When I accepted a postdoctoral fellowship in Medical Humanities at the University of Texas at San Antonio, I was equal parts thrilled and uncertain. My background was in philosophy, specifically bioethics and philosophy of science, and I had mainly applied for jobs in those areas. I had even received offers for more mainstream and merely philosophically-oriented positions in bioethics. However, I was drawn to this opportunity in medical humanities because of its interdisciplinary character. I have always been interested in crossing disciplinary boundaries, and this field seemed to offer more room for creativity, not just in how I might structure my courses but also in the kinds of research methods I could explore in the future. I was not entirely sure what “Medical Humanities” would entail, but I had a hunch that its flexibility could become a strength. And I was right.

Looking back, I also believe this path has been particularly empowering for me as a woman philosopher. The field of Medical Humanities is not locked into the same disciplinary silos or hierarchies that can limit opportunities in more mainstream academic philosophy spaces. It has exposed me to collaborative teaching models, co-authorship possibilities, and professional networks that extend beyond philosophy departments into medical schools, public health, arts, and communication. These cross-disciplinary connections have not only enriched my teaching and research but have also created space for leadership and creative risk-taking that I might not have found elsewhere. For women and for anyone looking to grow in ways that philosophy does not always make room for, the field of Medical Humanities can be a generative and expansive place to land.

This post aims to guide early-career scholars who may find themselves teaching in Medical Humanities programs without clear guidance. The insights I share are rooted firmly in my personal experiences and reflections.

1. Begin with the Question, Not the Answer

Philosophy trains us to open inquiry with a sharp question; I leaned into that instinct on day one. Instead of providing the definition of key concepts in medical humanities, I invite students to examine two brief, contrasting readings:

– The opening chapter of Medical Humanities: An Introduction (Cole, Carlin, & Carson), which frames the field historically.
– Jones, Wear, and Friedman’s article “The Almost Right Word: The Move from Medical to Health Humanities,” which argues that the broader term *health* captures community settings beyond the clinic.

These two readings provide a comprehensive introduction to the history and scope of the field, highlighting the ongoing debate about whether the discipline should be called “Medical Humanities” or adopt the broader term “Health Humanities.” I use this debate as a springboard for our first class discussion. The session concludes with a playful but insightful vote: Are students on Team Medical Humanities or Team Health Humanities? They then write short reflections defending their positions. This activity accomplishes three important goals simultaneously: it illustrates the significance of terminology, encourages respectful academic disagreement, and underscores precisely the kind of conceptual analysis philosophers are skilled at, clarifying concepts in ways that have meaningful practical implications.

However, it is important to point out that before I consider assigning these texts, I had to determine what to assign in the first place. Since I was not trained in Medical Humanities, I began by casting a wide net: I searched for syllabi from courses in public health, history of medicine, bioethics, philosophy of medicine, and health communication. I downloaded everything I could find and began to compare them, looking not only for topics and texts that seemed central to the field, but also for those that resonated with my philosophical perspective. Eventually, I built a small repository of materials that I could adapt and reuse, and I reached out to colleagues, especially other philosophers teaching in interdisciplinary settings, to exchange syllabi and teaching tips.

The process was time-consuming up front, but it paid off. Now, when I revisit a course, I already have a solid foundation and need to refresh my understanding of the readings and activities to keep things current. The process of building that initial map of the field not only helped me teach it; it helped me find my place in it.

2. Find Your Place

Given its interdisciplinary nature, Medical Humanities invites scholars from diverse backgrounds, such as history, art, literature, and philosophy, to contribute in unique ways. Leveraging one’s specific academic strengths can profoundly enrich the course. As a bioethicist, my courses frequently explore ethical dilemmas. For instance, in my course Medicine in Philosophy, students analyze philosophical definitions of health, disease, disability, and even death. We discuss the ethical nuances around medical gaslighting and question if medicine can ever be free from biases, sparking robust class discussions and eliciting thoughtful student responses. This focus enables students to utilize philosophical tools to interpret complex medical topics effectively.

