Overview
One of only a few such programs nationwide, the Graduate Certificate in Health Humanities and Ethics is intended to enrich the training of health professions students and graduate students in the humanities and social sciences as well as enhance the expertise of working professionals.
By integrating health humanities and health ethics, the Certificate provides a basis with which to navigate the increasingly complex and nuanced landscape of healthcare through rigorous and relevant explorations of the personal, cultural, and social dimensions of health and disease. In addition to foundational courses in health humanities and health ethics, students can pursue more targeted study in a range of subject areas such as clinical, research or environmental ethics; health communication; medical rhetoric; narrative medicine; literature, film and the visual arts as related to healthcare; or sociological and anthropological approaches to healthcare.
Admissions Requirements
To apply for admission applicants must submit the following:
- Online HEHE application
- Personal Statement: A brief personal statement describing the applicant’s interest and purpose for studying health humanities and ethics.
- Resume: The applicant’s current resume or curriculum vitae, including professional work/practice since graduating with a bachelor’s degree (or equivalent).
- Transcript showing completion of at least a bachelor’s degree
International students must meet ALL of the requirements above and those required by International Admissions.
Certificate Requirements
A total of 12 credit hours in approved courses is required to complete the Certificate in Health Humanities and Ethics.
All students must complete the two required foundation courses (HEHE 5000 and HEHE 5100), which comprise 6 of the total required 12 credit hours.
Selections from the approved elective course list will satisfy the remaining 6 credit hours.
(To count a course toward the Certificate that is not on the approved list requires prior written approval of the Program Director.)
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Core Courses | ||
| HEHE 5000 | Foundations of Health Humanities | 3 |
| HEHE 5100 | Foundations of Health Care Ethics | 3 |
| Elective Courses (offered through CU Anschutz) | ||
| HEHE 5250 | Topics in Media, Medicine and Society | 3 |
| HEHE 5350 | Narrative Principles and Practices in Healthcare | 3 |
| HEHE 5450 | Addressing Health Stigma in Social Contexts | 3 |
| HEHE 5550 | Independent Study in Health Humanities & Health Ethics | 1-3 |
| HEHE 5550 IS: Global Health, Bioethics and Human Rights | 3 | |
| HEHE 5650 | Ethics, Medicine & the Holocaust: Legacies | 3 |
| HEHE 5655 | Introduction to Public Health Ethics | 3 |
| HEHE 5750 | Pain, Its Paradoxes & the Human Condition | 3 |
| HEHE 5850 | Clinical Ethics | 3 |
| Elective Courses (offered through CU Denver) | ||
| ANTH 5290 | Anthropology and Public Health | 3 |
| ANTH 5600 | Medical Anthropology | 3 |
| ANTH 5800 | Special Topics in Medical Anthropology | 3-9 |
| COMM 5500 | Health Communication | 3 |
| COMM 5550 | Rhetorics of Medicine & Health | 3 |
| ENGL 5745 | Humanistic Writing About Medicine and Biology | 3 |
| PHIL 5013 | Methods and Practices of Graduate Interdisciplinary Humanities | 3 |
| PHIL 5242 | Medicine, Health Care, and Justice: Bioethics | 3 |
| PHIL 5350 | Philosophy of Science | 3 |
| RLST 5460 | Death and Concepts of Afterlife | 3 |
| SOCY 5270 | Socl Meanings of Reproduction | 3 |
| SOCY 5650 | Sociology of Adulthood and Aging | 3 |
Learning Objectives
To understand how different perspectives and disciplines inform what constitutes health and disease and the role of the health professional.
To recognize, resolve and reflect on challenging ethical and social issues in health, healthcare, health policy and research.
To examine the values and meanings of health, disease, illness and disability among patients, families, healthcare providers, and communities.
Courses
ANTH 5290 - Anthropology and Public Health (3 Credits)
This course critically explores anthropological approaches to public health problems. Through a number of key issues and case studies, we examine how
public health practice can be enhanced through anthropological research, theory and methodology. Prereq: Graduate standing. Cross-listed with ANTH 4290. Max hours: 3 Credits.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
ANTH 5600 - Medical Anthropology (3 Credits)
Introduces students to the theories and concepts of medical anthropology, the study of human health and illness. Explores conceptions of the body, modalities of healing, the clinical encounter, and new medical technologies. Prereq: Graduate standing. Cross-listed with ANTH 4600. Max hours: 3 Credits.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
ANTH 5800 - Special Topics in Medical Anthropology (3-9 Credits)
Seminar series on current issues in medical anthropology. Faculty offer a range of different courses, including the political economy of drugs, health and human rights, and reproductive health. Prereq: graduate standing. Repeatable. Cross-listed with ANTH 4800. Max hours: 9 Credits.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Repeatable. Max Credits: 9.
