The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the policy environment that influences and shapes public health and the provision of health care services, to enhance understanding of the historical and political context of health policy, to develop strategies for analysis of health policy issues, and to communicate effectively in the policy environment.

This course examines historical and theoretical scholarship capitalism. Focusing on the United States, the course explores research areas such as slavery, settler-colonialism, immigration and migration, the war on terror, economics, and the law. At the same time, we will also explore the relationship between gender, sexuality, and racial capitalism examining feminist, queer, and trans understandings of the foundational relationship between capitalism and race.

This course will be focused on unique sensory;experiences, mainly those of deaf, blind, and;synesthetic individuals, from a neuroplasticity;perspective. We will explore how our sensory;experience of the world shapes the brain and vice;versa, and how disadvantages in one sense may;contribute to advantages in others. The course;will be a seminar, with in-depth reading of;journal articles covering behavioral and;neuroimaging studies.

If 50 is the new 40, is 20 the new 10? In this;course, students will explore the ways in which;definitions of childhood and adolescence in the;U.S. have evolved in recent decades and what are;the implications of those changes for education.;For example, we will consider increasing;school-readiness demands of preschoolers on the;one hand and notions of extended adolescence and;emerging adulthood on the other hand.

This course explores historical and contemporary approaches to race/ethnicity and the body, in particular challenging biomedical approaches to the body, health and disease. The course will also explore how body/embodiment and race/ethnicity have been constructed within and by the sciences, medicine, and technology development.

The overarching topic for this one-unit course is how to be as balanced, happy, and productive as possible while facing the rigors and challenges of life in a PhD program. Each semester will center around a particular question and a particular book. Possible topics include: Is a faculty job right for me? How do I get myself organized? How do I make myself get work done? Does "balance" really exist, and if so, how do I find it? How do I gain skills I somehow missed out on? How can mindfulness help me be happier? How do I overcome imposter syndrome?