For example, a student used an infographic to highlight a critical local health issue involving ethylene oxide (EtO) pollution in Laredo, Texas. The student detailed how Midwest Sterilization Corporation emitted high levels of EtO, a carcinogenic air pollutant, negatively affecting the predominantly Latino community. The infographic emphasized significant health risks, such as increased cancer rates and miscarriages, exacerbated by socioeconomic factors like poverty and limited healthcare access. By integrating local context, scientific data, and critical social determinants of health from our course discussions, the student effectively illuminated how environmental injustice and systemic neglect adversely impact vulnerable communities. These projects demonstrate how effectively developed philosophical and critical thinking skills in class help students examine real-world issues.

3. It is Not Just Philosophy

While philosophy provides a strong foundational approach to Medical Humanities, the discipline thrives on interdisciplinary collaboration. I regularly include historical, artistic, and media-related perspectives to complement philosophical readings. One of the successful interdisciplinary endeavors involved medical comics, which effectively introduced students to the literature on narrative medicine. For this portion of the class, I assign a variety of materials, such as Marisa Acocella Marchetto’s Cancer Vixen, which explores a patient’s narrative of breast cancer. Afterwards, students create their own medical comics addressing various healthcare issues they have chosen. This method encouraged creative thinking and deepened their appreciation for narrative approaches in healthcare.

For instance, one student created a detailed comic titled Gut Feeling, which illustrated a young woman’s medical journey, addressing gut microbiome health and related mental health concerns. This comic creatively integrates medical facts, personal experiences, and practical advice on improving gut health through diet and lifestyle changes, demonstrating the depth of student engagement and understanding facilitated by narrative medicine approaches. I encouraged this student to present her comic at an academic symposium, highlighting the significance and high quality of student-produced interdisciplinary projects.

4. Guest Speakers

Integrating guest speakers into the curriculum has significantly enhanced my classes, offering students firsthand perspectives from experts in various fields. In my course Medicine in the Media, students engaged with diverse professional guest speakers including Dr. Shamshad Khan, who addressed racial and health disparities in media coverage of COVID-19; filmmaker Guillermina Zabala Suárez, who discussed narrative storytelling in films and documentaries; philosopher Alison Reiheld, who explored fatphobia in health media; multimedia artist Kathryn McCarthy, who connected philosophical texts with visual storytelling; and cartoonist Cara Gormally, who guided students through creating impactful medical comics. Each speaker’s visit involved pre-prepared student questions, active participation during sessions, and reflective post-visit reports, which greatly enhanced classroom engagement and further developed students’ analytical and interpersonal skills.

5. There’s Always Something New Out There

The interdisciplinary nature of Medical Humanities guarantees constant evolution. Emerging medical comics, contemporary healthcare documentaries, new medical technologies, and scholarly debates continually enrich the field. In Medicine in the Media, students critically examined medical representations across mainstream media, social media, and podcasts, learning to distinguish between reliable sources and misinformation. Additionally, we read and discussed contemporary literature, such as Atul Gawande’s Being Mortal and Kazuo Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun, which offered profound insights into the philosophical and ethical dimensions of medicine. This approach not only equipped them with critical analytical skills but also exposed them to current and historical medical controversies. By staying actively involved with interdisciplinary communities and health humanities forums, my teaching remains responsive, contemporary, and relevant.

For example, one student’s final assignment explored the media’s portrayal of Type 1 Diabetes, revealing how misconceptions from films like Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters and shows such as The Big Bang Theory perpetuate stigmas. The student highlighted inaccuracies, such as the portrayal of diabetes as solely caused by sugar consumption, reinforcing harmful stereotypes. Furthermore, they discussed the media’s misleading coverage of insulin affordability, demonstrating how superficial headlines often overlook critical details like age restrictions for insulin price caps, negatively impacting younger individuals with diabetes. These student projects demonstrate how effectively developed philosophical and critical thinking skills in class help students examine real-world issues.

5. Showcase a Signature Course: “Medicine in the Media”

If you have the opportunity, I highly recommend designing a course that reflects your unique interests and strengths. For me, that course was Medicine in the Media, an elective I created after piloting several related topics in other classes. It quickly became my favorite course to teach. The goal was to help students think critically about how medicine and health are portrayed in various forms of media, and to equip them with the tools to produce thoughtful, well-informed content of their own. The core idea was to help students think critically about how medicine and health are portrayed in the media and to give them the tools to produce thoughtful content of their own.

