English 199D

“Health, Hardship & Hope on a Dying Planet”

In this course, students will explore, develop, question, and discuss various narratives and representations of “health,” as well as their own evolving definitions, in the context of a planet in crisis. By exploring the relationship of global health to issues such as climate emergency, social (in)justice, contemporary capitalism and community resilience, students will engage in an intersectional and interdisciplinary approach to studying health topics in the humanities. Additionally, the course will seek to explore the affective dimensions of classroom content through frequent discussions of mental health, emotion and mindfulness. Classroom expectations include a high level of engagement and collaboration–examples of health narratives and topics from campus and student life are welcome, in addition to course texts from film, literature, media and popular culture. Students should expect frequent reading and writing assignments (this is a “C”/”W” credit course).

Please note: English 199D is linked to Introduction to “Global Health (101): Disparities, Determinants, Policies, and Outcomes” through the Interdisciplinary Writing Program, but it is its own full 5-credit course (i.e. not a supplementary or lab add-on). You can expect the level of rigor of any other 5-credit undergraduate English course.

FULL SYLLABUS: Holmes_Syllabus_Engl199_Spring2020-1.pdf