ROCK ISLAND, ILLINOIS (April 27, 2021) — Augustana College has been awarded $34,966 to plan a new minor in integrative medicine and the humanities, as well as a new internship program with UnityPoint Health.
The one-year planning grant comes from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
The minor primarily will serve students who pursue pre-professional degrees in health-care. In response to student interest in recent years, Augustana has introduced new majors in public health and kinesiology, and will open the $18 million Peter J Lindberg MD Center for Health and Human Performance later this year to support these and other programs.
College planners expect to launch the new minor in the fall of 2023.
"The challenges health-care faces today yearn for clear-headed, evidence-based thinking,” said Dr Heidi Storl, Augustana professor of philosophy. “This minor, which integrates science with a study of humanities, fosters the kind of creative, interdisciplinary thought that will see us through the challenges facing us today and tomorrow."
As health-care practitioners increasingly stress emotional, social, and spiritual well-being to overall health, an integrative medicine minor would help Augustana students who are applying to medical programs, which often look for students who can address well-being. Many require recommendations from non-science faculty for admission.
About 20% of Augustana students pursue majors in public health, kinesiology, neuroscience, biochemistry, biology, and chemistry, and/or pre-professional health-related programs.
Drs Brian Leech and Heidi Storl are co-directors of the new minor planning project.
“We believe the humanities have much to offer to both the study of health and the practice of health-care,” said Dr Brian Leech, Augustana associate professor of history.
“The humanities consider what makes us human and they can teach us a lot about human suffering and healing, illness, and flourishing. Society needs humanistically-trained health-care practitioners who care deeply about ethics, empathy, self-reflection, and our past.”
Known for sparking passionate curiosity, Augustana College is an empowering home to explore over 90 areas of study. Augustana’s innovative program, Augie Choice, transforms students into global citizens,
thinkers, and doers with a $2,000 grant to explore the world, complete an internship, or conduct research with a professor. Augustana students achieve a balance inside and outside of the classroom; ranking top ten in all divisions for Academic All Americans. Transformed to be different, current students and alumni include health-care heroes, Nobel Prize winners, CEOs, college presidents, and leaders across all continents. The college enrolls 2,500 curious changemakers who get energized by four years as part of a community that reflects the diversity of the United States.
