Health Humanities Lab

The Daoyin tu 导引图, an ancient Chinese chart for exercise (168 BCE)

Health Humanities, which has largely been developed in the last two decades, is a term used broadly to define the use of humanities in the promotion or discussion of human health and well-being. This inclusion of humanities has added significant value to health education and research programs worldwide. For example, clinical training programs are benefiting through the development of important skills for patient care such as observation, empathy,  and reflection. In fact, medical humanities, which incorporates philosophy, ethics, history, literature, and religion, is a formal interdisciplinary field of medicine, with so-named departments and faculty positions housed within many medical schools. The Health Humanities Lab will provide an interdisciplinary space for students and faculty with a broad range of skills and interests to explore the connection between health and the human experience.

The Health Humanities Lab recognizes that disease disparities are largely driven by human factors which are not considered biological and accordingly pursues to further cultivate an academic environment by which students can obtain the required skills for global health research that extend beyond a biomedical perspective. To this end, The Health Humanities Lab provides research space for students and faculty who are actively engaged and interested in the disciplines of Health Humanities to further investigate how the human experience contributes to the aspects individual and population health.