Revitalizing the Liberal Arts through the Health Humanities Minor

FAIN: AA-284520-22

Bucknell University (Lewisburg, PA 17837-2005)
John David Penniman (Project Director: May 2021 to present)

A three-year project to develop a health humanities minor.

Bucknell University’s Health Humanities Working Group proposes the development of a new interdisciplinary minor in the health humanities as a means of revitalizing the liberal arts core, expanding students’ humanistic knowledge of health, and contributing to the University’s already well-situated rural and community partnerships. The minor will have three basic components: 1) a gateway course entitled Humanizing Health; 2) three electives drawn from different humanities departments; and 3) a capstone experience placing students in civic engagement with our rural local communities. Funded activities include summer workshops; curricular development grants; funding for the program director; and external review. Through its emphasis on the urgency of the health humanities for all students--not just those pursuing careers in biomedicine--this project will amplify the humanities’ contribution to understanding health, illness, and medicine within our campus and our regional communities.