We explored topics ranging from viral stories about miracle cures to wellness culture and public health campaigns. I introduced students to reasoning errors, such as slippery slopes, false causes, and hasty generalizations, and practiced applying these concepts to examples drawn directly from current news and popular culture. To keep the material lively, I designed a classroom game modeled after Family Feud, which we called Logical Fallacy Feud. Students worked in teams to identify fallacies in real-life examples. They brainstormed, debated, and competed for points. The winning team earned extra credit; the losing team brought snacks the following week. What could have been a dry logic lecture turned into a high-energy experience that students kept referring back to throughout the entire semester.

We also examined visual storytelling, encompassing photo essays, comics, and infographics, and explored how imagery influences empathy and public understanding. In one section, we discussed how algorithmic feeds on platforms like YouTube and Instagram affect what constitutes credible health advice, and how misinformation spreads online. These media case studies served as entry points for broader discussions about trust, authority, and communication ethics.

For their final projects, students created original media: podcasts, short videos, infographics, and digital comics. Some students who struggled with academic writing thrived in these formats. One student said, “I didn’t know I had anything to say until I heard myself say it.” That moment stayed with me. It reminded me that critical thinking doesn’t always take the form of a formal essay; sometimes it appears as a conversation, a sketch, or a well-edited audio file. And sometimes, that is precisely what makes it stick.

Closing Reflections

Teaching medical humanities has altered my perspective on philosophy itself. In the seminar room, argument analysis can feel like an end in itself; in an interdisciplinary classroom, it becomes a means for understanding lived experience. Philosophy’s analytic rigor, when paired with historical context and creative expression, becomes an essential toolkit for making sense of illness, caregiving, and the public narratives surrounding them.

I also believe my students responded positively because I was genuinely excited about the material. I wasn’t just going through the motions; I loved what I was doing, and they could tell. I worked hard to keep the class engaging, offering a new topic, activity, or type of media each week. The classroom never felt monotonous. Students actively participated rather than passively observed. They worked in groups, debated ideas, created content, and shared feedback. And even though the assignments were not intellectually intimidating on the surface, they required effort, and I made sure that effort was acknowledged and valued.

I encouraged students to take risks, to disagree respectfully, and to bring their whole selves into the conversation. Because we had built a shared vocabulary through logical reasoning, media literacy, and philosophical frameworks, they had the tools to do that well. I created an environment where students felt comfortable being honest. If someone did not like a philosopher or disagreed with an idea, they could express their views, and we could discuss why. That kind of authenticity and openness, I believe, helped students feel a sense of ownership over their learning. It made the classroom a space where critical thinking was not only expected but also welcomed.

For those coming to medical humanities from bioethics, you do not leave your background behind; you bring it in as your superpower. Your training in analytical reasoning and normative thinking becomes a vital resource. I used that background to give students tools for evaluating media, art, history, and personal narratives in healthcare. It is empowering for both instructors and students. They begin to recognize how philosophical tools can help them navigate a broad spectrum of medical and cultural content. They become more discerning readers, viewers, and citizens. These skills also last beyond the classroom; students apply them in their professional and everyday lives. It’s a ripple effect of applied philosophy that’s grounded in real-world contexts.

If you are a philosopher stepping into this terrain, my advice is simple: allow your disciplinary skills to enrich the conversation rather than dominate it. Pose sharp questions, welcome diverse media, and trust that students can do remarkable things when you give them conceptual tools and room to experiment. The field may resist neat definition, but that is part of its vitality and a welcome challenge for anyone who believes, as philosophers do, that good questions are often more illuminating than quick answers.

The Women in Philosophy series publishes posts on those excluded in the history of philosophy on the basis of gender injustice, issues of gender injustice in the field of philosophy, and issues of gender injustice in the wider world that philosophy can be useful in addressing. If you are interested in writing for the series, please contact the Series Editor Elisabeth Paquette or the Associate Editor Shadi “Soph” Heidarifar.

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