Course Schedule and Catalog

Department: Medical Humanities

Meeting: 11:00AM - 12:15PM MW (12-JAN-2026 - 24-APR-2026) 

Part of Term: Full Term

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Seminar

Language of Instruction: Taught in English

Method of Instruction: Face to Face

Credit Hours: 3

 

Section Max Enrollment: 24

Section Enrolled: 24

Waitlisted: 0 (Max 99) 

Current members of the waitlist have priority for available seats.

Enrollment data as of: 25-NOV-2025 8:49AM

 

 

Final Exam: No Final Exam

 

Description: This interdisciplinary humanities course examines cultural and historical stories about one of the most important professions in healthcare: nursing. With a focus on the US, we will study major nodes in the history of modern nursing, asking questions such as what are the dominant stories about nursing’s meaning and what do they get right or wrong? How have nurses themselves used storytelling to articulate their professional identity? And how does nursing's ethic of care intersect with the medical humanities? We will answer these questions by examining a range of historical, literary, and media narratives of nursing from the mid-19th century to the present, exploring topics such as the complicated legacy of Florence Nightingale, the rise of professional and public health nursing, the changing gendered, racial, and class politics of nursing, nursing and radical health activism, and nurses’ unique role in engaging with patient narratives. Class sessions will involve a mixture of in-class discussion of topic-based course readings and trips to local archives. We will also welcome regular guest speakers to talk about current issues in nursing today. This multidisciplinary course will culminate in a final group project gathering the oral histories of nurses currently working at the Texas Medical Center. The final third of the semester will be spent learning about the methods, ethics, and narrative possibilities of oral history as well as conducting interviews in small groups. No prior experience working on an oral history project required.