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B6
John Jay College of Criminal Justice
The City University of New York
New Course Proposal
When completed, this proposal should be submitted to the Office of Undergraduate Studies-Room 634T
for consideration by the College Curriculum Committee.
1.
Department (s) proposing this course: History
2.
Title of the course: The History of Science and Medicine from Prehistory Through 1650
Abbreviated title (up to 20 characters): Hist Sci/Med to 1650
3.
Level of this course:
100 Level
4.
200 Level
x 300 Level
400 Level
Course description as it is to appear in the College bulletin:
(Write in complete sentences except for prerequisites, hours and credits.)
This course will provide students with a background in the intellectual and cultural developments in the
history of science and medicine from prehistory through 1650. Students will be introduced to the kinds of
questions asked about the natural world by different cultures at different times, varying understandings
of nature, the natural world, the body, and disease, and interactions among these understandings and
interpretations. Primary and secondary readings will provide the basis for class discussions, written
assignments, and a final research project. 3 hours, 3 credits.
5.
Has this course been taught on an experimental basis?
_ x_ No
_Yes: Semester (s) and year (s):
Teacher (s): Enrollment (s):
Prerequisites (s):
6.
Prerequisites: ENG 102 or 201, HIS 203 or HIS 231, and HIS 204 or HIS 205 or HIS 232
7.
Number of:
class hours 3
lab hours ___
Approved by UCASC, April 24, prepared for College Council, May 11, 2009
credits _ 3_
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8.
Brief rationale for the course:
This course is an important component in the new global history major because it introduces students to
one of the most significant intellectual occupations of human civilization, understanding and making
predictable the natural world. It elaborates on the basic global history survey by providing students with
a thorough introduction to a specific intellectual and cultural theme that has played a critical role in all
global civilizations, and it contributes to the major's research and methodology goals by requiring
students to do a short independent research project based on traditional history of science/medicine
techniques to analyze primary sources located through the course or with the help of the professor
9a.
Knowledge and performance objectives of this course:
(What knowledge will the student be expected to acquire and what conceptual and applied skills will be
learned in this course?)
Students will be expected to demonstrate mastery of the different kinds of questions asked about the
natural world and the different understandings of the human body and disease that were entertained by
global cultures from prehistory through 1650. They will be conversant with the current historiographic
techniques of comparative and cross-cultural analysis within the history of science and medicine, and the
ongoing debate over the presence and meaning of an early modern scientific revolution. They will
demonstrate these skills through four written assignments that require comparative analysis of primary
and secondary sources in response to assigned questions. Finally, they will have mastered basic research
skills that will allow them to date, contextualize, and analyze a chosen primary source and organize a
presentation based on their findings.
9b.
Indicate learning objectives of this course related to information literacy.
The information literate student determines the nature and extent of the information needed,
accesses information effectively, efficiently, and appropriately, and evaluates information and its
sources critically. The student uses information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose,
ethically and legally, (e.g., students demonstrate critical interpretation of required readings;
and/or effective searching of appropriate discipline specific bibliographic databases; and/or
primary data gathering by observation and experimentation; and/or finding and evaluating
Internet resources. For many more examples of classroom performance indicators and outcomes
see the ACRL standards for higher education at
http://wvvw.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlstandards/informationliteracycompetency.htm). For questions on
information literacy see the library's curriculum committee representative.
Students will be required to locate, evaluate, and analyze primary and secondary sources throughout
their work in this course using databases available at John Jay’s Sealy Library, such as JSTOR, and
Historical Abstracts. They will also be introduced to the extensive resources of the New York Public
Library, including two that are of utmost importance to medieval-early modern history, the English
Short Title Catalog (ESTC) and Early English Books Online (EEBO). EEBO contains the digitized versions of
many of the documents recorded in the ESTC, and it has made early modern printed sources widely
available for the first time to scholars. This will allow our students to exercise their analytical skills on
primary sources from the historical period that they are researching. Their ability to evaluate these
sources will be demonstrated through four written assignments and a research presentation on a topic
of their choice.
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10.
Recommended writing assignments:
(Indicate types of writing assignments and number of pages of each type. Writing assignments should
satisfy the College's requirements for writing across the curriculum.) 4 written assignments, three
between 3 and 5 pages and one between 5 and 7 pages. Students will also be asked to submit an list of
sources for and an outline of their final research presentation.
