The Basic Idea

Health is a core human value that we support and thwart in complex ways.  Our news is full of stories about the knock on effects of long covid, surprise billing, advice for self-care, and a wide range of issues across individual, social, and institutional levels of concern. At WSU, our College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is central to health research, education, and how we promote health and well-being from WSU.  In fact, every college at WSU engages in scholarship and education relating to health and wellbeing. 

Given our vision for the downtown Wichita Biomedical Campus in partnership with WSU Tech and KU, HealthHum aims to bring together and enhance the visibility of all that we do, in partnership with our community and other institutions. 

There are many institutions of this kind across the US. Some are income-generating. Others are primarily news hubs.  We aim for a middle ground, with two phases of development (see Development Plan below).

Mission and Goals

The Mission of The Academic Center for Biomedical and Health Humanities (HealthHum) is to reflect and promote inclusive excellence in health and wellbeing through interdisciplinary academic scholarship, resources and education, and community engagement that respects the evolving diversity of society. In consonance with the WSU Mission and Goals, we aim to become a cultural, educational, and economic driver for holistic student success through industry and community partnerships and collaborations that can satisfy rapidly evolving community needs.

Rationale

Enhancing the visibility of regional Biomedical and Health Humanities work

Per WSU policy 2.16, The Academic Center for Biomedical Humanities (HealthHum) is an academic center for enhancing the visibility of the wide range of scholarship and teaching in areas related to health and human flourishing beyond the traditional health professions.

HealthHum is uniquely positioned to act as a nexus for communication, scholarly collaboration and interdisciplinary curriculum development across these areas.  We will, for example, facilitate interfaculty mentorship and professional development to bring in more grants and fund more applied learning opportunities for students, as well as community-driven initiatives and events.  In time we hope to help bridge the gap between the patient care that professionals in traditional medicine can provide and the complexities of humanity that extend beyond the clinic. 

Below are some examples of the forms of HealthHum scholarship and education we currently engage in at WSU.

  • Arts, empathy, and creative practices in the health professions 
  • Bioethics 
  • Biomedical engineering ethics 
  • Constructs of health and disease in French literature 
  • Ethics of digital transformations in health care and biomedical AI 
  • Health equity for Spanish speakers, Alce Su Voz (Speak Out) 
  • History of epidemics 
  • History of health-related law, public policy, and constitutionality 
  • Human factors psychology and ageing 
  • Kinship care and population ageing 
  • Literature and medicine 
  • Literature, medicine, and diversity 
  • Medical sociology 
  • Medical translation and interpretation 
  • Minority heath and health equity 
  • Nutrition and ancient diets 
  • Obesity in vulnerable populations 
  • Philosophy of disability 
  • Philosophy of medicine 
  • Psychology of health and illness 
  • Spanish for the health professions 
  • Textual and medical technologies in the shaping of the representation and practice of medicine 
  • Writing for health professions  

Mission alignment

The Wichita Center for Biomedical Humanities aligns with the three pillars of KBOR’s strategic plan Building a Future and with several elements of the WSU strategic plan, as follows.

KBOR Pillar 1/WSU Priority 1: Helping Families through access, affordability, and success

  • Through free resources and low or no-cost educational opportunities and enhanced visibility of current resources, HealthHum will help to provide an accessible, affordable and impactful higher education for all Kansans with increased community connections and networks related to health, medicine, and wellbeing.

KBOR Pillar 2/WSU Priority 2: Business – talent pipeline, innovation

  • HealthHum will enrich opportunities and facilitate relevant applied learning experiences that match the needs of industry, agency and community partners through humanities research, education, and outreach related to health, medicine, and well-being.
  • Through a socially responsible interdisciplinary approach to the ethical development of health technologies, HealthHum will help WSU become a nationally recognized leader in digital transformation related to health, medicine, and well-being.

KBOR Pillar 3/WSU Priority 3: Economic prosperity – intentional economic activity, community and state benefits.

  • This proposal is a faculty-led interdisciplinary research initiative (2020-2023).
  • HealthHum will support the needs of the region through the newly formed strategic engagement with broader societal issues that impact individual and community health, particularly by centering the voices of community members in shaping our understanding of those issues and their relation to human flourishing.
  • HealthHum will support the health sciences at the Wichita downtown Biomedical Campus by enriching the Wichita Biomedical Campus offerings.

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