This course examines topics in the history of health and medicine in America. We will explore how people in the past understood disease, how they sought relief from their sufferings and sickness, and how medical understandings and treatments changed over time. We will also review how gender, racial, and ethnic inequalities that are deeply ingrained in American history permeated into medical systems and social and cultural interpretations of health. We will explore how these medical and health care inequalities developed and continue to impact contemporary society.