Syllabi: The Body Image In Medicine and the Arts

INSTITUTION: University of Missouri -- Kansas City School of Medicine

COURSE DIRECTOR: Marjorie S. Sirridge, M.D. (email: msirrdige@cctr.umkc.edu)

INSTRUCTORS: Burton Dunbar, Ph.D., Marjorie S. Sirridge, M.D., Kathleen Welch, Ph.D.

ENROLLMENT: 5th and 6th year students (6 yr BA/MD program); selective

SEMESTER: June 1999

9:00-11:30 am

COURSE OBJECTIVES: The goal is to introduce art and literature which will make the students more aware of their personal responses to the body images not only of patients but of themselves and all those with whom they interact.

COURSE ASSIGNMENTS

Journal-Essay Assignments

For your journal essays, your assignment is to write an organized paper where you integrate your personal experiences with the knowledge you gain in this class from lectures, readings and/or discussions. Your personal experiences can include such things as your experiences in college courses or clinical rotations, what you read in the newspapers, magazines and books, what you view in the world around you--in art, movies, television, what you hear through the radio or conversations with others, what views you have about society and culture or any other experiences which relate to topics included in the course. The important criteria for doing well on these papers is to convincingly demonstrate that you have connected what weUre talking about in this class with experiences and happenings outside this classroom.

Journal-Essay #1: Should focus on how descriptions of body images are used in the literature and art included during the first week. If you both see and read the play, "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" it would be interesting to compare the images you have of the characters from reading and viewing.

Journal-Essay #2: Should focus on a discussion of gender issues in Medicine, Art and Literature.

Journal-Essay #3: Should focus on the effects of inherited or acquired body image abnormalities.

These additional criteria will be used in assessing your writing:

l. You have a clear thesis, presenting clearly and understandably what you are going to focus on in your journal-essay.

2. Your thesis is developed with appropriate and adequate examples and descriptions.

3. Personal and class experiences, examples and ideas are tied together thoughtfully and appropriately, adding clarity to the journal-essay.

4.Your journal-essay is easy to read because it is free of problems in usage.

5.Use of first or third person is acceptable.

The final draft should be no less than three or more than five typed pages (double spaced), which is approximately 750-1250 words.

GRADING:

20% for each of the three Journal-Essays

10% for the two page discussions

20% Final Exam

10% Class participation (Includes regular attendance, participation in discussions of the full class and discussion sections and keeping up on reading assignments)

REQUIRED TEXTS

The Matisse Stories and Summer 1997 Packet#10.

Available at the Campus Bookstore

COURSE OUTLINE

WEEK 1 Theme: The Body Image in the Education of Health Care Professionals

June 8

Introduction to the Course

Discussion: Article: Seeing Patients (Winkler)

Writing Exercise: JAMA Covers--What does their art say to us?

Discussion of Journal-essay format

June 9

Lecture: The Morellian Method and The Anatomy Lesson (Dunbar)

Discussion:
Article: Visual Arts and Medical Education
Article: Seeing Patients (Winkler)
Excerpts: First Cut (To be distributed)

June 10

Videos: Art and Anatomy (Discussion)

June 11

Lecture: History of Anatomy, The Cadaver, and the Dead Body (Dunbar)

Discussion:
The Moths (Viramontes)
Two Views of a Cadaver Room (Plath)
On Studying Anatomy (Roston)
The Autopsy Room (Carver)

June 12

Lecture: History of Surgery (Dr. Robert Hudson)

Lecture: Art depicting Surgery (Dunbar)

Discussion:
The Surgeon at 2 AM (Plath)
Sarcophagus (Selzer)

11:00-12:00 Discussion Sections (Dunbar, Sirridge, Welch)

Journal-Essay #1 Due: Should focus on the use of descriptions of body images in literature and art selections for the week.


WEEK 2

June 15 Theme: Gender Issues

Lecture: Art and Gender (Dunbar)

Presentation: Art and Self Esteem (Larry Kirkwood)

Discussion:
Selections from "The Good Body" (The Beauty of the Beast, Model Woman)
Medusa's Ankles from "The Matisse Stories" (Byatt)

June 16 Theme: Obesity

Discussion:
Social and Economic Consequences of Overweight in Adolescence and Young Adulthood (New Eng. J. Med.)
The Fat Lady (Yalom)
Washing Your Feet (Ciardi)

June 17 Theme: Anorexia

Lecture: Art of Matisse (Dunbar)

Discussion:
Art Work and The Chinese Lobster from "The Matisse Stories" (Byatt)
Everything That Falls Has Wings (Parkman)

June 18 Theme: Pregnancy

Lecture: Art and The Enclosed Garden (Dunbar)

Lecture: Making Pregnancy Public (Welch)

Discussion:
My Beautiful Marble Body Softened and Broken and Stretched and Deformed (Duncan)
Book Review: Winter's Child by Morch (Sirridge)

June 19

Discussion of play ( Cat on a Hot Tin Roof) View sections of videos in class

11:00-12:00 Discussion Sections: (Dunbar, Sirridge, Welch)

Journal-Essay #2 due: Should focus on gender issues in Medicine, Art and Literature.
Also required is a 2 page discussion of the issues of body image in the three Matisse Stories.

WEEK 3 Theme: Inherited and Acquired Abnormalities of Body Image

June 22

Lecture: Body Abnormalities as shown in Art (Dunbar)

Discussion:
The Elephant Man-Medical Report (Treves)
Selections from "Stones From The River" (Hegi)

June 23

Discussion:
The Birthmark (Hawthorne)
Street of Our Lady (Paassen)
The Dwarf's Song (Rilke)
Imelda (Selzer)

June 24

Lecture: Art and Disease (Dunbar)

Discussion:
Mirrors (Grealy)
From the Journal of a Leper (Updike)
A Purely Cosmetic Procedure (Rockoff)

June 25 Theme: Breast Cancer

Lecture: Body Image and Breast Cancer (Sirridge)

Discussion:
Two Women (Treves)
A Story About The Body (Hass)
Extra readings to be handed out

June 26

Lecture: Society's Image of Persons with Mental Illness (Welch)

Lecture: Art and Mental Illness (Dunbar)

Selection from "Tender is the Night" (Fitzgerald) and "Girl Interrupted".

Journal-Essay #3 due: Should focus on the effects of inherited and acquired abnormalities of body image.

WEEK 4

June 29

Discussion Sections (Dunbar, Sirridge, Welch)
Include readings from Journal-essays by students.

June 30

Final Exam