2005/06 Undergraduate Module Catalogue

HPSC2301 History of the Body 1

20 creditsClass Size: 100

Module manager: Adrian Wilson

Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable

Year running 2005/06

This module is mutually exclusive with

HPSC2250 Body in Western Medicine 1

Module replaces

HPSC2250 Body in Western Medicine 1

This module is approved as an Elective

Objectives

On completion of this module, students should be able to:

(i) compare and contrast Western medicine with non-Western medical traditions, particularly with Chinese and Ayurvedic systems of medicine;

(ii) grasp and articulate the historical foundations of the Western medical tradition, from antiquity to the Renaissance;

(iii) interpret historical developments in knowledge of the body as cultural products;

(iv) interpret primary sources relevant to the history of medicine.

Syllabus

Western European medicine differs from the medicine of other cultures in basing itself on an anatomical conception of the body. The course will investigate the historical developments which made such a conception possible.

In fact the Western medical tradition embraces two distinct approaches to the body, in a relation of mutual tension which began in antiquity. Hippocratic medicine, like Chinese and Ayurvedic forms of medicine, was indifferent to anatomy, oriented as it was towards the bodily surface and the patient's experience. In contrast, Alexandrian medicine was distinctive in focusing on the interior body known only to the learned practitioner; and it was this which first imparted to Western medicine its distinctive, anatomical style. The course will trace the developing relationship between the two approaches from antiquity to the mid-seventeenth century, problematising the apparent dominance of the anatomical conception of the body during this period.

Teaching methods

Lectures: 10 x 1 hour;

Tutorials: 10 x 1 hour.

Private study

3.5 hours reading per lecture: 35 hours;
6.5 hours preparation per tutorial: 65 hours;
40 hours writing each essay: 80 hours.

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

The first 2000 word essay, submitted mid-semester, will be formative as well as summative.

Methods of assessment

2 x 2000 word essays (50% each).

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 20/09/2006

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