HIST429-25S2 (C) Semester Two 2025

From Leeches to Liposuction: A Social History of Medicine

30 points

Details:
Start Date: Monday, 14 July 2025
End Date: Sunday, 9 November 2025
Withdrawal Dates
Last Day to withdraw from this course:
  • Without financial penalty (full fee refund): Sunday, 27 July 2025
  • Without academic penalty (including no fee refund): Sunday, 28 September 2025

Description

An introduction to the flourishing sub-disciplines of social history of medicine and health history.

This course explores the social history of medicine as a sub-discipline of history. It focuses on health and medical history in relationship with issues such as sexuality, bioethics and disability.
Current seminars draw on evidence from South Asia, the Pacific and medieval Europe and the Middle East. Students are encouraged to develop their own research interests and to focus on a geographical region and time period which intrigues them.
Topics for discussion currently include the encounter between colonial and traditional medical systems, the contribution of health and medical ideas to concepts of race, military medicine, particularly the sexual health of the army, regulation of fertility, state involvement in childbirth and women's health and the history of the patient. We also consider medicine and warfare, Nazi medicine and historical ideas of the perfect body.
The course is flexible and students are welcome to suggest seminar topics in addition to those already listed below.

Learning Outcomes

After successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
1. Understand themes in the social history of medicine
2. Explain relationships between ideas of health, medicine and disease and historical context.
3. Analyse and discuss as individuals and in groups primary sources and historiographical material.
4. Demonstrate historical insights into the social history of medicine in both written and oral form.

Prerequisites

Subject to approval of the Head of Department.

Restrictions

HAPS404

Timetable 2025

Students must attend one activity from each section.

Workshop A
Activity Day Time Location Weeks
01 Tuesday 13:00 - 15:00 Psychology - Sociology 213
14 Jul - 24 Aug
8 Sep - 19 Oct
Workshop B
Activity Day Time Location Weeks
01 Friday 13:00 - 15:00 Psychology - Sociology 251
14 Jul - 24 Aug
8 Sep - 19 Oct

Course Coordinator

Jane Buckingham

Assessment

Please check the course Learn page for further details and updates.

Indicative Fees

Domestic fee $2,169.00

* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.

For further information see Humanities .

All HIST429 Occurrences

  • HIST429-25S2 (C) Semester Two 2025