Undergraduate Course: Medicine in Literature 2: Medical Ethics in Literature (ENLI10354)
Course Outline
| School | School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting 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. |
| Course description |
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.
The course will achieve these aims by reading poems, plays, novels, fiction, and memoirs from the late nineteenth century to the present day, alongside various non-fiction sources.
Students who are interested in this course might also like to consider Medicine in Literature 1: Illness Narratives through History, which surveys related issues in writing from the Renaissance to the present day. Illness Narratives is not a prerequisite for this course.
Important Note re Content
In this course we will be discussing content that may be retraumatising to some students. We believe in the importance of engaging with this material and so please be assured that we will work with you to ensure you can participate fully and demonstrate your achievement of the learning outcomes of the course, without compromising your wellbeing or your academic development. If you have concerns at any point we invite you to contact the Course Organiser to discuss how we can best support you in your work on this course. We affirm that you will be treated with dignity and respect in all discussions and at every stage of the course.
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Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2025/26, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 0 |
| 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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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Essay Proposal 20%
Final Essay 70%
Reflective Statement 10%
Essay proposal: in-class live component, no word count, 20%.
This proposal, written in class, comprises a structured series of tasks: choosing or designing a question; mindmapping and choosing texts; timed freewriting of a brief statement of argument, thesis statement, or critical claim and a short bullet-point essay plan; compilation of initial reading list. [LO1 in-part, LO3]
Final essay: 4,000 words 70%. [Meets LO1 in part, LOs 2-5]
Reflective statement: 500-1000 words on the development of the final essay from the essay proposal, 10%. The statement explains how the student responded to the feedback on the proposal, how the final essay has changed from the original proposal and why, what secondary material they used and why, and evaluates the student's own writing, research, and revision process.
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| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- design, revise, and execute a literary critical project on medical ethics, narrative medicine, narrative ethics, or disability studies and literary texts
- produce textual analyses of literary texts using literary critical methods and knowledge
- carry out interdisciplinary research on literary texts and fields related to medical ethics
- analyse and articulate the relationship between literature, medicine, and ethics as expressed in literary texts from the late nineteenth century to the present day
- apply knowledge of historical developments in principlist medical ethics, narrative medicine, and narrative ethics to criticism of literature
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Reading List
| The reading list for this course can be found on the course Resource List. Essential readings are highlighted. |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Katherine Inglis
Tel: (0131 6)50 3617
Email: K.Inglis@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mrs Lina Gordyshevskaya
Tel:
Email: pgordysh@ed.ac.uk |
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