https://studiegids.vu.nl/en/courses/2025-2026/L_GAMAGES036NOTE: In 2025-2026 this is only available as a tutorial for students who enrolled in 2024-2025 but did not pass the course. These students should report to the course coordinator. Students engage with museums and the material culture of medicine to investigate the role of museums in promoting health and well-being and what we can learn about the management of health and illness in the past through the study of historical objects. The course trains students to analyse diverse sources, from anatomical models to patients’ possessions, and to consider the meanings derived from such materials in different historical moments and contexts. Exploring theory and practice, we will consider some of the most innovative projects in the Arts for Health movement, such as the use of museum collections in patient care or to train healthcare professionals, as well as critical analyses of the limits of such work – how should we design effective projects and measure their impact, and what are the ethical challenges? After completing this course:Students have a general understanding of the role of the collection and interpretation of objects in shaping the history of medicineStudents will have developed knowledge and understanding of the core trends in the field of museums for health and wellbeingStudents will have the capacity to critically analyse the benefits and limitations of standard approaches in the field.NOTE: In 2025-2026 this is only available as a tutorial for students who enrolled in 2024-2025 but did not pass the course. These students should report to the course coordinator. Classes focus on the production and use of historical medical artifacts, and their interpretation today by scholarly researchers, museum curators, and public audiences. Sessions include visits to medical museums and curator’s tours of exhibitions and collection depots. Course readings and discussions address the histories of collecting different types of medical heritage and the challenges and benefits of preserving, researching, and displaying them. Students are encouraged to consider how the collection and interpretation of these objects reflects contemporary concerns, and conversely, how historical objects might be used to engage with current issues, for example in nursing or medical education or for the promotion of public health. This course is part of the MA History: Medical and Health Humanities. Students who wish to complete the full track are also required to take the courses Introduction to Medical and Health Humanities (Periods 2 and 3) and Knowing by Sensing (Period 4). Alternatively, one course in period 4 can be replaced by taking an internship. https://vuweb.vu.nl/en/education/master/history-medical-and-health-humanNOTE: In 2025-2026 this is only available as a tutorial for students who enrolled in 2024-2025 but did not pass the course. These students should report to the course coordinator.1 short paper (1500 words) analysing an object chosen by the student, and 1 longer paper (2000-2500 words) due at the end of the course, presenting the student’s own proposal for an exhibition or object-based activity for training health professionals or addressing a public health issue.Each week selected readings on a particular theme. These will be made available on the Canvas site for the course.Students MA History: Medical and Health Humanities; other MA and MSc students, including students of art, history, health communication, media studies, museum studies and other humanities programmes, as well as social science, medicine, biomedical and health sciences, and other medical programmes. Exchange students with a comparable amount of knowledge and experience.Students enrolled at other universities can register as a "bijvakstudent". Non-students who wish to participate in a single course or the rest of the Medical and Heath Humanities track can register as a contract student. Information about both can be found on the VU-website: Bijvakstudent: https://www.vu.nl/en/programmes/short/secondary/index.aspx Contract student: https://www.fgw.vu.nl/nl/opleidingen/meer-onderwijs/contractonderwijs.as