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Literature and Medicine (II): Medical Humanities Reading Group

 

The present Innova-Docencia project, “Literatura y Medicina (II): Seminario de Humanidades Médicas,” is a continuation of the previous Innova project of the same name, no. 138, 2024–25, in which a Medical Humanities seminar was created to introduce undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students to this emerging field within critical theory. Medical Humanities is an interdisciplinary field of knowledge that explores the subjective experience of illness through representations in literature and the arts. On the basis of these analyses, Medical Humanities also has a practical dimension, since it seeks to improve the patient’s experience in areas that go beyond strictly scientific diagnosis, treatment and prognosis: the improvement of self-concept and the reconceptualization of the self after, or during, illness; the humanization of patient care; and the acceptance and destigmatization of certain illnesses and disabilities. Medical Humanities therefore offers a rich and creative way of understanding and promoting health and well-being from the perspective of the humanities.

The Innova-Docencia project “Literatura y Medicina (II): Seminario de Humanidades Médicas” is framed within the Proyecto del Plan Nacional del Ministerio de Ciencia “Narrativas de enfermedad: género y conciencia sanitaria” (ref.: PID2024-155270NB-I00; 2025–2028; a continuation of an earlier project on Medical Humanities carried out between 2021 and 2024), of which some of the teaching staff and early-career researchers participating in this Innova project are members. In this way, the project seeks to transfer to students and to the general public the research results obtained, as well as to apply them to teaching.

In the seminar, one expert member of the teaching and research staff, together with one student supervised by a member of the teaching and research staff, will guide the discussion of a text related to Medical Humanities that will have been circulated among participants in advance. The sessions will be organized thematically as follows: 1) an introductory theoretical session, 2) the study of autopathographies, 3) pathographies from the point of view of the healthcare professional, and 4) pathographies from the point of view of the caregiver. Different genres will be addressed, including graphic novels, short stories, novels, autobiography, poetry and film, in order to arrive at an in-depth reflection on the representation of illness and its construction at the social and identity levels, beyond merely biomedical and physiological understandings of health. The following questions will be considered: How does illness affect the construction of identity? How is illness narrated? Why is there a social rejection of illness, and which illnesses have been especially stigmatized? How does literature respond to, reimagine and subvert this stigmatization? Is it possible to live with illness, and to exist with illness? How has the perception of certain illnesses changed in Western culture? What constitutes well-being? How are these conceptions represented in recent Anglophone literature?

The project seeks not only to disseminate knowledge of, and increase interest in, the emerging field of Medical Humanities, which will lead to research projects such as undergraduate dissertations, master’s theses and doctoral dissertations, as well as outreach activities during the Semana de la Ciencia and the Semana de las Letras, but also to improve students’ critical and debate skills at different educational levels. Through in-depth engagement with various examples of theory and case studies related to Medical Humanities in small seminar groups of no more than 25 people, participants will also gain confidence and autonomy in their own learning, as will be assessed through questionnaires specifically adapted and designed for this project. The results of this project will be disseminated through scientific and outreach publications, as was the case with the previous Innova project.

References:

Fox-Cardamone, L., and Rue, S. (2003). Students’ Responses to Active-Learning Strategies: An Examination of Small-Group and Whole-Class Discussion. Research for Educational Reform, 8, 3–15.

Hawkins, A. H. (1993). Reconstructing Illness: Studies in Pathographies. Purdue UP.

Jones, J. M. (2014). Discussion Group Effectiveness is Related to Critical Thinking through Interest and Engagement. Psychology Learning & Teaching, 13(1), 12–24.

Members:

Faculty: Laura de la Parra Fernández, Carmen M. Méndez García, Francisco José Cortés Vieco, Rebeca Gualberto Valverde, Isabel Marqués López

Laura Rodríguez Arnaiz (doctoral student), Claudia Alea Parrondo (doctoral student), Rodrigo Vega Ochoa (doctoral student), Álvar Menéndez Cámara (doctoral student), Mónika Mihaela Luca (doctoral student)

Students: Salma Hmata Fahmi (doctoral student in Literary Studies), Yuliia Berchuk (master’s student in Literary Studies), María Pérez Represa (undergraduate student in English Studies)

 

Previous Teaching Innovation Projects

 

Literature and Medicine (I): Medical Humanities Reading Group

Our Teaching Innovation Project for 2024 “Literature and Medicine: Medical Humanities Seminar,” aimed to create a seminar to introduce undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral students to the emerging field of Medical Humanities. This interdisciplinary area explores the experience of illness through its representation in literature and the arts, seeking to improve aspects of patient care beyond medical diagnosis and treatment. These improvements include:

• The reconceptualization of the self during or after illness.

• The humanization of patient care.

• The acceptance and destigmatization of certain diseases and disabilities.

This project was part of the National Science Plan “Gender and Pathography from a Transnational Perspective” (2021-2024), which aims to transfer research results to students for application in teaching.

The seminar met a month, on Wednesday afternoon, and featured thematic sessions, organized as follows:

1. Theoretical introduction.

2. Study of autobiographical pathographies.

3. Pathographies from the perspective of healthcare professionals.

4. Pathographies from the perspective of caregivers.

Various literary genres (graphic novels, short stories, autobiographies, poetry, film) were analyzed to reflect on how illness affects identity and how literature responds to the stigmatization of certain conditions.

The seminar not only seeked to increase interest in Medical Humanities, which resulted in research work (undergraduate theses, master’s theses, doctoral dissertations), but also aimed to improve students’ critical and debate skills. The seminars were small (maximum 25 people), fostering confidence and autonomy in learning, with outcomes measured through adapted questionnaires.

The results of the project have been disseminated through scientific and outreach publications, among others: