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Medical Humanities: Bodies, Cultures and Ideas at Birkbeck, University of London - UCAS

Birkbeck, University of London

Degree level: Postgraduate
Awarded by: University of London

Medical Humanities: Bodies, Cultures and Ideas (Taught)

Course options

2024 - 2025
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There are other course options available which may have a different vacancy status or entry requirements – view the full list of options

Open days

29Jun
Birkbeck, University of London - June Open Day
Postgraduate

Course summary

Our MA Medical Humanities: Bodies, Cultures and Ideas offers you the chance to explore human health through the richly faceted lenses of culture and history, covering topics including infectious disease, diet and exercise, disability, and mental health and wellbeing. Why choose this course?

  • This course draws together the diverse experience and interests of students and staff, working across different disciplines, different historical periods and different geographical regions, to offer an interdisciplinary approach to the fascinating, complex relationship between medicine and the humanities.
  • It is ideal if you are interested in, or working within, health studies and wish to deepen your understanding of how patients and practitioners interact and how these narratives are negotiated in contemporary culture, theory and artistic practice.
  • It gives you the chance to consider how scientific and technological advances constantly push the bounds of medical possibility. You will explore how the practice of medicine represented in art, literature, film and other media determines how we understand our own bodies and the realities of sickness and health.
What you will learn On this MA Medical Humanities you will explore the timely and urgent matters facing people, patients, stakeholders, practitioners and artists as they address issues including identity, gender, sexuality, autonomy, rights, equality and diversity in the field of medicine. You will also consider the development of clinical practices and institutions, the formation of medical expertise and authority, and the role of medical ethics and law. How you will learn You will learn on this course through lectures, seminars and workshops. You will also engage with a range of materials from academic criticism to narratives of lived experience and explore archives and a diversity of literary and artistic works. The core module examines key themes between medicine and culture and uses them to build a sense of the canonical issues, discourses and methods of the medical humanities. You will then choose three additional modules to complement your own unique learning journey. Highlights
  • The course has been awarded a number of fully funded MA studentships by the Wellcome Trust.
  • All Master’s students are eligible to apply for our prestigious Eric Hobsbawm Scholarships. We also offer a number of bursaries for postgraduate students.
  • Birkbeck is at the heart of academic London with easy access to world-class resources such as the British Museum and the British Library. You could be studying in a building that was once home to Virginia Woolf and frequented by members of the Bloomsbury Group.
  • Birkbeck’s Centre for Medical Humanities, an interdisciplinary and cross-College research group, brings together academics and students to work on issues both critical and clinical. We host visiting speakers, give talks, run a reading group, and provide a hub for the College’s research in the field.
  • Birkbeck has a number of institutes designed to work across disciplines: Birkbeck Institute for the Moving Image, Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities, Birkbeck Institute for Social Research, Birkbeck Gender and Sexuality and Birkbeck Institute for the Study of Antisemitism.
Careers and employability On successfully graduating from this MA Medical Humanities, you will have gained transferable skills, including:
  • a sophisticated use of written and spoken English
  • an advanced ability in the use of theoretical perspectives
  • facility and precision in the use of analytical tools
  • strong skills and initiative in collecting and organising complex materials and writing up clear, well-presented reports.
Graduates can pursue career paths in a range of different fields. including in:
  • medicine
  • academia
  • research
  • publishing
  • journalism
  • healthcare education or administration
  • community health
  • education
  • law.

Modules

For information about course structure and the modules you will be studying, please visit Birkbeck’s online prospectus.

Assessment method

Close-reading commentaries, essays, research scrapbooks and a 15,000-word dissertation.

How to apply

International applicants

If English is not your first language or you have not previously studied in English, our usual requirement is the equivalent of an International English Language Testing System (IELTS Academic Test) score of 6.5, with not less than 6.0 in each of the sub-tests. If you don't meet the minimum IELTS requirement, we offer pre-sessional English courses and foundation programmes to help you improve your English language skills and get your place at Birkbeck.

Entry requirements

A second-class honours degree (2:2) or above in an arts, humanities or social sciences subject. Applications are reviewed on their individual merits and your professional qualifications and/or relevant work experience will be taken into consideration positively. We actively support and encourage applications from mature learners.

Fees and funding

Tuition fees

England £10800 Year 1
Northern Ireland £10800 Year 1
Scotland £10800 Year 1
Wales £10800 Year 1
International £19830 Year 1

Additional fee information

Students are charged a tuition fee in each year of their course. Tuition fees for students continuing on their course in following years may be subject to annual inflationary increases.
Medical Humanities: Bodies, Cultures and Ideas at Birkbeck, University of London - UCAS