Eileen P. Anderson-Fye, EdD, is director of the Master of Arts degree program in Bioethics and Medical Humanities in the School of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University. Also an associate professor of bioethics, she founded the Medicine Society and Culture track of the Bioethics MA to give students a broader understanding of the many non-biological factors that not only affect well-being itself, but also our disparate understandings of what conditions constitute health, illness and healing. This program, along with her research in medical and psychological anthropology, reflects a long-held belief in the power of interdisciplinary approaches to provide valuable insights about some of the world’s most challenging questions. Her own research focuses on how adolescents and young adults adapt to changes in their environments in ways that both advance and harm their physical and mental health. An award-winning teacher and mentor, Anderson-Fye earned her bachelor’s degree at Brown University and her master’s and doctorate at Harvard University.
Eileen P. Anderson-Fye, EdD, and colleagues report on the development of a pilot undergraduate survey course that offered an overview of disciplinary approaches to health across the humanities and social sciences—and provided rich rewards to participating students.