Program: Health and Medical Humanities Minor - University of Southern Mississippi

Mar 29, 2025

2024-2025 Undergraduate Bulletin

The Health and Medical Humanities Minor is earned through an interdisciplinary series of courses and teaches students how to use the skills and interpretive methods of the humanities, social sciences, and arts to consider topics related to human health and medicine. The Health and Medical Humanities can allow future medical professionals to gain new insight into their profession; can allow those in the humanities and social sciences to develop interdisciplinary skills to enhance their coursework and help them envision new career paths; and can allow all students to gain insight into their own experiences as people who will inevitably experience their own and loved ones’ illnesses, disabilities, and medical treatment.

Academic Policies and Requirements for Minors:

See University Academic Policies for Minors

Hours to Minor: 18 hours

Curriculum:

Students will take 9 hours of required core courses on the Health and Medical Humanities, as well as 9 hours of related elective courses.

Required courses:

IDS 370 - Introduction to Health & Medical Humanities 3 hrs.
IDS 371 - Topics in Health & Medical Humanities 3 hrs. (if more than three credits are earned, the additional hours will count towards elective hours)
PHI 356 - Ethics 3 hrs. or
PHI 452 - Health Care Ethics 3 hrs.

Elective courses (9 hours):

no more than two classes from any prefix category

ANT 442 - Medical Anthropology 3 hrs.
CMS 440 - Health Communication 3 hrs.
ENG 221 - Fiction Writing I 3 hrs.
ENG 222 - Poetry Writing I 3 hrs.
ENG 223 - Creative Writing I: Mixed Genre 3 hrs.
ENG 321 - Fiction Writing II 3 hrs.
ENG 322 - Poetry Writing II 3 hrs.
ENG 421 - Fiction Writing III 3 hrs.
ENG 422 - Poetry Writing III 3 hrs.
HIS 422 - History of Medicine 3 hrs.
IDS 352 - Topics in Disability Studies 3 hrs.
IDS 371 - Topics in Health & Medical Humanities 3 hrs.
PHI 316 - Philosophy of Science 3 hrs.
PHI 356 - Ethics 3 hrs.
PHI 452 - Health Care Ethics 3 hrs.
REL 424 - Religion and Healing 3 hrs.
SOC 312 - Sociology of Mental Health and Illness 3 hrs.
SOC 423 - Sociology of Health 3 hrs.

Note:

*PHI 356, 435, and 452 can only count as electives if they are not used above to fulfill the Ethics requirement in “Required Courses”; IDS 371 can count towards a student’s elective hours only if the student takes more than the 3 hours of IDS 371 that are required

Several upper-level survey and special topics courses may also count towards the minor if their content in the given semester is based on topics related to the Health and Medical Humanities. These include courses offered through the English, History, Criminal Justice, Communication Studies, and Sociology programs. These courses may be cross-listed with IDS 371. Please consult the Health and Medical Humanities program director to see about anticipated future course offerings in these and other fields.