Developing an Area of Concentration for the Humanities
Proposal to the Academy of Medical Educators
Vincanne Adams, PhD, Ramu Nagappan, PhD,
Warwick Anderson, MD PhD
Background:
In keeping with efforts to design an Areas of Concentration Program that will
provide structured scholarly opportunitites for students in their fourth year
of medical school, we propose to develop a template for such an undertaking
in the Humanities at UCSF. We understand that the Areas Program will provide
a signature opportunity to UCSF medical students, both by enabling them to broaden
and/or deepen their engagement with the profession and by tapping into an existing
wealth of achievement and diversity at the UCSF campus that may or may not be
visible at present to the student body.
Goals:
The format for Areas of Concentration is not yet fully developed, but several
elements have already been prioritized: interdisciplinarity, preparation (mentorship,
teaching, etc), experience (fieldwork, labwork, participation), and legacy (tangible
result of the activity). This proposal aims to bring together the appropriate
expertise on the UCSF campus in a working group that will develop a template
for an Area of Concentration in the Humanities that would meet these priorities
and, at the same time, provide opportunities for dialogue with other Area committees
working on development of the similar templates. We define "humanities"
broadly to include the traditional humanities fields of literature, philosophy
(including some ethics), history, and creative writing as well as the arts (visual,
theatre, media), and the humanities-oriented social sciences (including anthropology
and sociology). The goal of the committee is to develop a sustainable infrastructure
within UCSF for the administration and operation of a Humanities Area of Concentration.
We will also look for ways to connect the Areas of Concentration to the earlier
years of the curriculum-either through required courses or electives.
Plan and Proposed Activities:
The core faculty/staff devoted to this project at the outset are Vincanne Adams,
PhD (Anthropology, currently serving on the Advanced Studies-Areas of Concentration
Curriculum Committee), Warwick Anderson, MD/PhD (History, director of the Center
for Humanities and Health Sciences), and Ramu Nagappan (PhD, English, Curriculum
Coordinator in the Office of Medical Education). The committee will expand to
include a few other key individuals on the UCSF campus who have special expertise
and experience with Humanities (see below). We are initially requesting support
for one year in order to develop a template. Should further work in the refinement
of this template be needed beyond a year.
For further information, please contact:
Vincanne Adams, PhD: adamsv@dahsm.ucsf.edu
|
