Kelsy: Hello and welcome to the first Humanities article of the 2017-2018 school year! The humanities column has two editors—Joe and me! It’s nice to meet you guys.
Joe: What up. In this column we will focus on OSSM's humanities department as well as student-authored work of various forms. We will start off each article with a haiku.
Kelsy: That’s right! So, without further ado, today’s haiku is sponsored by Mimi Son:
Six-week grades are sad
But they do not define you
Things will get better
Joe: We would like to thank Mimi for her uplifting words. The following article will begin our mini-series on humanities electives offered at OSSM. To kick it off I conducted a casual interview with Professor McCargish about her brand-new class, History of Medicine, and got insight into her motivation behind creating the class as well as what she thinks about how the class is going so far.
"Ohhoho look at me. I'm so fancy."
As one of the most popular humanities electives, History of Medicine is intended to emphasize the way medicine and society have affected one another throughout history. Professor McCargish explains that the relationship works both ways, with medicine affecting society's development as well as society affecting medicine's development. She believes that the course will help students be able to see how many other sciences are similarly interrelated with society.
This course, in effect, acts as a bridge between the STEM classes that OSSM students usually focus on and the humanity-related classes that are often forgotten. It lets students learn the skills they need to be a well-rounded individual, especially for those who are considering going into medical humanities and related fields. The course thus offers a great opportunity for science-minded individuals to engage with the humanities.
A hypothetical picture taken during a History of Medicine Class.
You can see STEM (left) and the humanities (right).
Professor McCargish was motivated to create the class due to her own interest in the subject. She completed her Master's thesis over the topic of eugenics, and loves learning about the history of medicine in her free time. She described the class and the preparation she does for it as "a break in the monotony," as much of the rest of her time is devoted to her multiple American History classes or working on her doctoral thesis. The class thus serves to jazz up the week and keep it from running together in an endless stream of a singular subject.
The students seem to enjoy the course for similar reasons. Unlike many other classes which consist almost solely of lecture, Professor McCargish designed her History of Medicine class to be largely based in discussion. Instead of telling her students what to think about a particular subject, she prefers to let them form their own opinions first based on readings, then develop these opinions in small groups before she facilitates a class discussion. She says that she makes a concerted effort to only express her own ideas on a topic after the class has thoroughly exhausted it.
Often, discussions go in a totally different direction than anticipated, but this is always welcomed as the course is designed to be student-led. As students explore the topics that they find intriguing, the entire course can shift direction and grow with the interests of the class. Overall, Professor McCargish says that the class is going better than she ever expected it to, and hopes to continue to offer it in future years.
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Kelsy: Somehow…I feel like I’ve missed out? History of Medicine sounds like so much fun…
Joe: You're definitely missing out. History of Medicine is one of my only classes where I legitimately look forward to doing the readings and participating! It's one of the highlights of my week and I would highly recommend it to anyone who likes contributing to class discussion and developing ideas with their peers. You should have taken it!
Kelsy: You’re right! Next time, I’ll have to plan out my schedule out better, haha. Well, that about wraps up our article this time! Thanks for joining us.
Joe: Keep a look out for our next article in the series, which will be about Professor Wilkins' Science Fiction class.
Ending art card by our very own Joe Coyer!
Feel free to send in art if you'd like us to showcase it.