<p>Seminar, three hours. Designed for students interested in health professions or theories of wellness. Study presents a triangulated exploration of Ayurveda, Native healing practices, and Western medicine using humanistic methods of analyses and comparison. Consideration of how different and evolving notions of balance in each tradition structure medical practice and affect care. A final project draws upon these comparative analyses to explore contemporary medical practice in one of the three traditions. Students are expected to balance their findings within the triangulated comparison and acknowledge the recent proliferation of integrative and complementary approaches in Western medicine. P/NP or letter grading.</p>

Comparative Literature

College of Letters and Science

COM LIT 182 - Balancing Act: Comparative Approaches to Wellness, Health, and Medical Practice

Balancing Act: Comparative Approaches to Wellness, Health, and Medical Practice

report on some of the salient scientific advancements in Western medicine and relate them to their research on the different specialties listed in hospitals in the U.S.

understand and practice how literary tools can help to study topics across corpuses of scholarship and especially to delve deeply into the relationship between those giving and those receiving care

produce a final project based on direct observation and research of clinical settings OR written accounts of experience of such settings (or a combination of these) that is grounded in one or some of the implications of the concept of balance as it relates to the practice of medicine

reflect on the intertwined history of 19th Century Western medicine with colonialism

use literary tools to compare (and assess when not to compare) cultural contexts and world views informing the practice of medicine and affecting the reception of care and the restoration of wellness

learn about Native and indigenous concepts of wellness and practices of healing using a variety of secondary sources and original transcriptions; they will understand more about its practice historically

engage with selections of ancient Sanskrit medical texts in English translation and understand contemporary Ayurvedic practice in India and globally

understand how a more integrated practice of medicine and a holistic view of patients is (was) common to all three traditions through study of the notion of “balance” and other common features that highlight a broader view of wellness while accounting for how it has been more challenging to maintain in mainstream Western medicine

study the practice of one of these traditions either first hand through direct engagement in clinical, cultural, or interpersonal settings OR through accounts of these

General Catalog

Balancing Act: Comparative Approaches to Wellness, Health, and Medical Practice

COM LIT 182

4 units