Undergraduate Course: Medicine in Literature 2: Medical Ethics in Literature (ENLI10354)
Course Outline
| School | School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course examines the representation of medical ethics in poetry, prose and drama from the late nineteenth century to the present day, tracing the development of medical ethics from a professional code of practice to the application of ethical reasoning to decision making. The course considers literary representations of ethical dilemmas encountered by medical professionals, philosophical frameworks used to negotiate competing ethical claims, and the dynamic relationship between medical practice and the humanities. |
| Course description |
This course examines the representation of medical ethics in poetry, prose and drama from the late nineteenth century to the present day, tracing the development of medical ethics from a professional code of practice to the application of ethical reasoning to decision making. The course considers literary representations of ethical dilemmas encountered by medical professionals, philosophical frameworks used to negotiate competing ethical claims, and the dynamic relationship between medical practice and the humanities. English Literature and Medicine students will have the opportunity to bring the perspectives of the humanities to bear on medical ethics; but they will also be asked to critically examine the ethical positions and perspectives espoused by literary criticism and literary texts. Medical ethical frameworks will be subject to scrutiny, but so too will the ethical frameworks developed within medical humanities. The course will appeal to students who have a particular interest in ethics, the intersections between medicine, science and literature, and the medical/health humanities.
Seminar Schedule
1. Course introduction: In the absence of ethics.
Extract from British Medical Association Ethics Department, Medical Ethics Today (2004).
The Hippocratic Oath.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper (1892)
Arthur Conan Doyle, ¿The Case of Lady Sannox¿ (1894)*
William Carlos Williams, ¿The Use of Force¿ (1938)
2. The Wounded Storyteller: Narrative Ethics and Pathography.
Franz Kafka, The Metamorphosis (1915)
Jean Dominique Bauby, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (1997)
Extract from Arthur Frank, The Wounded Storyteller (1997)
3. Contagion and Public Health
Albert Camus, The Plague (1947).
4. Human research and the public good
Alasdair Gray, Poor Things (1992).*
Andrew Ure, ¿An account of some experiments made on the body of a criminal immediately after execution, with physiological and practical observations¿, Journal of Science and the Arts 6, 283-294 (1819)*
Extract from Rebecca Skloot, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (2010)
5. The Doctor as Critic: Narrative Medicine.
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Cancer Ward (1967).
Extract from Rita Charon, Narrative Medicine (2006)
6. INNOVATIVE LEARNING WEEK
7. Anti-psychiatry and its legacy
Etheridge Knight, ¿Hard Rock Returns to Prison from the Hospital for the Criminally Insane¿ (1968)
David Edgar and Mary Barnes, Mary Barnes (1979)
Joe Penhall, blue/orange (2000)
Extract from R.D. Laing, The Divided Self: An Existential Study in Sanity and Madness (1960)*
8. The Patient¿s Voice
Edna O¿Brien, Down by the River (1996).
9. ESSAY WRITING WEEK
10. Gender Trouble
Jackie Kay, Trumpet (1998)*
Judith Butler, ¿Gender trouble¿ (1990)
Judith Halberstam, ¿The good, the bad, and the ugly¿ (2002)
11. Intimations of Mortality
Margaret Edison, W;t (2000)
John Donne, ¿Death, be not proud¿; ¿If poysonous mineralls¿ (1633)
Extract from Atul Gawande, Being Mortal (2014)
12. Neurocosmopolitanism; or, the ethics of literary criticism
Mark Haddon, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime (2003)
Extract from Daryl Cunningham, Psychiatric Tales (2013)
Lisa Zunshine and Ralph Savarese, ¿The Critic as Neurocosmopolite¿, Narrative (2014)
Extract from G. Thomas Couser, Vulnerable Subjects (2003)
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | A MINIMUM of 4 college/university level literature courses at grade B or above (should include no more than one introductory level literature course). Related courses such as civilisation or other interdisciplinary classes, Freshman Year Seminars or composition/creative writing classes/workshops are not considered for admission to this course. Applicants should also note that, as with other popular courses, meeting the minimum does NOT guarantee admission. In making admissions decisions preference will be given to students who achieve above the minimum requirement with the typical visiting student admitted to this course having 4 literature classes at grade A.
** as numbers are limited, visiting students should contact the Visiting Student Office directly for admission to this course ** |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2015/16, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 15 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
176 )
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| Additional Information (Learning and Teaching) |
FIRST CLASS INFORMATION: Friday 9 - 10.50, Room 3.14, 50 George Square
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
60 %,
Coursework
30 %,
Practical Exam
10 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
One 2,500 word coursework essay (30%) and practical assessment (10%).
Final assessment will consist of an examination essay of 3,000 words for both intercalated BA students and English Literature students (60%).
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| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- By the end of the course, students will be able to ¿ demonstrate core skills in the study of English Literature: essay-writing, independent reading, group discussion, oral presentation, small-group autonomous learning
- perform textual analyses of literary texts
- ¿ demonstrate competency in interdisciplinary research, evidenced by writing two essays which consider the relationship between literature, medicine, and ethics
- ¿ show their understanding of the relationship between literature, medicine, and ethics, as expressed in literary texts from the late nineteenth century to the present day
- ¿ show their understanding of historical developments in principlist medical ethics, narrative medicine, and narrative ethics
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Reading List
Extract from British Medical Association Ethics Department, Medical Ethics Today (2004).
The Hippocratic Oath.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper (1892)
Arthur Conan Doyle, ¿The Case of Lady Sannox¿ (1894)*
William Carlos Williams, ¿The Use of Force¿ (1938)
Franz Kafka, The Metamorphosis (1915)
Jean Dominique Bauby, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (1997)
Extract from Arthur Frank, The Wounded Storyteller (1997)
Albert Camus, The Plague (1947).
Alasdair Gray, Poor Things (1992).*
Andrew Ure, ¿An account of some experiments made on the body of a criminal immediately after execution, with physiological and practical observations¿, Journal of Science and the Arts 6, 283-294 (1819)*
Extract from Rebecca Skloot, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (2010)
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Cancer Ward (1967).
Extract from Rita Charon, Narrative Medicine (2006)
Etheridge Knight, ¿Hard Rock Returns to Prison from the Hospital for the Criminally Insane¿ (1968)
David Edgar and Mary Barnes, Mary Barnes (1979)
Joe Penhall, blue/orange (2000)
Extract from R.D. Laing, The Divided Self: An Existential Study in Sanity and Madness (1960)*
Edna O¿Brien, Down by the River (1996).
Jackie Kay, Trumpet (1998)*
Judith Butler, ¿Gender trouble¿ (1990)
Judith Halberstam, ¿The good, the bad, and the ugly¿ (2002)
Margaret Edison, W;t (2000)
John Donne, ¿Death, be not proud¿; ¿If poysonous mineralls¿ (1633)
Extract from Atul Gawande, Being Mortal (2014)
Mark Haddon, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime (2003)
Extract from Daryl Cunningham, Psychiatric Tales (2013)
Lisa Zunshine and Ralph Savarese, ¿The Critic as Neurocosmopolite¿, Narrative (2014)
Extract from G. Thomas Couser, Vulnerable Subjects (2003)
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Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Katherine Inglis
Tel: (0131 6)50 3617
Email: K.Inglis@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mrs Anne Mason
Tel: (0131 6)50 3618
Email: Anne.Mason@ed.ac.uk |
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