Course Schedule and Catalog

Long Title: TOPICS IN CREATIVE WRITING FOR MEDICAL HUMANITIES: WRITING AND READING (NEAR) DEATH EXPERIENCES

Department: Medical Humanities

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Language of Instruction: Taught in English

Course Type: Seminar

Credit Hours: 3

Description: “I learned a lot of things in medical school. Mortality wasn’t one of them.” So begins Atul Gawande’s bestselling memoir about the challenges of end-of-life medicine in a culture obsessed with avoiding death at all costs. How do we talk, write, and think about the Gordian knot near death experiences create —increasingly common as lifesaving technologies rapidly advance? In this course, students will read literary writing on the subject of death and its attendant challenges, and well as learn to write creatively and concisely about it — in their own lives and in the experiences of others. Students will learn directly from writers, physicians, and historians during in-class visits and gain valuable skills as communicators, to enhance their future endeavors as students and health care professionals. Repeatable for Credit.