The Department of Medical Humanities Program at Baylor University

While visiting Athens, Dr. Barron stopped at Mars Hill, also known as the Areopagus, a historic site where the Apostle Paul addressed the people of Athens and where important civic discussions once took place.

Places like these offer a powerful connection to the history, ideas, and conversations that continue to shape our understanding of the human experience.

What makes places like Athens so remarkable is not just their history, but the opportunity to experience it firsthand.

While visiting Mars Hill, Dr. Lauren Barron shares a view of the Forum of Athens, including the Temple of Hephaestus and the reconstructed Stoa.

She highlights how museums and archaeological sites help visitors connect with the people, places, and stories that shaped the ancient world.

Experiences like these remind us that history is not simply something we read about. It is something we can explore, question, and learn from.

Learning doesn't stop when you leave the classroom.

While visiting Athens, Dr. Lauren Barron takes a closer look at a sign pointing toward the Acropolis and discovers that understanding a little history, language, and culture can go a long way.

Medical Humanities encourages students to make connections across disciplines and see the world with curiosity, wherever they are.

What does it mean to care for a patient as a whole person?

Alizay reflects on how her experience in Medical Humanities helped her understand that effective healthcare goes beyond treating symptoms. It requires understanding each patient's story, circumstances, and individual needs.

By learning to see the whole person, future healthcare professionals can better support healing, not just treatment.

Listening is part of care.

Dr. Kayla Ridenour shares how teaching Health Narratives helped her better understand what it means to listen to someone living with chronic pain.

Through an illness interview assignment, students learn how to sit with another person’s story, ask thoughtful questions, and listen without dismissing their experience.

In Medical Humanities, these conversations remind us that healthcare is not only about treatment. It is also about presence, empathy, and learning how to truly hear another person.

“Literature mimics life.”

Dr. Mona Choucair shares how language, poetry, and storytelling play an important role in helping students understand illness, suffering, and the human experience behind healthcare.

Through works like When Breath Becomes Air and discussions in Literature, Medicine, and Public Health, students explore how words can build empathy, connection, and understanding between people and their stories.

In Medical Humanities, students are encouraged to think critically about the ethical questions that continue to shape healthcare.

Cassandra reflects on how discussions surrounding healthcare history, ethics, and patient care broadened her perspective and challenged her to listen to viewpoints beyond her own.

By analyzing the past, discussing the present, and considering the future of medicine together, students gain a deeper understanding of the human side of healthcare.