SENIOR SEMINAR: LITERATURE AND MEDICINE
HSS 403-452 e-learning (Spring 2013)
DR. D. Z. FLEISCHER
E-mail address: sirod1@optonline.net
Office Phone: 973/596-5607 Home phone number: 718-615-0350
Office Hours: Wednesday and Friday, 2:30PM-4:00PM
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course examines the relationship between literature and medicine by focusing
on important literary works including fiction, plays, poetry, and non-fiction. These
works reveal how medical issues underlie many of the vital questions of our age.
Among the subjects considered are the conflict in the medical profession between
achieving wealth and fame and maintaining one’s courage and integrity; urgent
public health questions; the struggles of the medical researcher; the influence of the
marketplace on medicine; medicine as art as well as science; the daily realities of a
family doctor’s life; the impact of politics on medical/health care decisions;
disability policy; eugenics and euthanasia; physician-assisted suicide; and the role of
the “gadfly” as initiator of changes in medical/health care policy.
FINAL GRADES WILL BE BASED ON THE FOLLOWING FORMULA.
Essays: 45 points –Five essays worth nine points each.
Forum Postings: 30 points
Final Project: 25 points
ALL OF THE ABOVE ARE REQUIRED IN ORDER TO RECEIVE CREDIT
FOR THE COURSE.
GENERAL STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES
1. ALL STUDENTS MUST HAVE AN ACTIVE ACCOUNT FOR MOODLE
IN ORDER TO BE PROPERLY REGISTERED FOR THIS COURSE.
STUDENTS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL MESSAGES SENT
THROUGH MOODLE. PLEASE CHECK THEM REGULARLY.
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2. PLEASE SECURE ALL OF THE REQUIRED TEXTS BEFORE THE
FIRST DAY OF CLASS. THE BOOKSTORE WILL NOT HAVE THEM
AVAILABLE SHORTLY AFTER THE BEGINNING OF THE
SEMESTER.
3. IF STUDENTS HAVE QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS, THEY SHOULD
NOT HESITATE TO GET IN TOUCH WITH ME BY EMAIL,
TELEPHONE (973-596-5607), OR BY APPOINTMENT. STUDENTS
SHOULD BE SURE TO ARRANGE IN ADVANCE FOR ON-CAMPUS
APPOINTMENTS.
4.
Note the link to the University Code on Academic Integrity:
http://www.njit.edu/academics/integrity.php
:
ASSIGNED TEXTS: ALL ARE REQUIRED
1. William Carlos Williams, The Doctor Stories [Selections]. New Directions.
(1984) ISBN:0-8112-0926-1
2. Oliver Sacks, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat [Selections]. Harper
& Row (Perennial edition). (1987) ISBN: 0-06-097079-0
3.
Sinclair Lewis, Arrowsmith. Signet Classic (1998) ISBN: `0-451-52691-0
4. Robert Jay Lifton, The Nazi Doctors [Selections]. Basic Books. (2000) ISBN:
0-465-04905-2
5. Doris Z. Fleischer and Frieda Zames, The Disability Rights Movement:
From Charity to Confrontation (updated edition) [Selections].Temple
University Press. (2011). ISBN: 978-1-4399-07444-3.
6. Dale Wasserman’s play One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (based on Ken
Kesey’s novel). Samuel French, Inc. (1970) ISBN: 10-05736134335
7. Margaret Edson, Wit: A Play. Faber & Faber. (1999) ISBN: 10- 0571198775
8. Arthur Miller’s adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People.
Penguin. (1997) ISBN: 0-14-048140-0
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COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
1) FORUM POSTINGS: 30 POINTS
On the indicated dates, students are required to post on the forum site substantive
comments about the week’s readings and research. Also, on that date students
should respond to at least one other student comment. Students will be provided
with study questions to stimulate their thinking on the assigned readings.
2) ESSAYS: 45 POINTS
Students are required to submit to the Assignment site, on the dates noted below, an
analytic essay of 800-1,000 words in response to the indicated questions based on the
week’s reading. Each essay must have the student’s name, topic (usually in the form
of questions) for the week (which is next to the due date for the essay), number of
the essay (#1, #2, etc.), and date of submission clearly indicated. If students use ideas
or words drawn from a source, that source must be cited. In other words, all essays
must be fully documented according to Modern Language Association (MLA)
parenthetical style. A Works Cited list, following MLA style, must also be included.
