MDHM 305: RESEARCH TRUST AND HEALTH AI
Spring 2026 · Section 001 · CRN 25627
This course introduces students to medical humanities research skills and communication strategies while they contribute to the work of the Rice–Baylor College of Medicine Center for Humanities-based Health AI Innovation (CHHAIN). Students learn narrative-based medical humanities research methods such as close reading, narrative interpretation, and the analysis of representation as they engage in CHHAIN’s patient-centered approach to ethical health technology design. Students will analyze memoirs, scholarly articles, marketing campaigns, and diverse modes of communication about health to consider questions such as: What histories contribute to patients’ wariness of medicine and emerging health technologies? What do close readings of health AI informational materials reveal about the companies creating the technologies, including their values, definition of healthcare problems, and concepts of cure? What can we learn from first-person patient narratives of experiences in healthcare to think creatively about the role of health technology? What are effective ways to make patient voices heard and to share health information? Some classes will be discussion-based, while in others students will learn and apply medical humanities methods; meet with experts across fields and professions who are shaping a new path to patient-centric health AI design; and engage in the current research being conducted at the center. This elective is especially suited for Medical Humanities minors and students interested in actively imagining and shaping a just future of trustworthy AI in medicine. Recommended Prerequisite(s): Either MDHM 201 or two electives that count towards the Minor in Medical Humanities
- Credits
- 3
- Instructors
- Melissa Bailar