2021-2022 Catalog

HIST 274 Medicine and Disease in Western Society

From its earliest written records in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt, medicine flourished through Greece and Rome, was then kept alive during the medieval golden age of Islamic science, then reawakened during the Renaissance, Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment in Europe, and then crossed the Atlantic to America where indigenous wisdom already thrived. This course traces the history of medicine through these different times, cultures and regions: theory and practice; great doctors and healers, both male and female; and the effects of epidemics, such as the Black Death, on the course of Western civilization. We will end with some historically based speculations about the medical future.

Survey Requirement Met: Europe

Credits

4 units

Core Requirements Met

  • Pre-1800
  • Global Connections