11.
Will this course be part of any major (s) or program (s)?
_No
_x _ Yes. Major or program:
What part of the major? (Prerequisite, core, skills, etc.)
This will be an elective course that will satisfy two chronological tracks (prehistory-500 and 500-1650) in
the new global history major.
12.
Is this course related to other specific courses?
_x _ No
__ Yes. Indicate which course (s) and what the relationship will be (e.g., prerequisite.
Sequel, etc
13.
Please meet with a member of the library faculty before answering question 13. The faculty
member consulted should sign below. (Contact the library's curriculum committee representative to
identify which library faculty member to meet with).
Identify and assess the adequacy of the following types of library resources to support this course:
databases, books, periodicals. Attach a list of available resources.
Attach a list of recommended resources that would further support this course. Both lists should
be in a standard, recognized bibliographic format, preferably APA format.
Signature of library faculty member consulted: Ellen Sexton
14.
Are the current resources (e.g. computer labs, facilities, equipment) adequate to support this
course?
_ x __ Yes
____ No
I have spoken with Ellen Sexton, and we agreed that the existing resources in the
Lloyd Sealy Library are adequate for this course.
If not, what resources will be necessary? With whom have these resource needs been discussed?
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15.
Syllabus:
Attach a sample syllabus for this course. It should be based on the College's model syllabus. The
sample syllabus must include a week by week or class by class listing of topics, readings, other
assignments, tests, papers due, or other scheduled parts of the course. It must also include
proposed texts. It should indicate how much various assignments or tests will count towards
final grades. (If this course has been taught on an experimental basis, an actual syllabus may be
attached, if suitable.)
16.
This section is to be completed by the chair(s) of the department(s) proposing the course.
Name(s) of the Chairperson(s): Eli Faber
Has this proposal been approved at a meeting of the department curriculum
committee?
No
xx_Yes: Meeting date:10/08
When will this course be taught?
Every semester, starting ____
One semester each year, starting: 2010
Once every two years, starting ____
How many sections of this course will be offered? 1 or 2
Who will be assigned to teach this course? Allison Kavey
Is this proposed course similar to or related to any course or major offered by any other
department (s)?
xx_No
If Yes. What course (s) or major (s) is this course similar or related to?
Did you consult with department (s) offering similar or related courses or majors?
X Not applicable
No
_Yes
If yes, give a short summary of the consultation process and results.
Will any course be withdrawn if this course is approved? X_No
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_Yes, namely:
Signature (s) of chair of Department (s) proposing this course:
Date: November 9, 2008
Approved by UCASC, April 24, prepared for College Council, May 11, 2009
Eli Faber
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History 3xx: History of Science and Medicine through 1650
Instructor: Allison Kavey
4306N, x8819, akavey@jjay.cuny.edu
Office Hours: M, W 5-6 or by appointment
Means of Evaluation:
4 papers: 80%
1 class presentation: 20%
Books:
G.E.R. Lloyd, Adversaries and Authorities: Investigations into Ancient Greek and Chinese Science,
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. (new $37.99, used $9.50)
Guido Majno, The Healing Hand: Man and Wound in the Ancient World, Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press, 1991. (new $27.90/used $10.45)
George Saliba, Islamic Science and the Making of the European Renaissance, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press,
2007. New: $32.00.
Week One
Introduction—why study the histories of science and medicine?
Understanding nature in the ancient world—Mesopotamia (both articles available on electronic
reserve)
Read: Barbara Bock, “When you perform the ritual of “rubbing”: On medicine and magic in ancient
Mesopotamia,” Journal of Near East Studies, 2003, 62(1): 1-16.
Willy Hartner, “Mathematical Astronomy in Antiquity,” Journal for the History of Astronomy,
1978, 9(3): 201-12.
Majno, first half of chapter 2
Week Two: Magic, Medicine, and Making the World Predictable
Read: Majno, second half of chapter 2
excerpt on Enkidu's death from Epic of Gilgamesh (Blackboard)
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Read: Majno, ch. 3
section from Egyptian Book of the Dead (Blackboard)
Due: Paper of 3-5 pages in which you compare understandings of the gods' role in human health and
the natural world in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia based on the primary sources we have read.
