Illness Narratives: Dramatic Writing as a Bridge to Empathy
MMH 716
Subject & Catalog Number
Course Information
Description
Empathy cannot be taught in academic terms. It is experiential. Dramatic narratives, ie: plays, screenplays, and teleplays, give us vicarious access to the experience of 'the other', including the ill. The experience of illness varies from person to person depending on a constellation of socio-economic, racial and ethnic, psychological, and political factors. Artistic narratives help elucidate this context in a way that goes beyond simple statistics.
In this course we will read several such narratives as well as writing our own, addressing topics including disability, addiction, mental illness, the role of the family in illness, the role reversal that occurs when clinicians become ill, and the end of life. We will also explore the history of medical narratives, the ethical considerations involved in telling the stories of illness, and the power of such stories to promote healing in individuals and society.
Class Notes
This class is only open to students in the Master of Science in Media, Medicine, and Health program.
Not Available for Cross Registration