Both paraphrases and direct quotes are to be cited following MLA documentation
specifications. The link to MLA specifications is the following:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/675/01/
Students should be rewriting papers throughout the semester following my corrections
and comments. These rewrites should be posted in the appropriate slots on the Moodle
Assignment site throughout the semester. Grades will be reconsidered in light of these
rewrites.
In all essays, briefly integrate a documented reference to at least one relevant,
reliable, and retrievable source other than the assigned text(s). Illustrations of
current relevant issues include the following: current medical education and
treatment practices, role of money and politics in the delivery of medical services
and medical research, current attitudes toward euthanasia, other genocides
(following the Nazi genocide), current disability issues, and current “whistle
blowers” on medical/pharmaceutical practices. Although peer-reviewed sources are
preferred, you may include also references to books, periodicals, newspapers,
documentary films, as well as reputable Internet sources that contain the names of
the authors of such sources.
Do not use "Wikipedia" or encyclopedias. Be especially careful of online sources. Be
sure that such sources are reliable and retrievable.
Examples of legitimate online sources are Google Scholar, New York Times, and
WebMd.
Peer-reviewed sources are preferable. A peer-reviewed source has been subject to a
“blind” review by other experts in the field to determine if the manuscript is worthy
of publication. Since the material is anonymously reviewed prior to acceptance for
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publication, peer-reviewed publications are believed to be the most reliable sources
of information. Examples of scholarly, peer-reviewed journals include The New
England Journal of Medicine, Journal of the American Medical Association, The
Lancet, Human Communication Research, The Academy of Management Review, and
The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Relevant NJIT Library Data
Bases include the following: Academic Search Premier, Business Source Premier,
Omnifile, Lexis-Nexis, and Medline. Cite your source(s) in the body of your essay, as
well as in your "Works Cited" list. (For any questions, contact NJIT Research
Librarian Davida Scharf <davida.scharf@njit.edu>
(3) FINAL PROJECT: 25 points of the semester’s grade
Part I of this Project will be a distillation of the semester’s work. In Part I (60% of
the Final Project) students are encouraged to make use of their own writing
(analyses and research) throughout the semester. Further details will follow.
For Part II (40% of the Final Project), students are required to interview a health
care professional, for example, a physician; medical researcher; bioethicist;
university-level educator who teaches courses related to health care, medical policy,
or the history of medicine; or an individual who deals with health care policy.
Students must submit name and title of interviewee for my approval by March 28.
Students will be provided with suggested questions for use at interview. In the essay
based on this interview, students will describe what information, insights, or new
perspectives they gained from their interviews with health care professionals.
Furthermore, students will indicate what health care concerns are not being dealt
with appropriately, as well as what changes they would like to see implemented. (It
is imperative that students refer to the Dr. David Himmelstein[Harvard Medical
School] Lecture, presented at the November 7, 2007 NJIT Technology/Society
Forum. The link to the Lecture is http://tsf.njit.edu/archive/index.php).
Students will be provided with suggested interview questions that they may use as
they consider appropriate.
The entire Project should be submitted to the Moodle Assignment site by Friday,
May 10.
PLEASE NOTE THAT ESSAYS ARE DUE BY 11:50 PM ON THE DATES
LISTED BELOW. ALTHOUGH LATE ESSAYS MAY BE ACCEPTED IF THE
EXPLANATION FOR THE LATENESS WARRANTS SPECIAL
CONSIDERATION, I CANNOT GUARANTEE PROMPT RETURN OF SUCH
LATE ESSAYS, GRADED WITH MY COMMENTS AND CORRECTIONS.
Students should inform instructor promptly if essays are not received by students
(graded with my comments and corrections) within three weeks of submission.
