Medicine and the Humanities: Certainty and Unknowing
HUMS S225E (CRN: 30124) | Syllabus
Instructors: Matthew Morrison
Dates: Session A, May 26 - June 27, 2025
Course Mode: Online
Meeting Times: TTh 1.00-4.15
Distributional Requirements: Humanities
Eligibility: Open to pre-college and college students
Online Course. Sherwin Nuland often referred to medicine as “the Uncertain Art.” In this course, we will address the role of uncertainty in medicine, and the role that narrative plays in capturing that uncertainty. We will focus our efforts on major authors and texts that define the modern medical humanities, with primary readings by Mikhail Bulgakov, Henry Marsh, Atul Gawande, and Lisa Sanders. Other topics will include the philosophy of science (with a focus on Karl Popper), rationalism and romanticism (William James), and epistemology and scientism (Wittgenstein). 1 Credit. Session A: May 26 – June 27. Tuition: $5270. Technology Fee: $85.
Yale Summer Session 2025