Illness and Image
Subtitle: Case Studies in the Medical Humanities
By: Sander L. Gilman
Edition: First edition.
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Published: 2017
Place of publication: London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 276
ISBN-13: 9781351295963
Subjects: Human body; Case studies; Body image; Corps humain; Études de cas; Aspect social; Image du corps; Aspect psychologique; Psychological aspects; Social aspects
Description: "The humanities in higher education are too often labeled as impractical and are not usually valued in today's marketplace. Yet in professional fields, such as the health sciences, interest in what the humanities can offer has increased. Advocates claim the humanities offer health care professionals greater insight into how to work with those who need their help. Illness and Image introduces undergraduates and professionals to the medical humanities, using a series of case studies, beginning with debates about male circumcision from the ancient world to the present, to the meanings of authenticity in the face transplantation arena. The case studies address the interpretation of mental illness as a disability and the "new" category of mental illness, "self-harm." Sander L. Gilman shows how medicine projects such categories' existence into the historical past to show that they are not bound in time and space and, therefore, are "real."Illness and Image provides students and researchers with models and possible questions regarding categories often assumed to be either trans-historical or objective, making it useful as a textbook."--Provided by publisher.
Table of contents: title: Chapter Introduction: The Medical Humanities Today  -- Sander L. Gilman; title: chapter One Circumcision: Religion and Health  -- Sander L. Gilman; title: chapter Two Face Transplants: Authentic Faces?  -- Sander L. Gilman; title: chapter Three Posture and Health  -- Sander L. Gilman; title: chapter Four Obesity across Cultures  -- Sander L. Gilman; title: chapter Five Seeing Pain  -- Sander L. Gilman; title: chapter Six Madness as a Disability  -- Sander L. Gilman; title: chapter Seven Self-Harm and Mental Illness  -- Sander L. Gilman; title: chapter Eight Genes and Race  -- Sander L. Gilman; title: chapter Nine Death: The Final Case -- Sander L. Gilman.