Bridging Humanities and Medicine for Sustainable Societal Impact - An Introduction to Translational Medical Humanities

Knowledge:

Upon completing this module, you will be able to:

• Explain the interconnections between science and the humanities in addressing complex health-related challenges;
• Account for the links between health and other global challenges, such as democratic deficits and sustainable development;
• Identify various applications of medical humanities;

• Summarize key theoretical debates within the field of medical humanities;

• Explain how the medical humanities are connected to different forms of translation.

Skills:

Upon completing this module, you will be able to:

• Identify and analyse the bio-social dimensions of global challenges;

• Analyse the links between health and other global challenges from a historical or contemporary perspective;

• Analyse the social impact of medical humanities in specific cases;
• Apply theories of translation from medicine and the humanities to analyse and address real-world problems.

General competence:

Upon completing this module, you will be able to:

• Contribute to the academic debate about the future of the medical humanities;
• Cooperate productively with peers from different areas of expertise;

• Present your results clearly to a non-expert academic audience;

• Reflect on your own research and dissemination practice.

Admission to KOS1500 at the University of Oslo requires either:

• Enrolment in a programme at the University of Oslo at bachelor's level, or
• Enrolment in a programme at another Circle U. university at bachelor's level.

Students at the University of Oslo apply in Studentweb. Studentweb opens June 2. Students at another Circle U. university apply to the course through an online form: Application form for KOS1500. The online application form opens April 7. Application deadline: September 15, 2026. All students will receive an answer to your application by October 9 by email. Students at the University of Oslo will receive an answer in Studentweb.

Documentation requirements for Circle U. students:

1. Confirmation of student status. Please attach a certificate that confirms that you are currently enrolled as a student at a program on bachelor's level at one of the Circle U. universities. The confirmation must include: that you have admission to a study program, level of study, that you are currently enrolled as a student at the program. The documentation must be in English.
2. Copy of passport or ID-card. Student-ID or driving license are not approved.
3. Name change documentation if your name appears different in any of your documentation.

There are a minimum of 10 study places available for each of the participating universities. In case of more eligible applicants than available places, all applicants will be pooled together and chosen at random to ensure that all eligible candidates have an equal opportunity to participate. The course will have 90 places in total. Please note that applicants are not guaranteed admission to the course even if they are qualified.

The course is organized according to flipped classroom principles, with a prerecorded lecture series serving as its foundation, published in Canvas. Teaching focuses on discussing challenges that will shape the students' own recorded lectures. Instruction is divided into two online group sessions of 2 hours each: in the first session, the prerecorded lectures will be discussed and contextualized, while in the second session, students present their lecture ideas and receive feedback. You are expected to be prepared for the online seminars, and follow the modules in Canvas.

The first online seminar will take place in the first week of November (between November 2 and November 6). The second online seminar will take place in the last week of November (between November 30 and December 4). The exact dates for the online seminars are published on the semester page in the end of May. The seminars are held in Zoom in the afternoon. You will also receive more information about the teaching when you have been admitted to the course.

Compulsory activities:

1. Individual presentations forming the basis for the students’ recorded lectures.
2. 100% attendance in the online group sessions is required to be eligible to taking the exam. Attendance will be registered.

You will find more information about the requirements for the compulsory assignment and the submission deadline in Canvas.

Approval of the compulsory activities is only valid for the current semester.

All compulsory activities must be approved to qualify for the exam. It is your responsibility to verify that you have obtained approval for all compulsory activities.

Absence from compulsory activities:

• Here you will find information about compulsory activities at the Department of Culture, Religion, Asian and Middle Eastern Studies.

It is important that you familiarize yourself with the rules regarding absence from compulsory activities, to prevent being excluded from teaching and losing your eligibility to take the exam.

More information on compulsory activities at the University of Oslo:

• Common guidelines relating to compulsory activities - University of Oslo (uio.no)

Portfolio exam.

The examination is a portfolio consisting of:

• A self-recorded video lecture based on the topic and a presentation developed during the group sessions which is pre-approved by the course leader. The video should be approximately 15 minutes long. The course leader will provide guidelines for preparing and sharing the recordings.
• Self reflection on lessons learned from the process of recording a video lecture. The self reflection shold be approximately 250 words.

You must submit the exam in Inspera - see guides for digital exams.

You are personally responsible for familiarizing yourself with the requirements and deadlines for the exam.

All compulsory activities must be completed and approved in order to take the exam.

You can find more information about the exam on the semester page of the course.

An exam submission that is passed may not be resubmitted in revised form.

If you withdraw from the exam after the deadline, this will be counted as an examination attempt.