Course description
The relationship between medicine and art is probably as ancient as are human attempts to heal themselves and create representations of the world. But what are the imperatives for medicine and museums amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which has exposed dramatic social inequalities, including in access to healthcare? This course explores innovative transdisciplinary approaches to working with healthcare clinicians and educators in the art museum, based on case studies from the Harvard Art Museums' work with Brigham and Women's Hospital/Harvard Medical School and other partners. Students explore the Harvard Art Museums' world-class collections of art with the goal of proposing new medicine-art museum partnerships, which enhance healthcare training and/or address some aspect of healthcare inequality.