About the class

These essays are the product of a CAS Writing Program class at Boston University called Representing Illness. In this class, students read analyses from various disciplines about the way illness is and should be represented, considering how language and images reflect or challenge cultural meanings surrounding illness and health, pathology and normalcy.

Students spend much of the term working on an independent scholarly research paper. Then they recast that project as an article directed toward a public intellectual audience. Through exploring the similarities and differences between writing for scholarly experts and writing for intellectually curious general readers, students learn about the shared principles of argumentation needed to convince both audiences.

In the essays collected here, my student writers deftly demonstrate how scholarly research and writing can be relevant to public discourse in a series of essays that reflect their own interests, perspectives, and convictions. I am proud to present their work.

Sarah Madsen Hardy

December 2015