Course description: The power of health narratives in Spanish

Storytelling is the primary way that humans use to make sense of wellness, illness, life and death, always within contexts of language and culture. This course centers on reading and writing narratives about health and health care with particular focus on Spanish-speaking communities both inside and outside the US.

This is a reading and writing-based course intended for students who seek to learn Spanish language and cultures. The subject matter of health, illness and health care are relevant to anyone who has been, or will be, a patient, a health care provider, or a caregiver for a patient. We proceed on the assumption that all of us will understand our own experiences, and those of other people, more fully through the activities of telling, listening to, and sharing stories.

Learning objectives:
At the conclusion of this course, you should be able to:
1. Demonstrate improved ability to narrate, in Spanish, health-related conditions in at least two different
genres: fiction prose, nonfiction essay, or digital narrative.
2. Demonstrate improved analytic skills developed through close reading of literature that situates health
within a wide range of Spanish and Spanish/English speaking cultures.
3. Explain how analysis and creation of narratives benefits health professionals, patients, and caregivers.
This course will be taught primarily in Spanish, although some of the readings and videos will be either in
English or in dialects that authentically mix Spanish and English.