The culminating experience of the Public Health Sciences Major, this course is designed for students to synthesize and integrate their learning from previous coursework, internship, and extra-curricular activities in the discipline. Course leads to a project, presentation, initiative, or research paper that is present at the Statewide Research Conference. Class also helps develop skills in teamwork, communication and leadership. Satisfies the Integrative Experience requirement for BS-PubHlth majors.

Globally, health disparities both within and across borders, have never been more significant. The world has experienced extraordinary changes in demographics, patterns of diseases, population growth, population movement, and urbanization. Such changes in the world are coupled with technology, innovation, and advances in knowledge. This course will focus on global burden diseases, population movement, globalization and health, health technology and innovation in the global health arena, and expanding access to global health services.

This course introduces undergraduate students to the field of reproductive epidemiology - population level research into aspects of human reproductive health, with a focus on their public health significance, descriptive epidemiology, etiology and prevention. Using a combination of lectures and small group discussions of published peer reviewed research, this class addresses both methodologic and substantive challenges to reproductive and perinatal epidemiological research.

Vivek Murthy, the Surgeon General of the United States, describes loneliness and a major public health problem that has reached epidemic levels worldwide. In this class we will define loneliness and the resulting disconnection and isolation. We will discuss the importance of social connectedness at a community, national, and global level. By exploring issues of identity, race, displacement, and aging, we will gain a deeper understanding of the issues surrounding loneliness. In this course we will also include strategies for social change to create a more connected world.

This course provides an overview of current issues in the epidemiology of women?s health throughout the life cycle. Students will explore how epidemiologic methods are used to evaluate factors influencing reproductive health, cancer, cardiovascular disease and other common disorders in people identifying as women. Students will learn basic quantitative methods, study design concepts, and critical thinking skills. The class will be primarily discussion based.

This course is designed to explore social scientific, feminist, and critical approaches to women?s reproductive health issues. We will place women?s health and reproduction in its broader socioeconomic and political contexts. We will explore the gendered, racialized, cultural, sexual, and classed dimensions of women?s reproductive health, with special attention to the long-term health effects of racism, poverty, and sexism.

The current opioid/overdose epidemic is one of the most pressing public health challenges of our time, claiming over 107,000 lives in the U.S. in 2023. What led us to this crisis and what can be done about it? This interdisciplinary honors course delves into the multifaceted nature of opioid/overdose crisis, exploring its origins, complex social determinants, devastating consequences, and the varied responses and interventions aimed at mitigating its effects.

This course examines current advances in environmental health science via lectures from UMass faculty with research programs related to environmental health, UMass PhD students in the EHS program, as well as visiting scholars. Seminar topics will change from week to week and will include topics such as pollution, exposure assessments, mechanistic toxicology, environmental health policy, environmental epidemiology, and others.

This is a lecture and discussion-based course where a range of topic areas in chronic disease epidemiology (e.g., heart disease, cancer) will be reviewed and discussed. Topics will most often focus on areas of recent interest or where significant differences of opinion related to scientific findings have existed. Substantial time will be devoted to reviewing publications to improve student skill in reading and interpreting epidemiologic literature published in this arena.

Students will develop fundamental skills in epidemiologic research, including data collection, data management, data analysis, and interpretation of results. A major emphasis of the course will be to provide students with practical experience in managing and analyzing research datasets.