Master of Arts Program Overview
What can anthropologists, literary scholars, philosophers, historians, lawyers, and ethicists tell us about medicine?
This interdisciplinary graduate program explores medicine and its ethics implications from all these perspectives and more. Through diverse readings, lively seminar discussions, and direct engagement with our nationally renowned faculty, MA students develop a multifaceted understanding of medicine and a broad set of tools for addressing ethics questions.
Our Core Disciplines
The following disciplines form the backbone of our curriculum. Each is explored in its own core course, taught by a faculty member who is an expert in that area.
Bioethics
Major theories from western philosophy and contemporary theorists provide answers to ethics problems—but often disagree.
Want to know the theoretical approaches and how to apply them when analyzing thorny real-world bioethics cases?
Literature
Concepts and methods borrowed from literary studies can reframe clinical cases as stories and help us understand how doctors know what they know.
Want to unlock new insights by reading patients’ cases as if they were literary texts or debate what Mary Shelley was trying to warn us about in Frankenstein?
Law
Medical ethics defines what healthcare practitioners should and shouldn’t do, and law defines what they can and can’t do. Learning how healthcare law and courts function can empower us to work creatively within the law, and even to help shape it.
Want to understand controversial judicial opinions in the news and sharpen your verbal skills by arguing in a mock trial?
Anthropology
Comparing medicine across cultures reveals surprising differences in how illness is understood and treated, illuminating key cultural meanings and values in other societies and our own.
Want to go “into the field” and observe medicine in culture—and as a culture of its own?
History
Examining the history of medicine highlights both that it is a continuous thread stretched through time and that it is subject to actors and actions, inside and outside medicine, that can reshape the profession in pivotal ways.
Want to investigate primary sources to uncover the historical contexts of ideas in medicine and better envision how they might change in the future?
+ Putting it all into practice
Combining the knowledge and skills of each of these disciplines gives MHB graduates a rich, detailed understanding of health and health care—and this program teaches you how to put this to use.
Want to practice consulting on clinical ethics cases, presenting at conferences, publishing, teaching, and talking to the media, guided by experts currently doing that work?
Timing and Logistics Overview
The Master’s program was designed to be taken part time (though an expedited, full-time track is an option). Most students are either concurrently enrolled in a separate degree program or are working full time. Classes meet in the evening on the downtown Chicago campus.
We admit only a small cohort each year because discussion is central to all of our courses. Our students often include some medical students, some Genetic Counseling students, and students taking the MA on its own (some of whom are practicing health care professionals). These different academic backgrounds, career tracks, and stages in professional careers really contribute to rich and engaging conversations.
The Master of Arts program can be taken on its own or concurrently with another degree. For further details on degree timelines, alumni outcomes, financial aid, admissions, and more, please select the program option that’s right for you.