HST 1410 MEDICINE IN THE ANCIENT WORLD
This topics course explores and compares the practice of medicine in four ancient societies: Egypt, Greece, Rome, and China. At a time when human dissection was prohibited, how did doctors across different cultures understand the human body, causes of disease, and whether to treat patients? How did they achieve diagnosis and prognosis? The topics to be discussed in their historical contexts include internal disorders, surgery, hygiene and therapeutics, women’s diseases, medical ethics, and the relationship between medicine and religion and/or magic. This course will be composed of a combination of lectures and discussions. The lectures will explain the ancient historical background and the origins of the sources that we will be reading, and we will use the discussions to review and analyze the contents of the sources/readings.
Course Types
Classical Studies; Civilization
- Skill-wise, students will:
* learn how to read and analyze primary sources critically
* develop historical research skills via individual and group research projects
* build communication strengths (via writing and presentation)
* utilize group discussions to build strong learning communities
Content-wise, students will understand:
* how the ancients perceived their world, and how they interpreted health and diseases
* the limitations of ancient medical practices, and the relationship between medicine and religion
* how different gender roles shaped the understanding of the male vs. female body and women’s diseases
* the similarities and the unique contributions of these societies in terms of their concepts of the body, health, diseases, and treatments – and know how and why these similarities and differences developed