I--THE ROLE OF THE PHYSICIAN/RESEARCHER
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Saturday, January 26: Read in W.C. Williams, The Doctor Stories, the following:
“Mind and Body,” (p. 13); “The Girl With a Pimply Face,” (p. 42); “The Use of
Force,” (p. 56); “A Night in June,” (p.61); “Jean Beicke,” (p. 69); “The Paid Nurse,”
(p. 92); “Ancient Gentility,” (p. 99); “The Practice,” (p. 119); “Poems,”(pp. 127132.); “Afterword” (p.133). Post your analytic comments on these readings on the
Forum site by the indicated date.
Friday, Februay 1: Read in Oliver Sacks, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat,
“The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat,” (p. 8); “The Lost Mariner,” (p. 23);
“The Disembodied Lady,” (p. 43); “Hands,” (p. 59); “On the Level,” (p. 71); “Witty
Ticcy Ray,” (p. 92); “Cupid’s Disease,” (p. 102); “Reminiscence,” (p. 132); “A
Passage to India,” (p. 153); “The Dog Beneath the Skin,” (p. 156); “Murder,” (p.
161); all stories in “The World of the Simple,” (pp. 178-233). Post your analytic
comments on these readings on the Forum site by the indicated date.
Saturday, February 2: Write a well-organized Essay #1 of 800-1,000 words,
submitted to the Moodle Assignment site, that is responsive to the following
question: How is the doctor/patient relationship reflected in the stories and poems of
William Carlos Williams (or William Eric Williams), as well as the clinical tales by
Oliver Sacks? Be sure to make reference to at least five works in each of these
volumes. For W.C. Williams, be sure to include at least one poem, and for Sacks,
choose at least one work from each of the four sections of his book.
Friday, February 8. Read S. Lewis, Arrowsmith, Chapters 1-23. Post your analytic
comments on these chapters on the Forum site by the indicated date.
Friday, February 15. Read Arrowsmith, chapters 24-40. Post your analytic
comments on these chapters on the Forum site by the indicated date.
Friday, February 22. Write a well-organized Essay #2 of 800-1,000 words, submitted
to the Moodle Assignment site, that is responsive to the following questions: How
does Sinclair Lewis in Arrowsmith present the tension between idealism and
commercialism? Ultimately, what view of the proper role of science and the
scientist does Sinclair Lewis present in Arrowsmith?
II—CONTRASTS IN HEALTH CARE/MEDICAL POLICY IN A
TOTALITARIAN AND DEMOCRATIC STATE
For Essays due on March 15 and April 12, list chapters by titles and pages in
Works Cited list.
Friday, March 1. Read R. J. Lifton, The Nazi Doctors, pp. xi-xiii; 3-102; 134-213.
Post your analytic comments on these readings on the Forum site no later than the
indicated date.
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Friday, March 8. Read R. J. Lifton , pp.214-302; 418-504. Post your analytic
comments on these readings on the Forum site no later than the indicated date.
Friday, March 15. Write a well-organized Essay #3 of 800-1,000 words, submitted to
the Moodle Assignment site, that is responsive to the following questions: How does
Lifton describe the slippery slope from sterilization to euthanasia to Auschwitz?
Differentiating between Nazi doctors and prisoner doctors, indicate how Lifton
reveals the role of doctors in the practice of genocide. In your essay, make specific
references to the text. (Students are required to briefly integrate references to the
following articles (1) Cohen, Adam. “Four Decades After Milgram, We’re Still
Willing to Inflict Pain.” New York Times 29 December 2008:A24, and (2) “Medically
Assisted Torture.” Editorial. New York Times 9 April 2009: A26.) [Consider the
difference between individual immorality and state-sanctioned immorality.]
Thursday, March 28. Read D. Fleischer & F. Zames, The Disability Rights
Movement (updated edition) Personal Notes (xiii-xiv), Prefaces (xv-xxi), Chapters 1,
6, and 9. Post your analytic comments on the Forum site by the indicated date. Also,
please submit name and title of your chosen interviewee by March 28. See Part II of
Final Project (Page 4 of syllabus for further details.)
Friday, April 5. Read D. Fleischer & F. Zames, Chapters 10, 12, and 13. Post your
analytic comments on the Forum site by the indicated date.
