Evening Lecture with Rita Charon, MD, PhD on 12/02/15
Evening Lecture with
Rita Charon, MD, PhD
(the founder of Narrative Medicine)
December 2, 2015; 6.30 pm
Hörsaal 19, Anatomie
Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz
From the twentieth century to the twenty-first century, the interpretative models and spaces of action in medicine have shifted from observing and influencing biological processes towards the biological and technological shaping of health and disease. Examples are manifold: assisted reproduction, prenatal diagnostics, organ transplantation, longevity and dying – in all of these boundary experiences, the role of medicine has changed fundamentally and has influenced the ways in which we conceptualize and deal with human life.
These developments have also resulted in new approaches to explaining and understanding human life and life narratives in social and cultural studies (life writing). As a result, the field of the humanities with its expertise in narratives and interpretation has increasingly been incorporated in biomedical research and health care. The inter-disciplinary graduate program is dedicated to investigate the complexities of narrativity and narratability between the life sciences and life writing.
