Courses ofInstruction
Public Health
Program Steering Committee and Advisors
Jamie Bodenlos, Professor of Psychological Science
Jonathan Forde, Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science
Gregory Frost-Arnold, Associate Professor of Philosophy
Keoka Grayson, Associate Professor of Economics
Jessica Hayes-Conroy, Chair, Associate Professor of Gender, Sexuality and Intersectional Justice
Justin Miller, Professor of Chemistry
The public health program is an interdisciplinary program offering a minor for students preparing for professional or graduate training in health care or careers enhanced with public health understanding. Public health is a field dedicated to understanding and improving the health of people and the communities they live within. The Public Health program serves students planning to enter a variety of health professions fields. Students in the program can expect to graduate with a deep appreciation for the complex social, biological, economic, cultural, and ecological dimensions of human health. The program has also been designed in a way that facilitates opportunities for pursuing a pre-med pathway or other pre-professional pursuits. Students are encouraged to study abroad through programs including (but not limited to) those in Galway, Ireland; Copenhagen, Denmark; and Stockholm, Sweden.
Mission Statement
The public health program seeks to advance an approach to human health and wellness that embraces multiple perspectives, invites reflexivity, encourages critical thinking, and centers justice as our foundational goal.
Offerings
Public Health Minor
Interdisciplinary, 6 courses
Requirements:
The required courses are PBHL 100 (Introduction to Public Health), PBHL 201 (Epidemiology), GSIJ 204 (Politics of Health), and a Tools Course. In addition, students must take two Public Health Core Electives, one of which must be at the 300- or 400-level. Three courses must be unique to the minor. All courses must be passed with a grade of C- or higher. Credit/no credit courses cannot be counted toward the minor.
Tools Courses
ANTH 273 Research Methods
BIOL 212 Biostatistics
ECON 202 Statistics
ENV 203 Fundamentals of Geographic Information Systems
ENV 207 Environmental Statistics
GEO 107 Statistics for Citizens
GEO 207 Environmental Statistics
GSIJ 305 Food, Feminism & Health
MATH 351 Math Statistics
PSY 201 + 202 Statistics in the Psychological Science / Introduction to Research Methods in Psychological Science
Public Health Core Electives
Natural Science Division:
BIOL 160 Nutrition
BIOL 215 Evolutionary Genetics
BIOL 220 General Genetics
BIOL 222 Microbiology
BIOL 224 Anatomy
BIOL 232 Cell Biology
BIOL 233 Physiology
BIOL 302 Immunology
BIOL 327 Cancer Biology
BIOL 341 Developmental Biology
BIOL 380 Genomics
CHEM 138 Nutrition
CHEM 348 Biochemistry I
Social Science Division:
ANTH 260 Medical Anthropology
ECON 243 Political Economy of Race
EDUC 202 Human Growth and Development
EDUC 203 Children and Disabilities
EDUC 221 Understanding Autism
EDUC 306 Technology and Disability
EDUC 330 Disability and Transition: Life After High School
GSIJ 212 Gender & Geography
GSIJ 211 Place & Health
GSIJ 305 Food, Feminism & Health
GSIJ 362 Topics in Feminist Health
Humanities Division:
BIDS 235 Healer and Humanist: Frantz Fanon the Revolutionary
ENG 114 Sickness, Health & Disability
GSIJ 219 Black Feminism
GSIJ 220 Body Politic
GSIJ 247 History, Psychology, and Feminism
GSIJ 302 Trans Studies
GSIJ 303 Disability & Sexuality
HIST 151 Food Systems in History
PHIL 156 Biomedical Ethics
REL 213 Death & Dying
REL 292 Deviance and (De)Medicalization
Fine Arts Division:
DAN 225 Anatomy & Kinesiology
DAN 305 Somatics
Course Descriptions
PBHL 100 Introduction to Public Health Drawing from interdisciplinary sources as well as key scholarship from within the field of public health, this course provides an introduction to the core functions of public health, covering both US and global contexts. The course uses historical and contemporary examples to highlight the role of public health in promoting the health status of different populations, and the relationship of public health to other forms of health promotion in clinical and community settings. Focal topics include issues of global health, environmental health, health justice, and clinical health. Students are encouraged to think critically and reflexively about what it means to intervene in human health in such contexts, and to consider how social inequality and structural injustice plays a significant role in health outcomes. (Offered annually)
PBHL 201 Epidemiology This class introduces students to the history, basic concepts and methods of epidemiology, the study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states and events in different human populations, and the subsequent application of practices to improve outcomes. Students will learn about, and practice using, epidemiology to better understand, characterize, and promote health at a population level. The class will cover key concepts in epidemiology using historic and emergent examples, and it will explore epidemiological methods for the control of infectious and chronic diseases, mental health issues, health hazards, and more. Quantitative aspects of epidemiology are emphasized, including data sources, measures of disease frequency, study design, and screening tools. (Offered annually)
GSIJ 204 The Politics of Health This course takes an interdisciplinary approach to the critical study of health politics, including the politics of gender, race and sexuality. Through the themes of social and environmental justice, students will explore the uneven distribution of health care and wellness both within the United States and beyond. Topics include the history of the women’s health movement, breast cancer awareness campaigns, reproductive health and technologies, HIV/AIDS, feminist psychology, eating disorders, environmental health and toxicity, and more. In exploring these topics, feminist theory will serve as a lens through which we examine different experiences of illness and disease. At the same time, feminist pedagogy will serve as the model upon which we build our policy recommendations.(Formerly WMST 204) (Hayes-Conroy)