Course on culture and health draws students beyond the pre-health population 

Health is not linear. It extends past physical and theoretical boundaries, invites engagement from a multitude of academic disciplines, spans societies, and touches every individual.   

This is the idea behind GIST 211 Culture and Health, Honors, a course introduced at KU by Dr. Katie Rhine, Honors Faculty Fellow and Associate Professor in the Departments of African & African-American Studies and Geography & Atmospheric Science. (The course cross-lists as AAAS 204 and GEOG 202.)  

Rhine, whose interest in global health led to extensive, on-the-ground research in Nigeria, based Culture and Health on a medical anthropology course she taught for seniors in that department. 

“This class [has] a lot to offer students who want careers in health care, and I wanted to expand [its] audience and … rethink the curriculum into something more accessible, dynamic, and discussion-driven,” Rhine said.   

Rhine accomplished this with a dynamic examination of how health intersects larger social structures, as well as with assignments that encouraged interactivity. For one session, Dr. Michelle Heffner Hayes, a professor in the Department of Theatre & Dance, led Rhine’s students in qi gong, a meditative movement practice with roots in Chinese medicine and philosophy.    

Photo by Dustin Vann.

Other assignments included personal health narrative zines and peer-to-peer interviews on illness. These activities were eye-opening for pre-health student Josh Omitt, whose focus on the “hard science aspect” of his microbiology major was joined by a more empathetic viewpoint.   

“I think my biggest lesson from the class is the importance of stories,” said Omitt. “Many times, the most important way for a physician to begin treatment is to simply listen.” 

A story-centered approach to medicine also spoke to Lucy Whittington. As an English major, Whittington appreciated how the course’s design encouraged a diverse understanding of how health impacts various social and cultural constructs.   

“[Culture and Health] discusses themes of racism, social equity, gender … and power in nuanced ways,” explorations that would, as Whittington said, “benefit students of any career path.”   

Rhine also appreciated the range of disciplines — and therefore, range of perspectives — Culture and Health brought together, particularly given its smaller, more intimate class setting. 

“I love getting an unusual mix of students all sitting around the same table,” Rhine said, noting that courses like Culture and Health “give you the space where interdisciplinarity and critical thinking transcend majors.”  

Rhine’s work as an Honors Faculty Fellow exemplified this boundary-blurring ethos. In 2020, Rhine helped the program establish Common Cause, an annual symposium and series of service events in which the diverse honors community connects through an issue of shared concern.  

Its 2023 theme, “Climate + Health,” echoed the intersections of GIST 211, and volunteer opportunities included pollinator-friendly landscape work and a Kansas River clean-up — engaging activities that mirrored the interactive work of Rhine’s class. 

Rhine hopes that students continue “to see how whatever they study connects back to health and the human experience.” 

“Whether they're going into the healing professions, [serving as] caretakers of family members, or whether they’ll be traveling globally," said Rhine, "I want them to take the lessons they’ve learned.”