Friday, April 12. Write a well-organized Essay #4 of 800-1,000 words, submitted to
the Moodle Assignment site, that is responsive to the following topics: Describe the
origin and evolution of the disability rights movement. Why is this stealth movement
ultimately relevant to everyone? Relate your response to the development of the
movement, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), technology, veterans,
disability identity and culture, and the progression of the movement in the 21st
century.
III. THE ROLE OF THE GADFLY AS A COUNTERVAILING FORCE
Friday, April 19. Read the following two plays: Dale Wasserman’s adaptation of
Ken Kesey’s novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Margaret Edson’s
Wit . Post your analytic comments on these plays on the Forum site by the
indicated date
Friday, April 26. Read Arthur Miller’s adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s An Enemy of
the People. Post your analytic comments on this play on the Forum site by the
indicated date.
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Saturday, April 27. Write a well-organized essay #5 of 800-1,000 words, submitted
to the Moodle Assignment site, that is responsive to the following question: How
does a major character (not necessarily the main character) in each of the plays
reveal the failure of prevailing assumptions, thereby upholding genuine ethical
values by countering the power structure, the majority, or the status quo? (For
example, with respect to Wit, you could refer to Nurse Susie as a significant major
character.) Explain, making specific reference to each of these texts.
F
FRIDAY, MAY 10: FINAL PROJECT: PART I IS WORTH 60% OF THE FINAL
P PROJECT. Part I of the Final Project will be a distillation of the semester’s work. Students are
ncouraged to use their own writing (analyses and research) throughout the semester in order to
Aanswer the questions below. Furthermore, your brief integration of sources other than the assigned
eadings may be drawn from the five assigned essays. For each of the three essays below, briefly
ntegrate at least one related and reliable source, other than the assigned readings. Following MLA
tyle, write three fully-documented essays, each with a Works Cited list, responding to the following:
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1. Compare and contrast the approach to the medical profession of William Carlos
Williams, Oliver Sacks, and the fictional Martin Arrowsmith. Refer to specifics in The
Doctor Stories, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, and Sinclair Lewis’s novel
Arrowsmith. (24 points).
2.
How do The Disability Rights Movement: From Charity to Confrontation (by Doris Zames
Fleischer and Frieda Zames) and The Nazi Doctors (by Robert Jay Lifton) make the
following statement starkly clear: While grievances regarding medical issues can be
addressed in a democratic society, no such avenue is available in a genocidal totalitarian
regime such as the Nazi Third Reich. Refer to specifics in both works to support your
arguments. (22 points)
3. The gadfly is generally not welcomed, for, in not following the dictates of convention, he
or she becomes a disturbing force. Yet the gadfly serves a social good by imposing the
possibility of alternative paths. How do major characters (not necessarily the main
characters) in Dale Wasserman’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (based on Ken
Kesey’s novel by that name), Margaret Edson’s Wit, and Arthur Miller’s adaptation of
Henrik Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People fit the model of the gadfly? (For example, in Wit,
the character you may wish to discuss could be Susie Monahan.) (14 points).
T
The Project should reach me electronically on the Moodle Assignment site no later
than Friday, May 10 (by 11:50PM). Part I of The Final Project should total no fewer
han 1,500 words for all three essays combined (not for each essay). Use the point allocation to
etermine the length of each of the three essays.
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PART II OF THE FINAL PROJECT: PART II IS WORTH 40% OF THE FINAL
PROJECT
For Part II of the Final Project, students are required to interview a health care
professional, for example, a physician; medical researcher; bioethicist; universitylevel educator who teaches courses related to health care, medical policy, or the
history of medicine; or an individual who deals with health care policy. Students
must submit name and title of interviewee for my approval by March 28. Students
will be provided with suggested questions for use at interview. In the essay based on
this interview, which should be at least 1,000 words, students will describe what
information, insights, or new perspectives they gained from their interviews with
health care professionals. Furthermore, students will indicate what health care
concerns are not being dealt with appropriately, as well as what changes they would
like to see implemented. (It is imperative that students refer to the Dr. David
Himmelstein[Harvard Medical School] Lecture, presented at the November 7, 2007
NJIT Technology/Society Forum. The link to the Lecture is
http://tsf.njit.edu/archive/index.php).
The entire Project should be submitted to the Moodle Assignment site by Friday,
May 10 (by 11:50PM).
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