Cristian Rodriguez

If you’re looking for a major, then look no further than the health humanities major, which will be introduced in the fall. To find out more about the incoming major, I talked to Arts and Humanities division head Dr. Friederike Baer.

Q: So to start off, what is health humanities?

A:  The health humanities is an interdisciplinary field that explores questions and issues related to health and illness from a humanistic perspective. Rather than looking at it from a science or medical perspective, the health humanities tries to understand the body not just physically, but also mental health through the lens of humanistic and artistic inquiry.

Q: Why do you believe this is a good major for Abington students?

A: We’re planning to introduce two versions of the major, a Bachelors of Science and a Bachelors of the Arts.  We think this would be a good option for students because it’s a strong liberal arts degree. It would prepare you really for all kinds of careers, you don’t necessarily have to enter a medical field. You could go into advocacy, law, education, social work, or perhaps public health amongst other things.

Q: How else does health humanities help students professionally?

A: Aside from content, you acquire skills such as critical thinking, persuasion, communication, empathy, and the ability to explore challenging issues from multiple perspectives, and express yourself creatively about them.

Q: What’s the difference between the bioethics and medical humanities minor and the health humanities major?

A: Those actually would be great to pair, you know, you can do both. Traditionally, the bioethics and medical humanities minor has an emphasis on bioethics. That being said, there is also some flexibility in that field. You will see sometimes names like medical humanities, health humanities, health and society, they’re all trying to do the same thing, approach health and illness holistically.

Q: Is there any other minors you would suggest for students?

A:  I would say the writing minor would be great for anyone in my opinion. The ability to write well and persuasively is good combined with anything. I would also say minors such as African American studies, or Asian studies would provide students the opportunity to focus more on a particular community. But I would also say something like business, a degree that hones skills that will allow you to be more effective kind of advocate.

The health humanities major will help with understanding illness in more of a human perspective and advances skills that can be used in a multitude of fields. Health humanities opens doors to business careers, or careers in the arts or medicine.

Students interested in health humanities should expect to take course in communication arts and sciences, philosophy, English, history, and art, amongst other courses. Information about the new major will be released in the coming months.

Questions about the major can be directed to Dr. Pierce Salguero, who is the Program Chair of Integrative Arts and of Letters, Arts, and Sciences.