MEDICAL HUMANITIES VARIOUS TO FORM DEPARTMENTS COME TOGETHER NEW CROSS-COLLEGE MAJOR (J) 0 ~ w 0 <{ 0 <{ WORDS Taryn Bro1vn I I PHOTOS Kazu Fujisa}}}a I n search of a way to join science and humanity classes, Harding brought together the College of Allied Health and the College of Arts & Humanities to create the new Medical Humanities major. Medical Humanities included the study of science and medicine as well as courses in humanities centered on literature, psychology and more. One of its purposes was to help humanize the study of medicine and better understand the patient or client. In May 2016, the university declared Medical Humanities as a major. At least 25 students announced this major for the next semester and professors predicted that number would grow in the future. The Medical Humanities major was founded by a committee including Dr. Debbie Duke, professor of mathematics, and Dr. Kathy Dillion, associate professor of English, Duke thought the major provided an opportunity for diverse interests and scholarship to merge. "\Y/e don't see this just for people who want to go to [medical] school, [physician assistant] school or pharmacy school," Duke said. "We think it would be great for people who want to go into public policy, law or public health." The Medical Humanities major included about five core classes, and electives were added from eight different departments to round out the major. Dillion said this allowed science-heavy majors to have a good foundation of the humanities, which would help them go into their respective pre-professional fields. "We thought Harding would benefit because they are so many people here going into health [fields]," Dillion said. "Harding is particularly strong for this because we care about the spiritual aspect in people's lives, and in doing that it seems like Medical Humanities is tailor-made for Harding." The new Medical Humanities major allowed faculty the opportunity to work with their peers in other departments. Because there were several departments involved, they were able to see different perspectives on how each of their classes worked together for one goal. "Our brainstorming meetings are so interesting because we all think in a different way," Duke said. "[They help] us understand each other, which [then] will be helpful to the students." Freshman Hailey Bracey felt the Medical Humanities major was a great choice for her. "I'm very new to the major, but I'm excited to see all of the opportunities it will lead me to," Bracey said. "I think it's really cool how they've combined [science] and humanities, so [my] options for a career are even broader. I have no idea what I want to do, so this give me a lot of options." I Medical Humanities, a new major on campus that combines the College of Sciences and the College of Arts and Humanities, integrates classes from eight departments on campus. Five core classes and an extensive list of electives for the students to choose from are offered by faculty members in the following departments: Bible, English, history, humanities, health sciences, anthropology, criminal justice, communication, family and consumer sciences, nursing philosophy, political science, psychology, sociology and social work.// Photos by Kazu Fujisawa co a,
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc5NA==