ENGL 272/MDHM 272 Literature and Medicine

“Literature and Medicine” explores a wide range of works that draw us into different experiences patients, doctors, caregivers, and their families have with medicine. This course will focus on French literature in translation and will foreground global health, inequalities, and ethical debates. We will address questions such as, How does literature shape our understanding of disease and the experience of illness or healing? What insights does it provide into the challenges and rewards of medical professions? How have the unique history of French colonialism and medicine informed one another? How do race, class, sex, gender, and cultural heritage affect individual and collective experiences of healthcare in Europe? Why do past tales of disease remain relevant today, and what aspects of medicine concern contemporary French authors? We will focus on literature written by contemporary French authors who consider these questions and more as we read novels, short stories, poetry, plays, and journalism. No city but Paris could be more appropriate for the study of authority and the manipulated landscape.

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This course is 3 Rice credit hours.

No

Yes, students will receive D1 credit for this course.

This course also fulfills the Analyzing Diversity requirement.

Priority Deadline: December 10, 2025
Final Application Deadline: February 1, 2026

For details on these two deadlines, please navigate to the Application Timeline section of the Program Information & FAQs page.

For questions regarding the course content, please contact the course instructor (see below).

For questions regarding the program (budget, application process, financial aid, global awards), first read through the Rice Global Paris Summer Program Information and FAQs page on our website. If you cannot find the answer to your question, email us at globalowls@rice.edu.