This course will provide students with a background in the intellectual and cultural developments in the history of science and medicine from prehistory through 1650. Students will be introduced to the kinds of questions asked about the natural world by different cultures at different times, varying understandings of nature, the natural world, the body, and disease, and interactions among these understandings and interpretations. Primary and secondary readings will provide the basis for class discussions, written assignments, and a final research project.