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
COMM 5500 - Health Communication (3 Credits)
This class examines the role of communication in a wide range of health contexts. Topics include cultural constructions of health and illness, public health communication campaigns, client-provider interactions, telemedicine, community-based health programs, and medical journalism. Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree majors. Undergraduates with senior standing may enroll with permission of instructor. Cross-listed with COMM 4500. Term offered: fall, spring. Max hours: 3 Credits.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring.
COMM 5550 - Rhetorics of Medicine & Health (3 Credits)
This senior seminar explores why it matters how we talk and think about medicine and health. Case studies explore contagion, contested illnesses, the body, death, and biopower. The course requires extensive discussion of readings and an original research project. Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree majors. Cross-listed with COMM 4550. Term offered: fall. Max hours: 3 Credits.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Fall.
ENGL 5745 - Humanistic Writing About Medicine and Biology (3 Credits)
Investigates medical and biological writing over the last two centuries with an emphasis on reception, ethical issues, and the differences between professional and popular writing. Prereq: Graduate standing. Cross-listed with ENGL 4745. Max hours: 3 Credits.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
HEHE 5000 - Foundations of Health Humanities (3 Credits)
This course explores the relationships among health, medicine, and society as well as the representations of illness, suffering, disability, and death through the lens of literature, the arts and philosophy, paying particular attention to power relationships and categories of difference.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Typically Offered: Fall.
HEHE 5100 - Foundations of Health Care Ethics (3 Credits)
This course provides learners with an opportunity to explore the foundations of health care ethics. The material will cover several different ethical frameworks, with an eye to application to practical problems of health care and population health.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Typically Offered: Spring.
HEHE 5250 - Topics in Media, Medicine and Society (3 Credits)
This interdisciplinary course will explore the interconnections and intersections between medicine and media, investigating a significant collaborative enterprise that characterizes American culture.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer.
HEHE 5350 - Narrative Principles and Practices in Healthcare (3 Credits)
This course introduces students to the intellectual and clinical discipline of narrative work in healthcare. Students will explore the theoretical foundations of narrative in healthcare and participate in structured workshops to improve close reading of texts and writing skills. Requisite: 008754
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer.
HEHE 5450 - Addressing Health Stigma in Social Contexts (3 Credits)
This interdisciplinary course will equip students with the tools needed to understand health stigma, to construct an explanation as to why it is so common and to explain what, if anything, should be done to address such stigma. Requisite: 008754
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer.
HEHE 5550 - Independent Study in Health Humanities & Health Ethics (1-3 Credits)
This independent study will permit students to pursue specialized topics and/or previously studied topics in health humanities and health ethics in greater depth and with more flexible scheduling. Requisite: 008754
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Repeatable. Max Credits: 3.
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer.
HEHE 5650 - Ethics, Medicine & the Holocaust: Legacies (3 Credits)
German health professionals – especially physicians, but also nurses, dentists, pharmacists, midwives and public health practitioners – developed and led some of the most heinous activities of the Third Reich. Why? And what are the legacies of this history for medicine and society today?
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring.
HEHE 5655 - Introduction to Public Health Ethics (3 Credits)
This course provides learners with an introduction to public health ethics. The material explores differences between public health ethics & health care ethics, important frameworks used in public health ethical analysis, and significant practice in analyzing public health ethics cases.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Typically Offered: Fall.
HEHE 5750 - Pain, Its Paradoxes & the Human Condition (3 Credits)
This course explores the lived experiences of pain, its paradoxes, and the extent to which it is a key feature of the human condition. Analyses will be drawn from history, religious studies, philosophy, literature, poetry, public health, medicine, and law.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring.
HEHE 5850 - Clinical Ethics (3 Credits)
he purpose of this course is to introduce students to the theory, methods, history, and application of clinical ethics. Course sessions will include instructor- and student-led didactics. Students will be expected to discuss issues and cases in clinical ethics and critically analyze ethical topics and cases in oral and written formats.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Typically Offered: Fall.
