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Certificate in Medical Humanities

Certificate in Medical Humanities

This certificate is open to currently registered Dalhousie and King’s students in all faculties, as well as to Special Undergraduate students who meet the entrance requirements for the Bachelor of Arts degree.

The field of studies described in scholarly literature by the names “Medical Humanities” or “Health Humanities” is a wide-ranging, interdisciplinary field that explores the complex relationships between medicine, health, society, and culture across a range of times and places. The Dalhousie / King’s Certificate in Medical Humanities is designed for anyone who wishes to learn more about the ways in which global human societies have constructed and engaged with health, wellness, medicine, illness, healing and the body in the past; it also invites students to explore the means by which human societies might deepen their comprehension of these crucial concepts in the future.

University of King's College

This certificate will be of interest to students who are considering entering Medicine or the Health Professions and who wish to expand their knowledge of medicine’s interactions with human societies and forms of cultural expression. It will help these students to think critically about medicine’s past and future roles in human life, about changing definitions of health and illness, and about the interactions that affect the patient experience. It will also be of interest to students in the Arts, Social Sciences, and Sciences who wish to engage more thoughtfully and critically with the constructions of health and illness that shape our everyday lives, as well as with the health-related challenges that face contemporary civil society. Finally, the program will be of interest to members of the general public who wish to deepen their understanding of the past, present, and future of medicine, health, and healing in human cultures.

King’s courses

This certificate is a 12-credit-hour certificate with several categories of requirements. These King’s courses count towards this certificate.

Core Area 1: History of Medicine

  • HSTC 2102.03: Origins of Modern Medicine (All students must take this course)

Core Area 3: Medicine and the Humanities

  • HSTC 2202.03: The Beginnings of Western Medicine: The Birth of the Body
  • HIST 3916.03 Health and Disease in Medieval Society

Elective Courses

  • CTMP 2301.03: Pain
  • CTMP 2203.03/HSTC2206.03: Biopolitics: Human Nature in Contemporary Thought
  • CTMP 2330.03: Reflections on Death
  • CTMP 3130.03: The Thought of Michel Foucault
  • CTMP 4301.03: Freud, Lacan, and the Critique of Psychoanalysis
  • EMSP / GWST / HSTC 2310.03: Women and Gender in Early Modern Science
  • EMSP / HSTC 2350.03: The Body in Early Modern Europe
  • EMSP / HSTC 3310.03: Hidden Worlds: Microscopy in Early Modern Europe
  • GWST 2412.03/HPRO: 4412.03 Human Sexuality
  • HSTC 3101.03/CTMP 3204.03: Human Experiments
  • HSTC 3102.03: Plagues, Pandemics and People
  • HSTC 3121/ EMSP 3321/ RELS 3121/ HIST 3990: In Search of the Philosopher’s Stone: The History of European Alchemy
  • HSTC 4301.03: History of Neuroscience
  • INDG 3052.03 Indigenous Social, Health, and Environmental Issues
  • IPHE 2201.03: Introduction to Aboriginal Peoples’ Health and Healing

Contact/Coordinator

Dr. Mélanie Frappier – melanie.frappier@ukings.ca

Consult Dalhousie's website for the full certificate requirements

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