About Health Humanities
The emerging trans-disciplinary field of Health Humanities explores and promotes relationships among the arts and humanities on the one hand and health and health care on the other. The substance, methods and passions of the humanities have the potential to transform health care for all by enhancing human connections, deepening the capacity for empathy, and improving our understanding of the cultural and social contexts in which health, illness, and care occur. At the same time, focusing on health and health care can reinvigorate and reveal new relevance for humanities scholarship and teaching in a society increasingly dominated by STEM fields.
Our Health Humanities initiatives have convened researchers, educators, and students from colleges and schools across campus to explore the crucial significance of stories and storytelling, to investigate how humanities training can advance inquiries into health disparities, and to address the roles played by racism and ableism, among other forms of discrimination, in health care. We have also sought to foster partnerships among researchers, practitioners, artists, and community organizations.
The Humanities Institute aims to establish a community of humanities scholars and medical professionals committed to defining the future of the Health Humanities at the University of Texas at Austin. To this end, HI has collaborated with Dell Medical School, the Steve Hicks School of Social Work, the College of Natural Sciences, the department of Public Health, the UT Environmental Clinic, the College of Communication, the College of Pharmacy, the School of Nursing, the Bridging Disciplines Program in the College of Undergraduate Studies, Planet Texas 2050, and other departments, colleges, and researchers on interdisciplinary events, workshops, and programs. For more information on these collaborations, please visit our Health Humanities Events page and our related programs pages.
Current
Health Humanities Research Seminar
Communities of Care Initiative
Masters in Humanities, Health and Medicine
Previous
2018 Health & Humanities Pop-Up Institute
2016-2018 Faculty Fellows Seminar
Visiting Artist & Storytelling Series
Narrative Medicine: Close Reading, Expressive Writing Elective