⛑️ Rhetorical Health / Digital Medicine

Upper-level undergraduate course

How do marginalized communities keep themselves safe and healthy? In this course, students work toward answering this and other questions to refresh their thinking about the technologies that relate to their and others’ health, the cultural dimensions of what “healthy” really means, and some of the most pressing issues we face today amid public health crises, climate change, and a changing society. Over the semester, students use the affordances of rhetorical theories of health and technology, analyzing key medical documents, practices, and communication practices, and designed online health information, patient education materials (such as decision aids and white papers), public health and pharmaceutical ads on social media sites, and other projects aimed at mental health. Students are also encouraged to find their commitments to their communities, organizations, or interests and to center them within this course.