3 credits
Fall 2025 Lecture Upper Division
Historical and cultural study of Western medicine, from Mesopotamian origins to the late Roman Empire, based on written texts and archaeological evidence. Addresses the development of rational medical frameworks against the background traditional beliefs about illness as a sign of demonic possession, and charts the growth of the medical profession from individual avocation to institutional practice.
Learning Outcomes1Summarize the key forces affecting the development of Western medicine from its origins to late antiquity in the form of an extended essay or paper.
2Create a compelling, original argument that relates habits of rational thinking about the human body in antiquity to the conceptual frameworks used to diagnose its behaviors.
3Respond critically to a representative medical text from antiquity in a capstone research project.
made by Purdue students.