Media, Health and Medicine

Catalog description

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. COURSE OVERVIEW. Examines how health, illness and medical practice are represented across media environments, including news, social media, entertainment, advertising and/or public information campaigns. Analyzes how messages about bodies, risk, care, expertise and/or responsibility are constructed and circulated. Considers how media shape public expectations of patients, professionals and/or institutions. Course content may include real-world examples involving sensitive topics such as illness, disability, gender, sexuality, social class and/or race, examined for purposes of critical analysis. RELEVANCE AND APPLICATION. Applies to workforce settings in which effective communication about health is essential, including healthcare industries, public relations, nonprofit outreach, journalism and strategic communication. Supports academic preparation for advanced study in health communication, media studies and public health or policy. Strengthens civic media literacy by examining how health information and misinformation spread through media systems, institutional messaging and cultural narratives. DEEPENING UNDERSTANDINGS. Considers how portrayals of health are shaped not only by medical knowledge but also by narrative conventions, commercial pressures and/or cultural assumptions. Builds understanding of how media depictions of illness, caregiving and wellness can inform, inspire, mislead and/or stigmatize, depending on framing. Facilitates comparison between professional expertise and popular narratives to better understand how public perceptions of health are formed and challenged. TOPICS AND THEMES. May include analysis of medical dramas and documentaries; news coverage of disease outbreaks or medical innovation; health marketing and pharmaceutical advertising; public health campaigns and crisis communication; social media communities around wellness, disability or chronic illness; narratives of caregiving and recovery; depictions of healthcare providers and institutions. May include feminist and/or critical approaches to the intersections of health with topics like gender, race and sexuality. Course material may reference real-world historical and contemporary health controversies when useful for understanding communication processes. Prerequisite: Junior or senior classification.