Mind and Body: The Rhetoric of Health and Healing

English 3060: Mind and Body: The Rhetoric of Health and Healing was offered for the first time in Spring 2024 after faculty Mary Ellen Greenwood, Rosa Thornley, and Deanna Allred saw a need for the course. The class fulfills the depth humanities and creative arts requirement and is described by Mary Ellen as “an interdisciplinary exploration of rhetoric reflecting the condition of the human mind and body.” Mary Ellen, who will be teaching the class again during the Spring 2025 semester, says, “Due to mental health concerns across college campuses, which were exacerbated by the global COVID-19 pandemic, we asserted that this course would be of particular interest and relevance.” 

The course features readings ranging from memoir to memes to government reports so students can analyze how physical and mental health and healing are viewed, presented, and discussed by both professionals in the field and the general public. According to Mary Ellen, some key questions carried throughout the semester are: “How do we define ourselves in relation to our bodies, the world, and one another? How do morality, power, and privilege contribute to health perceptions? What does health mean, and who decides this?”