities Program for more information and help submitting an abstract and printing a poster if a poster format is chosen.

  • 6 CH (TWO 3-CH courses) of upper-division (200-400-level) electives. Choose from:
    • ASLN 291 Deafness Culture & Community§
    • BIOL 227 Parasitology§
    • BIOL 364 Virology§
    • BIOL 430 Medical Genetics§
    • ENGL 205 Lit & Moral Imagination: Early American Medicine*
    • ENGL 205 Lit & Moral: Disability & Literature*
    • ENGL 205 Lit & Moral Imag: Health, Activism, Community*
    • ENGL 205 Lit & Moral: Apocalypses and Revelations*
    • ENGL 312 Technical & Scientific Writing
    • ENGL 316 Writing Illness & Health
    • ENGL 335 Doctors in Lit & Culture
    • ENGL 350 The Weird Nineteenth Century
    • GDST 208 Introduction to Disability Studies
    • GDST 258/THEO 258 Race, Religion and Healing
    • GDST 350/HIST 305 Medical Racism
    • HIST 237 Epidemics in America
    • HIST 319 Health and Medicine in Britain
    • PHIL 200 Philosophical Perspectives: Humans, Animals, Machines*
    • PHIL 316 Philosophy & Psychology
    • PHIL 329 Bioethics
    • PSYC 368 Health Psychology
    • SPAN 332 Spanish in Community Health Settings§
    • SPAN 3XX Latino Food, Identity & Health§
    • THEO 312 Christian Health Care Ethics
    • THEO 340 Health, Religions, Ethics
    • THEO 327 Religion and Bioethics
    • THEO 316 Disability and Theology OR THEO 372 Disability, Ethics, and Theology
    • THEO 404 Religion, Ethics and Professional Practice
    • THEO 416 Theology and Trauma

Notes:

  • Courses may double-count for the major and core curriculum requirements as appropriate.
  • *ENGL 205 and PHIL 200 may only be taken once, regardless of focus.
  • †Generally, only one section of HIST 199 may be taken, but students may petition the program director to upgrade ONE additional section of HIST 199 to an elective for the major.
  • §This course has a pre-requisite or pre-requisites beyond the core curriculum and the requirements for the Medical and Health Humanities major. Consult the course schedule or catalog for details. Students interested in the 300-level Spanish courses must complete Spanish 202 and Spanish 300 beyond the core curriculum language requirement.