Jill Sonke-Henderson
College of Fine Arts / Center for the Arts in Healthcare Research and Education
Culture, Health and the Arts: Africa and the U.S.
Culture, Health and the Arts: Africa and the U.S. is a new course representing an interdisciplinary collaboration between the Center for the Arts in Healthcare, Medical Humanities Program, and the Digital Worlds Institute at UF. With a primary focus on providing undergraduate health science students with a broader understanding of African cultures, health issues and belief systems related to health and the arts, the course will also provide students with opportunities for interacting directly with African students, caregivers, patients and artists. This highly interactive course, scheduled for Spring 2007, will include introductions to Sub-Saharan African cultures, the roles of the arts and humanities in African life and healing traditions, healthcare communication, and the roles of the arts in healthcare in the United States. It will also provide a framework through which students can understand health and health care systems in other cultures.
Culture, Health and the Arts: Africa and the U.S. will include lectures by primary and guest faculty, live interactive web-cast discussion with students, faculty, caregivers, patients and artists in Nairobi, Kenya, readings, an independent project, film viewing and participatory arts activities including writing, music, and dance. The course will target undergraduate students of the health sciences, fine arts, honors program and cultural studies, and will be available to forty students per semester. Medical students and graduate students will also be encouraged to take the class.