The Health, Humanities and Society Minor is for students interested in public health, medicine, nursing, population studies, health or public administration, and others who seek to develop their health-related education through perspectives beyond the traditional, biomedical lens.

This interdisciplinary minor expands UW Oshkosh’s offerings in the broad field of health studies by joining together the diverse approaches to the study of health and illness taking place in the humanities, social sciences, and fine arts, thus both enriching UWO’s offerings for students majoring and minoring in health-studies-related disciplines (from biology to chemistry to kinesiology to nursing, etc.) and providing learning opportunities for all students interested in engaging with health and illness issues in a broadly defined and well-rounded manner – one of the major goals of liberal arts education.

Using the knowledge gained through humanities, social sciences, and the arts, the HHS Minor will cultivate the intellectual understanding and awareness of health as a human and social entity and not merely the purview of the natural sciences. A good understanding of human experiences and society is integral to achieving competent, ethical, and efficient health care. The HHS Minor will explore various human cultures and behaviors as well as the social determinants of health, through the lenses of narrative medicine, history of medicine, literary studies, science and technology studies, medical anthropology, medical sociology, politics, ethics, economics, philosophy, psychology, communication, and the arts.

Dr. Paul Van Auken, Chair, UWO Department of Sociology & Public Administration

Sage 4611 | vanaukep@uwosh.edu