Requirements

Bioethics, Humanities & Medicine Interdisciplinary Minor

The minor requires 18 hours. No more than 3 credits counting towards a major and no more than 6 credits counting towards another minor can also count towards the Bioethics, Humanities and Medicine minor.

Core Courses

You must choose one (1) class from each of the following two groups.

Choose one of the following

BHM 310: Art and Science of Health (3h)

Brings together perspectives from the humanities and the clinic to explore health and disease, suffering and dying, as well as the art and science of healing.

HMN 370: Medicine and Humanities (3h)

Scholars from the Reynolda and Bowman Gray campuses lead a seminar on ideas and questions at the intersection of medical science and the humanities. Topics include medical history; the expression of disease in literature and art; the ethics of genetics research; the interplay of religion and medicine; and the economics of health care.

HST 339: Sickness and Health in American History (3h) (requires permission of instructor and completion of assignments designed to fulfill the goals of the core requirement)

Examines contemporary issues in bioethics, including responsible conduct in research, implications of technological advances in biology, environmental issues, and controversies in health care and medical practice.

Plus one of the following

BIO 210: Ethical Decision-Making in Biology and Medicine

PHI 161 Introduction to Bioethics (3h)

A study of ethical issues that arise in health care and the life sciences such as informed consent, experimentation on human subjects, truth-telling, confidentiality, abortion, and the allocation of scarce medical resources.

PHI 367: Philosophical Theories in Bioethics (3h)

A study of the main philosophical approaches to contemporary bioethics. Each approach is examined critically and students explore how each approach informs analysis of contemporary issues in bioethics.

Elective Courses

Students must take 6 credit hours of courses from Group A and 6 credit hours of courses from Group B. Courses in Group A must be taken in two different departments. Courses in Group B must be taken in two different departments. For course descriptions, please see the Bulletin of the Undergraduate Schools.

Group A

ANT 360 Anthropology of Global Health (3h)
ANT 362 Medical Anthropology (3h)
BHM 385 Special Topics in Bioethics, Humanities and Medicine (with approval of steering committee) (3h)
COM 345 Rhetoric of Science and Technology (3h)
COM 355 Survey of Health Communication (3h)
COM 356 Health Communication: Patient-Provider (3h)
COM 357 Health Communication Campaign (3h)
COM 358 Health Communication and Bioethics (3h)
COM 361: Family Communication and Health Across the Lifespan
COM 370 – Special Topics:
Family Communication & Health Across the Lifespan (3h)
Classroom to Community: Enhancing Patient Care with Take the Fight to Cancer (3h)
CNS 334 Ethics in Health and Human Services (3h)
CNS 335 Health and Human Services in Diverse Society (3h)
ECN 240 Economics of Health and Medicine (3h)
HES 360 Epidemiology (3h)
HPA 150 Introduction to Public Health (3h)
SOC 329 Health Inequalities (3h)
SOC 331 The Social and Legal Contexts of Medicine (3h)
SOC 335 Sociology of Health and Illness (3h)
SOC 336 Money, Markets, Medicine (3h)
SOC 368 Death and Dying (1.5h)
SOC 383 – Special Topics Seminar in Medicine and Health Care (3h)
SOC 383/A – Sem: Opioids in American Society (3h)
WGS 330 Gender and the Politics of Health (3h)

Group B

BHM 385 Special Topics: Character, Virtue and Bioethics (with approval of steering committee) (3h)
BIO 210 Doing the Right Thing: Ethical Decision-Making in Biology and Medicine
(If PHI 367 is used to fulfill core requirement and if PHI 161 is not used as a Group B elective)
COM 370 Special Topics: Stories Matter: Narrative, Communication, and Health
ENG 175 Studies in American Literature – Do No Harm: An Introduction to Narrative Medicine
ENG 175 Studies in American Literature – Section: Race, Heredity and Genetics
HMN 365 Humanities and Nature (3h)
HST 113 Health, Disease and Healing in World History (3h)
HST 339 Sickness and Health in American History (3h) (if HST 339 is not used to fulfill core requirement)
PHI 161 Introduction to Bioethics (if PHI 367 is used to fulfill core requirement) (3h)
PHI 360 Ethics (3h)
PHI 367 Philosophical Theories in Bioethics (if PHI 161 is used to fulfill core requirement) (3h)
PHI 368 Concepts of Health and Disease (3h)
REL 307 Magic, Science, and Religion (3h)
REL 329 Chinese Medicine (3h)
REL 330 Pope, Jefferson & Imam: A Study In Comparative Ethics (3h)
REL 362 Topics in Islam (when taught as Islamic Bioethics)

CLASS DESCRIPTIONS

Other courses, including Special Topics courses in a number of departments, may be suitable as electives in the minor. These courses can be counted toward the minor with the approval of the interdisciplinary minor in Bioethics, Humanities and Medicine committee.

Bioethics, Humanities & Medicine Minor

The interdisciplinary minor in Bioethics, Humanities and Medicine fosters students’ understanding of the ethical dimensions of science, health research and health care delivery – and more.

Bioethics Graduate Program

The Bioethics Graduate Program equips graduates to practice, teach, or conduct research about bioethics – as integral to the work of health care, biotechnology, and the basic sciences.

Center for Bioethics, Health & Society

Find out about becoming a Member or an Affiliate of the Center for Bioethics, Health & Society at Wake Forest University.

BIOETHICS, HUMANITIES & MEDICINE MINOR

Wake Forest University
B313 Tribble Hall
P.O. Box 7332
Winston-Salem, NC 27109

(336) 758-4256

bioethics@wfu.edu

BIOETHICS GRADUATE PROGRAM

Wake Forest University
PHS-525@Vine Building
3rd Floor, Suite 310
Medical Center Blvd.
Winston-Salem, NC 27157

(336) 716-1499

zickmuvl@wfu.edu

CENTER FOR BIOETHICS, HEALTH & SOCIETY

Wake Forest University
B313 Tribble Hall
P.O. Box 7332
Winston-Salem, NC 27109

(336) 758-4256

bioethics@wfu.edu

QUICKLINKS

Bioethics at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist