Course Synopsis:

This course focuses on the history of medicine, health, and disease through a close examination of the themes that have shaped the history of medicine as a field. Our focus will be primarily on examples that cover the American context. We will examine the changing ways in which historians have told the story of medicine, from triumphalist narratives of institutional and scientific progress, to stories that recover the voices of patients and highlight the complex relations between medicine, society, and culture. Topics will include patient histories, scientific medicine, the rise of the hospital system, professionalization, medicine and politics, public health, and the ways in which gender, race, and class intersect with medicine, health, and disease. Students will be evaluated according to seminar discussions and presentations, a peer review, and a historiographical essay. Prior experience in history of science and/or medicine is not necessary for success in this course.

Learning Outcomes:

Upon successful completion of this course, student will have learned to:
•    Master the historiography of modern American medicine and its key issues;
•    Master skills in analyzing and discussing scholarship in the history of medicine;
•    Master skills in writing historiographical work;
•    Master skills in the process of peer review.

Method of Evaluation and Weights:

Participation                        30%
Seminar Presentation 1        10%
Seminar Presentation 2        10%
Essay Presentation              10%
Peer Review                          5%
Historiographical Essay        35%

Texts Required:

A set of electronic readings, available through the University of Guelph Course Reserves System.

 
Please note: This is a preliminary website description only. The department reserves the right to change without notice any information in this description. The final, binding course outline will be distributed in the first class of the semester.