Literature & Medicine: Humanities at the
Heart of Health Care® is a program of the Maine Humanities Council
in collaboration with the humanities councils ofConnecticut :::
Illinois :::
Maryland :::
Massachusetts :::
Montana :::
Nebraska :::
New Hampshire :::
New Jersey :::
North Carolina :::
Rhode Island :::
South Carolina :::
Utah :::
Vermont :::
Editor-in-Chief
Lizz Sinclair
with
Victoria Bonebakker
syn·apse
(si'-naps', si-naps') noun
A specialized junction where transmission of information takes place between a nerve fibre and another nerve cell, or between a nerve fibre and a muscle or gland cell.
[New Latin synapsis, from Greek, juncture, from synaptein to fasten together, from syn- + haptein to fasten]
Submission
Info
We invite your thoughts, questions, ideas and column submissions!
Deadline
for submissions
for the next
issue of Synapse:
April 25, 2005
Subscribe to Synapse, the e-magazine of Literature & Medicine: Humanities at the Heart of Health Care®. Synapse provides a forum for our Literature & Medicine community to share information, stories, questions, ideas, and suggestions. Synapse is published by the Maine Humanities Council twice a year through the Harriet P. Henry Center for the Book. The National Endowment for the Humanities has provided major funding for Literature & Medicine. To read previous issues of Synapse, please see the archives.
Literature & Medicine in the news
and a Report on our Second National Literature & Medicine Summer Institute
::: special
announcement ::: read more
A lot has happened in the Literature & Medicine program over the past six months! Articles featuring Literature & Medicine have been featured in two more national journals, the Maine Humanities Council held its second national Literature & Medicine Summer Institute, and six more states have become involved in the program.
|
| Kristin O’Connell |
feature article ::: read more
Kristin O’Connell — Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities’ Assistant Director and Literature & Medicine Coordinator — asked a facilitator and several participants to share their experiences of the Literature & Medicine program. Here is what a participant from Berkshire Medical Center said about the value of the program:
There’s often an imbalance in the relationship between caregiver and receiver, perhaps due to the relative power and control of information inherent in the encounter. When questions are raised and brought to life in the words of [authors like] Lorrie Moore or Mark Doty, it’s a great eye opener for those of us on the doctoring end. The exchange of ideas and perspectives was frequently most revealing to me when I got to hear from not doctors or nurses — with whom I speak all the time — but from those from more disparate vantage points, like board members, clergy, and social workers.
From the Hospital
::: a forum
for Literature & Medicine liaisons ::: read more
From the power of food to the rich discussions that an "unpopular" book can generate, Literature & Medicine liaison Julie Stielstra — the Supervisor of Knowledge Resources for Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield, Illinois — shares some of what she has learned over her last two years.
Must Reads
::: facilitators
review readings you don’t want to miss! ::: read more
In this issue, Vermont facilitator Elayne Clift writes about Mountains
Beyond Mountains, a book by Pulitzer-Prize winning author Tracy Kidder.
Enter into the world of Paul Farmer, a real-life physician, activist,
Harvard professor, world-renowned infectious disease specialist, and medical
anthropologist who wants to cure the world.
Eye Witness
::: reflections
from seminar participants ::: read more
For Kate Cohen, an R.N. and long time Literature & Medicine
participant at Southern Maine Medical Center in Biddeford, Maine, the
deeper insights that she has gained into her patients' lives through the
program have expanded her understanding of the power of reading.
From the
Inside Out
::: authors
speak about their work ::: read more
“When I could no longer talk to [my sister] about things that were going on with her illness and her life, I’d send a poem that said what I couldn’t say… The idea is that in times of trouble, the poem is strong medicine. I’ve used [my poem, "Poem of the Week"] a lot in trying to connect both with people who have health problems and might benefit from a poem of the week and those who are giving care at such times. For us, the poem of the week can be strong medicine, too.”
An interview with nurse, poet, and essayist Veneta Masson, by Jolynn Tumolo.
National Connections
::: Literature
& Medicine news from humanities councils across the country :::
read more
Literature & Medicine has received major support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.