Week Three: The Pre-Socratics—interpreting change in the natural world without gods or demons
Read: Lloyd, Ancient Greek Science, p. 1-35 (electronic reserve)
Majno, first half of chapter 4
The problem of change in nature and in the body
Read: Lloyd, Ancient Greek Science, p.36-65 (electronic reserve)
Majno, second half of chapter 4
Week Four: Important Greek revisions to Pre-Socratic ideas about change and cosmology
Read: Lloyd, Ancient Greek Science, 66-79
Plato, Parable of the Cave (Blackboard)
Read: Lloyd, Ancient Greek Science, 80-124
Aristotle, excerpts from Metaphysics (Blackboard)
Week Five: Comparative Thought in Science and Medicine, China and Greece
Read: Lloyd, Adversaries and Authorities, ch. 1
Majno, ch. 6
Shared Strategies and Questions
Read: Lloyd, Adversaries and Authorities, ch. 3 and 4
Due: Essay of 3-5 pages in which you compare Pre-Socratic, Socratic, and Aristotelian questions about
the natural world—note, your focus must be on the kinds of questions they asked, not the models
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they proposed to answer them. Base your conclusions on the primary sources from Plato and
Aristotle and address the problem of “writing from silence” in the case of the pre-Socratics, such as
Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes, and Pythagoras.
Week Six: Causes and Assumptions in China and Greece
Read: Lloyd, Adversaries and Authorities, ch. 4 and 5
Read: Lloyd, Adversaries and Authorities, ch. 6 and 7
Week Seven: Comparing medicine and images of bodies in India and China
Read: Majno, ch. 7
excerpt from Susruta-Samhita (Blackboard)
excerpt from the Nei Jing (Blackboard)
Read: Lloyd, Adversaries and Authorities, ch. 8
“On the Sacred Disease” from the Hippocratic Writings (electronic reserve)
Week Eight: Imagining the Body from the Inside—dissection undertaken in Alexandria
Read: Majno, ch. 8
Dissection in Rome
Read: Majno, ch. 10
Galen, excerpt from “On the Structure and Function of the Hand” (electronic reserve)
Due: Essay of 5-7 pages in which you address three significant similarities and differences among
Chinese, Indian, and Greek understandings of the body, disease, and medicine based on the primary
sources we have read
Week Nine: Natural Philosophy and Medicine in the Middle East
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Read: Saliba, ch. 1
excerpt from Ibn Sina's El Qanon fi Tibb (electronic reserve)
Read: Saliba, ch. 2
excerpt from Al Farabi, The Book of Letters (electronic reserve)
Week Ten: Astronomy in the Middle East—the Greeks revisited
Read: Saliba, 4
Read: Saliba, 5
Due: Research Question for your Presentation
Week Eleven: Catholicism, Natural Philosophy, and Medicine in Medieval Europe
Read: Thomas Aquinas, excerpts from the Summa Theologiae (Blackboard)
The Condemnations of 1279 (Blackboard)
Read: Katharine Park, “The Life of the Corpse: Division and Dissection in Late Medieval Europe”, Journal
of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences, 1995, 50(1): 111-132 (electronic reserve)
Katharine Park, excerpt on saintly dissection from Secrets of Women: Gender, Generation, and the
Origins of Human Dissection, NY: Zone Books, 2006 (electronic reserve)
Week Twelve: Intersections of Ancient Greece, Medieval Islam, and Europe
Read: Lindberg, “The Translation of Greek and Arabic Learning to the West”, p. 52-90 in David C.
Lindberg (Ed), Science in the Middle Ages, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978 (Electronic reserve)
Read: Saliba, ch. 6
Copernicus, excerpt from De revolutionibus (electronic reserve)
Due: Essay of 5-7 pages in which you compare the intersections of Catholicism and Islam in the
questions asked and methodologies proposed by medieval physicians and natural philosophers. Note
that you must use primary and secondary sources to support your conclusions.
Week Thirteen: Rethinking Models of the World—Paracelsus and Vesalius
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Read: Vivian Nutton, “Renaissance Anatomy,” Medical History, 2000, 44(4): 544-47.
Nancy G. Siraisi, “Vesalius and the Reading of Galen's Teleology,” Renaissance Quarterly, 1997,
50(1): 1-37.
Vesalius, De Fabrica, www.vesalius.northwestern.edu
Read: Dane Daniel, “Invisible Wombs: Rethinking Paracelsus' Concept of Body and Matter,” Ambix,
2006, 53(2): 129-142.
