MA Medical Humanities

Medicine is one of the great human activities. The changes that medicine has undergone, and the problems and opportunities it raises, should be of interest to everyone.

Overview

In this MA programme, you are introduced to many questions asked about medicine from within the humanities. For example, you have the opportunity to examine the history of Western medicine and to consider how medical practice is presented in, and shaped by, literature and the arts. You have the chance to reflect on what is involved in classifying something as a disease or an abnormal mental state, and to explore various ethical and legal problems that arise within medicine. You also learn about the history of the medical humanities as a field and the debates that have surrounded its identity and role.

About the School of English

The School of English has a strong international reputation and global perspective, apparent both in the background of its staff and in the diversity of our teaching and research interests.

Teaching and assessment

Assessments vary across the modules. Typically the main assessment is a 5,000 word essay and a dissertation of 12,000 words.

Programme aims

This programme aims to:

• introduce you to a variety of ways in which medical science and practice can be examined within the humanities and social sciences, and to a range of questions and issues that it raises. In doing so, part of the richness of medical science will be revealed, as well as its problems. The relevant disciplines include history, literature, philosophy and law
• place the study of various materials (such as texts, images, data, legal judgments, etc) at the centre of student learning and analysis

Careers

Many career paths can benefit from the writing and analytical skills that you develop as a postgraduate student in the School of English. Our students have gone on to work in academia, journalism, broadcasting and media, publishing, writing and teaching; as well as more general areas such as banking, marketing analysis and project management.