Technology & American Medicine

Fall 2024, Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Summer 2026

This course explores the material culture of American medicine. We consider a range of themes and questions, among them: why do some technologies succeed and others fail? What is the relationship between medical technology and power? How do race, class, gender, and sexuality impact the creation and use of medical technology? Students work closely with materials from the Medical Historical Library’s collections. The course culminates in a student-run exhibition of medical technologies.

The Good Death: A History

Spring 2025, Spring 2026

Can a death be “good” or “bad?” How so? Who gets to decide? Students in this course investigate aspirational visions of the good death as well as the realities of death in U.S. history. In addition, students are asked to probe their own assumptions about the good death and its corollary, the good life. The course culminates in an essay that features self-reflection as well as rigorous historical analysis.

Healing Spaces in U.S. History

Fall 2024, Fall 2025

Students in this course investigate healing spaces in the history of American medicine and consider how space has been understood to interact with health. We discuss health care in institutions, mobile settings, and natural spaces. The course draws on resources local to New Haven as well as guest speakers.

Health Activism in U.S. History

Spring 2025, Spring 2026

Throughout the course, students examine movements, figures, and tactics that have shaped health policy and practice. Themes include: the intersection of health and social justice; the role of government and policy in health care; the influence of social movements on health reform; and strategies for effective advocacy and activism. Students engage with a variety of primary sources, including historical documents, speeches, art, and personal narratives.