Bruce T. Moran, “Paracelsianism, Religion, and Dissent: The Case of Philip Homagius and Georg
Zimmerman,” Ambix, 1996, 43 (2): 65-79.
Paracelsus, “Seven Defensiones” (electronic reserve)
Due: 5 sources for your research presentation—at least 1 must be primary
Week Fourteen: Alchemy as an intersection between magic, medicine, and natural philosophy
Read: Nicholas Clulee, “The Monas Hieroglyphica and the Alchemical Thread of John Dee's Career,”
Ambix, 2005, 52(3):197-215 (electronic reserve)
Deborah Harkness, “Managing an Experimental Household: The Dees of Mortlake and the
Practice of Natural Philosophy,” Isis, 1997, 88(2):247-262. (electronic reserve)
John Dee, excerpt from Monas Hieroglyphica (electronic reserve)
Read: Tara Nummedal, “Alchemical Reproduction and the Career of Anna Marie Zieglerin,” Ambix, 2001,
48(2):46-58 (electronic reserve)
William Newman, ch. 2 from Promethean Ambitions: Alchemy and the Quest to Perfect Nature,
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005. (electronic reserve)
Eiraneus Philalethes—excerpt from his alchemical writings (blackboard)
Week Fifteen: Alchemy is Chymistry is Chemistry, or the Scientific Revolution Deconstructed
Read: Lawrence Principe, ch. 2 from The Aspiring Adept: Robert Boyle and His Alchemical Quest,
Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000. (electronic reserve)
Betty Jo Dobbs, “Newton's Alchemy and His Theory of Matter,” Isis, 1982, 73(269): 511-528.
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Medicine and Understandings of Disease in the Early Modern Period
Read: Jurgen Helm, “Catholic and Protestant Medicine in the Sixteenth Century? The Case of Ingolstadt
Anatomy”Medical History, 2001, 45(1): 83-96. (electronic reserve)
L.J. Andrew Villalon, “Putting Don Carlos Together Again: Treatment of a Head Injury in Sixteenth
Century Spain,” Sixteenth Century Journal, 1995, 26(2): 347-365. (electronic reserve)
Due: Outline of your research presentation
Week Sixteen
Research Presentations
Research Presentations
Final Exam Day: Remaining Research Presentations—all students required to attend
Due at the Final Exam: Paper of 5-7 pages comparing changing narratives in science and medicine in
early modern Europe and how they challenge the triumphalist idea of a scientific revolution. Use both
primary and secondary sources to support your argument.
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Bibliography for the History of Science and Medicine
Cook, Harold J. Matters of Exchange: Commerce, Medicine, and Science in the Dutch Golden Age.
New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008. Conrad, Lawrence et al. Medicine in the Western Tradition, 800
BC-1800AD. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1995. Cullen, Christopher. Astronomy and Mathematics in Ancient China. The Zhou
BiSuanJing. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2007. Dallal, Ahmad S. David Pingree (Ed.) An Islamic Response to
Greek Astronomy. Kitab Tadil Hayat
AI-Af/akofSadrAI-Sharia. Leiden: Brill, 1997.
Eamon, William. Science and the Secrets of Nature. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2006.
Falcon, Andrea. Aristotle and the Science of Nature: Unity Without Uniformity. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2008. Fissell, Mary E. Vernacular Bodies: The Politics of Reproduction. NY: Oxford
University Press, USA,
2007.
Foucault, Michel. The Birth of the Clinic. NY: Vintage Books, 1975. Goldschmidt, Asa. The Evolution of
Chinese Medicine: Northern Song Dynasty, 960-1127. NY: Routledge,
2008.
Grant, Edward. God and Reason in the Middle Ages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001.
Horrox, Rosemary (Ed.). The Black Death (Manchester Medieval Sources). Manchester: University of
Manchester Press, 1994. Kavey, Allison B. Books of Secrets: Natural Philosophy in England, 15501600. Champaign Urbana:
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University of Illinois Press, 2007. Kassell, Lauren. Medicine and Magic in Elizabethan
London: Simon Forman, Astrologer, Alchemist,
And Physician. NY: Oxford University Press, USA, 2007.
Lindberg, David C. Science in the Middle Ages. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978. Lindemann,
Mary. Medicine and Society in Early Modern Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1999
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