This course investigates the human experience of health and illness as well as the values and beliefs behind the practice of healing. The course will examine how disease and treatment are defined in different global traditions, including Greco-Arabic Medicine, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and Western Biomedicine. Students will also examine the importance and efficacy of empathetic care on the part of doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals. The course will introduce students to interdisciplinary approaches to questions of health and illness, drawing on the methods and perspectives of narrative medicine, medical anthropology, bioethics, and the sociology of illness. Students will explore such contemporary healthcare issues as patient advocacy, disabilities rights, end-of-life care, reproductive autonomy, genetic counseling, health law, healthcare policy, and alternative medicine. Meets Gen Ed - Interdisciplinary Studies.