ABSTRACT
Cinemeducation is emerging as an innovative means of engaging medical students in the bio-psycho-social-spiritual-ethical dimensions of health and medical care. One issue facing cinemeducation in Chinese and international medical humanities curricula is the under-representation of mainland Chinese films, which creates a ‘chicken and the egg problem’ whereby integration requires further research; however, research can be impeded due to the paucity of integration. This chapter is based on a Special Study Module (SSM) – Cinemeducation and Disability – conducted at Peking University in 2017, which was designed to focus exclusively on a selection of six mainland Chinese films that feature disabled characters. The SSM enabled undergraduate medical students to engage in critical discussions and debates in a student-centred setting. This chapter draws upon the students’ subjective viewer-responses to two pioneering fifth- and sixth-generation films – Ju Dou (Ju dou 菊豆, 1990) and The Common People (Guan yu ai de gushi 关于爱的故事, 1998) – to examine the diverse portrayals of disability and the pedagogical efficacy of these films in analysing representations of disability in a Chinese context. This introductory study also aims to provide a model for integrating Chinese films into Medical Humanities syllabi in domestic and international medical schools to facilitate exposing students to the aesthetic richness and complex ethical issues related to representations of disability in Chinese cinema.
