The Heart Of The Matter: Literature And Biology

“Her heart did whisper,” writes Jane Austen in Pride and Prejudice. What moves the heart? The heart is lauded for bringing about great acts of love, but the heart is known equally well for being fickle and impulsive. Through great literature and philosophy by Austen, William Shakespeare, Dante Alighieri, Eudora Welty, and others, we will consider how the heart can be a cause for both suffering and joy. Through William Harvey’s treatise on human biology that culminates in the discovery of the circulatory system, we will explore the physiological function of the heart. Students have an opportunity to take a closer look at the heart by dissecting a cow heart and sheep pluck. Discover how the heart can move us toward love, vice, barbarism, truth, sacrifice, and more.