RELIGION AND HEALTH
This spring a new course is being taught: Religion and Health (RLST-37504-01), by Dr. Rachel Wagner in Religious Studies. It meets TR 2:35-3:50. You'll find it in the list of Religious Studies courses on Homer as a "Special Topics" course. The class is 300 level, but you can join it if you have had at least one class in Religious Studies. If you are a student without this prerequisite but have experience with health studies, send me an email so I can override you. A description of the course is below.
Course Description: This course considers the ways that religion and health intersect with one another. Here you will find all kinds of readings: case studies, ethnographies, theoretical observations, medical accounts, documentary studies, theological and religious speculations, ethical challenges, narrative approaches, and guides for practitioners. At the end of the course, you will be more in tune with academic discussions about the sacred and the secular, the medical and the spiritual. Our primary goal in this class is to think about the why of health-related religious practices; in other words, in what ways do religious worldviews shape health practices, and/or impact people’s desire to seek out treatment? How might religious worldviews shape the ways that people interpret various health conditions? By looking at topics that recur as the focus of interdisciplinary researchers and devoted practitioners in the areas of religion and health, we will see how and why these topics repeatedly rise as the most important. The skill of understanding why and how religious matters impact healthcare can prepare us for practical and compassionate interactions in real life in a variety of careers, and it can help us care for those around us in daily life.