PHIL 5013 - Methods and Practices of Graduate Interdisciplinary Humanities (3 Credits)
The second of three required Master of Humanities core courses, this course introduces beginning graduate students to methodologies and intellectual frameworks for gathering, organizing, and developing interdisciplinary research. Focus is on the application of theories and methods of research, interpretation and analysis in humanistic research through readings that explore philosophical and cultural discourses have altered theory and method. Course note: Students must repeat this course if they earn a C+ or lower and must have permission from the instructor to repeat the course. Students will only earn 3 credits for this course, even if they must repeat it. Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors or undergraduate students in the Bachelors to Masters program (PHIL-BA-BMA). Term offered: spring. Max hours: 3 Credits.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors or undergraduate students in the Bachelors to Masters program (PHIL-BA-BMA)
PHIL 5242 - Medicine, Health Care, and Justice: Bioethics (3 Credits)
Anyone entering a medical profession must confront tough ethical issues and dilemmas. These often arise suddenly, so practitioners best preparation is to think ahead about what will likely occur. This course introduces students to a variety cases and philosophical theories useful to healthcare careers. For example, What is “health” and who determines it? Is there a right to health care? How should medical scarcity (vital organs, vaccines, supplies, etc.) be addressed? What duties are owed to patients by healthcare providers, and why? On what grounds may medical treatment be demanded — or refused? The goal of the class is to train students to be nimble and imaginative in how they reason about the difficult cases they will face in their career. Suggested prerequisite one or two previous courses in philosophy, and a minimum grade of C in each course are strongly recommended; if the student lacks this coursework, consult with the professor prior to registration. Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors or undergraduate students in the Bachelors to Masters program (PHIL-BA-BMA). Cross-listed with PHIL 4242, HUMN 5242, SSCI 5242. Term offered: fall. Max hours: 3 Credits.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors or undergraduate students in the Bachelors to Masters program (PHIL-BA-BMA)
Typically Offered: Fall.
PHIL 5350 - Philosophy of Science (3 Credits)
This course examines some of the central philosophical questions concerning the nature of scientific investigation, such as the logical relation of evidence to hypothesis, the objective adjudication of competing hypotheses, the logical function of modeling in empirical inquiry, the criterion for a classificatory system to underwrite induction and explanation, the explanatory relationships between the differing sciences, as well as the theoretical and pragmatic function of scientific law and its relationship to explanation. Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors or undergraduate students in the Bachelors to Masters program (PHIL-BA-BMA). Cross-listed with PHIL 4350. Term offered: spring. Max hours: 3 Credits.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors or undergraduate students in the Bachelors to Masters program (PHIL-BA-BMA)
Typically Offered: Spring.
RLST 5460 - Death and Concepts of Afterlife (3 Credits)
Examines how the major religious traditions approach the issue of death. Where the Egyptians were fascinated by death, their Mesopotamian and Hebrew neighbors saw no kind of experience continuing after death. Concepts of the Final Judgment Day and the end of the world follow in Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam, while Indian religions developed a sophisticated theory of reincarnation and the "art of dying." Finally, we will turn to Chinese belief in ancestral spirits. Restriction: Restricted to Graduate level students. Cross-listed with RLST 4460. Term offered: fall. Max Hours: 3 Credits.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Fall.
SOCY 5270 - Socl Meanings of Reproduction (3 Credits)
Reproduction involves more than biological processes, assuming symbolic, political, and ideological meanings. This course examines contested meanings of reproduction, including how people experience reproduction, controversies over who should reproduce (and under what circumstances), and how public policy mediates these conflicts. Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors or undergraduate students in the Sociology Bachelor's to Master's program (SOCI-BA-BMA). Cross-listed with SOCY 4270, WGST 4270 and WGST 5270. Term offered: spring. Max hours: 3 Credits.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors or undergraduate students in the Sociology Bachelor's to Master's program (SOCI-BA-BMA)
Typically Offered: Spring.
SOCY 5650 - Sociology of Adulthood and Aging (3 Credits)
Examination of the adult life course—post-adolescence to death, focusing on key social transitions of adulthood (e.g., independence from parents, marriage, retirement), and historical, institutional, and social factors that create variation in their timing, meaning, and individuals’ role experiences. Cross-listed with SOCY 4650. Prereq: Graduate standing. Term offered: spring. Max Hours: 3 Credits.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree Majors
Typically Offered: Spring.
Contact Us
Daniel S. Goldberg, J.D., Ph.D
Director of Education, Center for Bioethics and Humanities,
Daniel.Goldberg@CUAnschutz.edu
Laurie Munro, M.A.
Senior Education Coordinator, Center for Bioethics and Humanities,
Laurie.Munro@CUAnschutz.edu