The MA in Medical Humanities is an interdisciplinary MA led by Durham's Institute for Medical Humanities (IMH), and the Department of English Studies. The MA is suitable for students whose undergraduate training is in Anthropology, English, Geography, Law, Modern Languages and Cultures, Philosophy, Sociology, and related disciplines in humanities and social sciences. The MA is also suitable for students from backgrounds in health and social care seeking to bring humanities and social sciences perspectives to bear in their professional practice.
The main aims of the course are to provide a rigorous introduction to the variety of disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches to health which make up the critical medical humanities and to equip you to undertake further research into health and human experience in a variety of contexts. The programme offers outstanding interdisciplinary training to equip you with the skills you need for your future career. It is taught by specialists who are members of the IMH, primarily from the Departments of Anthropology, English, Geography, Law, Modern Languages and Cultures, Philosophy, and Sociology.
You will become part of the vibrant research communities both within departments and the IMH. In particular, students become members of the Postgraduate and Early Career Researchers (PGECR) network in Medical Humanities, which organises regular seminars, conferences and social events.
All students on the MA in Medical Humanities take two core modules: Concepts and Frameworks in the Critical Medical Humanities, and Reimagining Health Research (30 credits each, both delivered online). You will also write a dissertation (60 credits), supervised by one of Durham's specialists, which allows you to focus on a specialist topic of your choice in the Medical Humanities. You will also take optional modules from participating Departments to bring your course total to 180 credits (MA). All elements of the MA have embedded within them a range of interdisciplinary content and skills.
Course structure
Our two core modules, Concepts and Frameworks in the Critical Medical Humanities, and Reimagining Health Research, develop advanced skills in interpreting and using a range of different kinds of data, from textual and material sources to data gathered through a range of qualitative methods.
The optional modules on offer change each year, as they reflect the research interests of staff; we cannot guarantee in advance that a particular module will be running in any particular year.
Examples of optional modules include:
Literary Masculinity at the Fin-de-siecle
Divergence, Deviance, and Disability in 19th C Literature
Illness and Narrative Practices*
Neurodiversity and the Humanities*
Visual Culture: Theory and Practice
Science, Technology, and the Re-making of Nature
Ethics, Medicine and History
Phenomenology and The Sciences of Mind
Anthropology of Global Health
Society Health and Wellbeing
Understanding Risk
Social Dimensions of Risk and Resilience
Medical Law and Ethics
Frontiers in Biolaw
Contemporary Issues in Medical Law*
Social Policy and Society
(*) Indicates a course delivered in a fully online modality.
The MA in Medical Humanities is delivered through a range of tutorials, seminars and scaffolded learning assignments conducted online with subject experts and collaboratively with peers. You will also receive one-to-one supervision through focussing in detail on a particular problem in Medical Humanities in your dissertation.
Entry requirements
At least one of the following:
A 2:1 undergraduate degree
Active enrolment on an intercalated UG/PG medical degree programme
At least five years work in a professional environment with relevance to health and/or medicine, with at least two years in some form of leadership role
Successful completion of the associated PG Certificate programme
A 500-word personal statement which should include the following:
An outline of your interest in an interdisciplinary MA in Medical Humanities
What skills and knowledge you would bring to the course
What skills and knowledge you would hope to acquire
An indication of your planned area of research
Two professional and/or academic references from people who are familiar with your work, commenting on your suitability for the programme.
The tuition fees shown are for one complete academic year of study, are set according to the academic year of entry, and remain the same throughout the duration of the programme for that cohort (unless otherwise stated).
Our graduates are highly valued by employers. They progress into a diverse range of careers and sectors, including arts and theatre management, broadcasting, publishing and journalism, business, accounting, marketing and advertising, teaching, higher education, law, third sector and government positions.
For further information on career options please visit our web pages.
Faculty of Arts and Humanities
There is an array of career options possible that include professions in national, international and local government agencies, sustainability management, policy research, corporate responsibility and sustainability, environmental journalism and writing, environmental tourism, environmentally-oriented NGOs and charities and conservation work. The MA in Environmental Humanities also offers enhanced suitability for business graduate programmes in sustainability.
An optional module in Durham University Business School on strategic leadership offers opportunities for those wishing to develop their organizational leadership skills.
Employers often value Masters graduates in arts and humanities for their understanding and ability to communicate, flexibility, as well as their analytical and synthetic competence.
Department information
English Studies
Study literary forms ranging from creative writing to romantic and Victorian literature. The Department of English Studies is one of the largest and most respected English departments in the UK. It provides an inclusive environment that values curiosity, intellectual rigour, imagination and individual response.
90% of our research activity was judged to be 'world leading' or 'internationally excellent' in (REF 2021)
Facilities
The Department is housed in a Grade II listed building, Hallgarth House and in Elvet Riverside. Both buildings are close to the University’s Bill Bryson Library and the special collections in the Palace Green Library. The Department has strong links with the Institute of Medieval and Early Modern Studies, the Institute for Medical Humanities, the Centre for Poetry and Poetics, which oversees the archive of the distinguished Northumbrian modernist poet, Basil Bunting, and the Institute of Advanced Study.
Durham students run their own English Society, which provides many opportunities for theatre visits, especially to the Royal Shakespeare Company season in Newcastle every year. There is also a strong tradition of student drama and music within the Department and the University as a whole.
Faculty of Arts and Humanities
This programme is led from the Faculty of Arts & Humanities, bringing in modules from that Faculty but also building on modules from other Faculties that will serve the wider suite of programmes. We are proud that our Faculty of Arts & Humanities is recognised as a world leading Faculty, and our work is intended to enrich, shape and transform lives. We nurture thoughtful, critical and engaged citizens for a rapidly changing and complex world.
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