UCSF COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
HISTORY OF HEALTH SCIENCES PROGRAM

Fall 2008

HHS 221 Biomedicine and Visual Culture

Instructors: Brian Dolan and John Tercier
Tuesdays 1PM - 3PM
Laurel Heights 485

This course is a graduate-level elective for students in History of Health Sciences, Medical Anthropology, and Medical Sociology. Students in Medicine, Media Studies, and Cultural Studies might also find it of interest. The course aims to provide an understanding of visual practices and how they influence and, in turn, are influenced by contemporary medical technology, healthcare practice, and healthcare systems. Medical images and imaging, public health films, advertising, entertainment programming, and the internet will provide case studies for an interdisciplinary exploration of the ways in which the media has shaped attitudes toward the body, health, disease, and healthcare.

1) Describe the core theories developed in anthropology, history, sociology, and media studies used to analyze visual culture, with specific reference to healthcare.

2) Recognize the historical relations of medicine and the media in their larger social, political, and cultural contexts.

3) Explain how perceptions of health, illness, medical professions, and healthcare institutions have been molded by visual culture.

4) Compare and contrast medicine’s influence and the media with the influence of the media on medicine.

5) Synthesize the ideas presented throughout the course in the preparation of a final term paper to demonstrate their grasp of how visual culture—illustration, photography, film, etc.—might be used to explore, research, and analyze, and contemporary healthcare.

6) Demonstrate the use of visual material and media techniques in teaching.