TOPIC:  "THE DRAMA OF MEDICINE"

In the last century or so, advances in medical science and technology
have powerfully affected both our material world and our inner world,
including the images we have of ourselves and of humanity.  This
section of L142 is designed to develop your appreciation of the
relations between medicine, society, and individual selfhood through
reading, discussing, and writing about a variety of works by authors
who were interested in the personal and cultural aspects of medicine.

Our discussions will move between the concrete situations presented in
the readings and films and the personal, social, and ethical questions
they raise for patients, medical professionals, and citizens of the
21st century.  Some likely areas of discussion:  the relation between
medicine and culture, the personal and social meanings of illness and
healing, popular images of doctors, and patient-physician
relationships.

Students will write frequently, at varying length and with varying
formality, and there will be weekly quizzes on basic terms, ideas, and
techniques.  The longer papers will account for 60% of the final
grade, the mid-term 15%, the lecture quizzes 10%, and section
activities (some of them involving writing) the remaining 15%.

Required readings for the course will include most of the following:
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, THE YELLOW WALLPAPER; Henrik Ibsen, AN ENEMY
OF THE PEOPLE (the adaptation by Arthur Miller); Susanna Kaysen, GIRL,
INTERRUPTED; and Joyce Wadler, MY BREAST.  We will probably see the
following films in evening showings (those unable to attend may see
the films independently):  Miss Evers' Boys, Outbreak, One Flew Over
the Cuckoo's Nest, and Bringing Out the Dead.  Besides the above,
there will be a required packet of duplicated readings.