The Medical and Health Humanities Program can be followed on a full- or part-time basis, allowing flexibility to accommodate your schedule. From the Fall of 2020 and on, some courses will be offered as hybrid courses, where face-to-face and online learning is combined. Designed with working professionals in mind, all courses are offered in the late afternoon and early evening.

The Medical and Health Humanities Program is conducted jointly with the Caspersen School of Graduate Studies at Drew University, the Overlook Medical Center, RWJ Barnabas Health, and Morristown Medical Center at Atlantic Health Systems. The program is a partner of the Religion and Global Health Forum, and the Program Director co-coordinates with the International Care Ethics Research Consortium, and leads the Art and Care Sessions and Platform.

Advanced Research

Medical and Health Humanities students demonstrate competence in advanced research, interpretation, and exposition of a pertinent area of study that offers an original and meaningful contribution to human thought and relations. Master of Arts candidates complete a thesis.

Curricular Components

Courses emphasizing Biomedical and Care Ethics explore health care issues encountered in practice and policy, including:

• ethical and religious debates concerning abortion, death and dying, and human experimentation;

• the language of ethics in everyday situations of care;

• philosophical concepts such as dependency, vulnerability, and precariousness;

• and the interpretation of ethical issues highlighted in the media and policy.

Courses emphasizing Narratives in medicine and care explore how to “tell,” “read,” and interpret the stories and discourse of illness and well-being. Medical Narrative employs multiple approaches to facilitate patient-practitioner-caregiver communication and understanding, including anecdote, medical history, and case presentation.

Clinical Practica involve the incorporation of Medical Humanities theory into health care practices. The practicum is individualized according to each student’s needs and interests, and can include clinical rounds, clinical observation, and Bioethics Committee meetings. Therefore, the program works in close alliance with health care organizations like the Atlantic Health System (Morristown Medical Center).