Elmira College

« Back to Recent News

Exploring Our Humanity and the Equity of Care in Health and Medicine

Elmira, NY (06/04/2021) — This is the fourth of seven First-Year Friday articles that will run every Friday through the end of June.

What rights do we have as individuals when it comes to our care and the care of others? How do we weigh the benefit of the individual against that of the larger community? Although exploring these questions in different ways, two First-Year Seminar classes, The Medical Humanities and Our Bodies, Ourselves, ask students to consider the human side of the medical field as well as implications for cultural groups who experience inequity and bias as a result of policies and practices.

Mary Jo Mahoney, associate professor of English, wants students taking The Medical Humanities class to ask themselves, 'What does it mean to be living?'

"This course encourages listening as a pathway toward understanding each other," said Mahoney. "If medicine cannot always cure, health care providers can still facilitate healing, improve well-being, and lessen isolation by hearing what's central to another person's experience."

Students will review a wide breadth of literature, media, social sciences and art from scholars, writers, practitioners, patients and caregivers to get diverse perspectives on wellness and illness. They will ask difficult questions about suffering and dignity, and the responsibility we have to each other.

"The texts for this class interrogate illness and champion compassion as a core value," said Mahoney. "Our class discussions reveal paradigms of power and vulnerability, justice and injustice in stories of illness. We aim to rectify inequity, suffering and silence through voice, narrative and reflective listening practices."

In Our Bodies, Ourselves, taught by Rebecca Johnson, associate professor of education and director of the First-Year Seminar Program, students get to ask about a particular intersection between the medical field and education: sex education.

"My favorite thing about teaching Our Bodies, Ourselves is the community we build during the term," said Johnson. "We are tackling some challenging and controversial topics, and my goal is to build a constructive dialogue about these sensitive issues."

In learning about the history of sex education, students can reflect on the different and competing opinions within this topic and explore the impact of policy decisions on their own lives and the lives of people differently situated.

"This is not a lecture course, it is a curated discussion," said Johnson. "I am always amazed to see how skilled the students are at talking across differences, and certainly fine-tuning this ability is what we need from all our leaders."

Ultimately, these two classes will challenge students to consider the complexity of how we care for each other, asking students to rise to the challenge that weighs difficult questions about our individual rights against those of marginalized groups and the larger society.

Learn more about the First-Year Seminar and Living Learning Communities in previous articles (see below links). We will continue to run First-Year Friday articles through June 25 to give students a guide while they consider which courses to take and the Living Learning Community that best aligns with their own goals and aspirations.

PREVIOUS FIRST-YEAR FRIDAY ARTICLES:
Elmira College Programs Focus on Leadership From The Start
Planting the Seeds of Equity in Sustainable Living and Environmental Justice Course
What Hikes and Darwin Can Teach You About People and Science

Media Attachments

In The Medical Humanities course, students will review a wide breadth of literature, media, social sciences and art from scholars, writers, practitioners, patients and caregivers to get diverse perspectives on wellness and illness. They will ask difficult questions about suffering and dignity, and the responsibility we have to each other.

In the Our Bodies, Ourselves course, students can reflect on the different and competing opinions within the topic of sex education and explore the impact of policy decisions on their own lives and the lives of people differently situated.

Copyright © 2024 Merit Pages, Inc. • All Rights Reserved. • Terms of Service • Privacy Policy • Opt Out