Health Humanities VIP
Goals
The Health Humanities VIP explores the human experience of health and care. Using interdisciplinary humanities approaches (learn more about the Health Humanities Hub), we look beyond the biomedical model to address challenging questions like:
- What roles do language, imagery, metaphor, symbolism, and storytelling play in healthcare systems and healing?
- How do cultural and religious institutions and belief systems shape health experiences, access, and outcomes across diverse populations?
- How can interdisciplinary collaboration between humanities scholars and medical educators advance more culturally competent and compassionate healthcare?
Students in the Health Humanities VIP can join existing projects or propose new individual or group initiatives to pursue throughout the semester.
The current projects include:
Words that Heal
VIP members in this project will focus on the power of language to impact human health, from the individual to the systemic level. This is an applied project with outputs designed to translate research and theory into practical tools and meaningful reflections. Duties may include: writing, editing, and graphic design; multimedia production; researching established frameworks and best practices; facilitating expressive writing activities; developing narrative or poetic medicine workshops; crafting health literacy materials; program evaluation; proposal development
Building an Online Archive of Religion and Health in Arizona
VIP members in this project will assist with building the Religion and Health in Arizona Online Archive,which includes mapping and producing digital stories about religious/spiritual approaches tohealthcare and religious contributions to healthcare in Tucson.Duties may include: ArcGIS mapping, data management and analysis, digital story production,interviewing, and/or archival research.
Creating MCAT Training Material in Religion and Culture
VIP members in this project will assist with creating material for a new “MCAT Training Manual inReligion and Culture,” which includes selecting passages of academic articles and writing questions to resemble the Critical Analysis and Reasoning Section (CARS) of the MCAT.Duties may include: researching academic articles in religion, culture, and health to find suitable reading passages; writing CARS-style questions about each reading passage; helping to test the training manual with various audiences.
Issues Involved or Addressed
Students will conduct research to address one or more of the following interrelated questions, including:
- Iterative multimedia production
- Applied communication projects
- Interdisciplinary health humanities and health sciences
- Applied religious studies
- Environmental studies
- Natural and cultural resource interpretation
- Community-engaged scholarship
- Public-facing scholarship
- Narrative health
- Creative expression
- Program development
- Interprofessional healthcare
- Design thinking
Academic Majors of Interest
Open to All Majors! Open to Undergraduates and Graduate Students!
We especially welcome students pursuing degrees in:
- Religious Studies for Health Professionals
- Public and Applied Humanities
- Care, Health, and Society
- Health and Human Values
- Psychology
- Neuroscience & Cognitive Science
- Language majors with an interest in healthcare applications
- Health-related majors with and interest in the human experience of health and care
Preferred Interests and Preparation
There are no prerequisites for joining our VIP, but we welcome experience in any of the following areas:
- Written and verbal communication
- Media production
- Database management
- ArcGIS mapping and Storymaps
- Multilingual skills
- Creatives
- Taken a Religious Studies course (for Religion & Health projects only)
- Enthusiasm for interdisciplinary projects and dialogue
- Proactive problem solving
Application Process
To express interest in this team, please complete the VIP Interest Form and select "Humanities Health VIP."
This team accepts students at the start of each semester.
This team recruits students for both credit and pay options (as available, including federal work-study) for VIP participation.