Module manager: Dr Adrian Wilson
Email: a.f.wilson@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) View Timetable
Year running 2026/27
This module is not approved as a discovery module
Western medicine in 1700, and even in 1760, was still tied to its ancient foundations; but thereafter it witnessed a series of dramatic transformations, involving new practices, technologies and ideas, not least new ideas about the body. This module will explore those developments selectively, focusing on one of the specific themes listed in the outline syllabus, with a major emphasis on primary sources. Please note this is an optional module and runs subject to enrolments. If a low number of students choose this module, then the module may not run and you may be asked to choose another module.
The purposes of this module are:
(a) to give you knowledge and understanding of key aspects of the history of medicine, such as how modern medicine came to acquire social authority and how views of the body and its illnesses have changed historically;
(b) to enable you to understand and interpret some of the key primary sources related to the subject; and
(c) develop your own view on the texts and topics studied.
The objectives will be fulfilled through:
Lectures, which will introduce you to core episodes, concepts and interpretations
Tutorial preparation and participation, where you read and analyse texts, developing your reading skills by discussing the material with your peers
On successful completion of the module students will be able to:
1: Analyse the relationship between knowledge of the body and modes of medical practice and critically assess the relevant historiography
2: Accurately interpret primary sources relevant to the history of medicine
3. Develop and defend their own view of materials relating to history of the body
Skills Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module students will be able to:
4: Communicate ideas and understanding clearly and concisely, using appropriate academic language (Academic and Work Ready skill)
5: Use appropriate primary and secondary source material to support knowledge and analysis of topics (Academic, Work Ready, Digital skill)
This module examines the post-Renaissance origins, and subsequent development, of modern Western medicine, concentrating on such themes as:
The eighteenth-century foundations of what Foucault called the “birth of the clinic”
The roles of education, technology and theory in laying the foundations of modern medicine
Competing perspectives on the body in Enlightenment and post-Enlightenment culture and medicine
Representations of the body and disability in medicine, art and literature
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lecture | 10 | 1 | 10 |
| Seminar | 10 | 1 | 10 |
| Private study hours | 180 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 20 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 200 | ||
Each student is invited to complete, for each of the two summative assessments, ONE piece of formative work which will receive written feedback.
Students are given a choice of an essay plan, or the exposition of an argument or text interpretation.
Students should read and reflect on (i) the PRHS marking criteria and (ii) the specific guidance provided on the summative assessment in this module, and identify for themselves the type of formative feedback that will be most beneficial for them.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Assignment | Text interpretation | 25 |
| Essay | Essay | 75 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100 | |
Students will select a different topic from the list provided for the original attempt.
Check the module area in Minerva for your reading list
Last updated: 30/04/2026
Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team