Courses Detail Information
HIS2090J – The rise of scientific medicine: a global perspective
Instructor:
Instructors (Faculty):
Credits: 4 credits
Pre-requisites: Vy 100
Description:
Students are introduced to the history of scientific medicine ranging from late 19th century to present. Key figures and events will be discussed under the context of current socio-political and cultural background. Major arguments will be provided to students for the comparison of western-centered interpretation and Asian-originated response. After completing this course students should gain knowledge sufficiently to situate current medical issues in a wider historical perspective.
Course Topics:
- Making the body modern: physical mechanism
- The breakthrough of bioscience in late 19thcentury Europe
- Germ and bacteriology
- Colonization and the spread of western medicine
- Public health: the healthy West vs. filthy East
- Medical modernization in East Asia: Japan and China
- The role of colonies to advance medical science: tropical medicine