This independent study involves engaging in Public Health-related research under the supervision of an approved faculty member. Students work with their faculty supervisor to develop learning objectives for their independent research project, as well as a detailed plan describing how these objectives will be fulfilled.

The field of public health has saved and improved millions of lives, and yet is plagued by ethical controversies. This course explores the history, methods, and philosophical principles of public health ethics. Students will learn about ethical theory and develop the skills to analyze important ethics issues in domains of public health including research, infectious disease control, health promotion, public health emergencies, and health disparities. Critical reading, philosophical analysis, and group discussion are central to the course.

Health assessment is the systematic process of collecting, analyzing, and interpreting information to understand the health status of individuals and populations. In this course, students familiarize themselves with the range and variety of techniques used in assessing health at the individual and population levels, including diagnostic testing, disease screening, and community needs assessments.

While the health and wellbeing of the nation has improved overall, racial, ethnic, gender and sexuality disparities in morbidity and mortality persist. To successfully address growing disparities, it is important to understand social determinants of health and translate current knowledge into specific strategies to undo health inequalities. This course will explore social justice as a philosophical underpinning of public health and will consider the etiology of disease rooted in social conditions.

This course is an introduction to global health from an interdisciplinary perspective. It will examine issues that affect population health the world over and policy recommendations to prevent emerging and re-emerging diseases.

In this course, students will learn about basics of the policy process in the United States, with a focus on issues pertaining to health and healthcare. Students will develop an understanding of how political factors and aspects of the policy environment shape public health and the provision of healthcare services at both the national and state level.

This course intended to provide students with practical knowledge to understand obesity epidemics in the U.S., and an overview of federal, state, and local policy approaches and national initiatives for preventing obesity, promoting healthy behaviors, and providing care to obese citizens. There will also be extensive discussion of evidence for the impact of policies on child and adolescent overweight, including ethnic/racial and socioeconomic disparities. Students will be provided with an opportunity to develop an intervention targeting any perspective of obesity.

This course will provide emerging public health professionals with an overview of the historical evolution of the field of public health, from Hippocrates to war and industrialization; from the sanitary movement, quarantine, and the development of public health boards; to the ethical concerns linked to the management and control of disease and promotion of health. In the second half of the semester, we will use the example of maternal and reproductive health to illustrate some of the underlying tensions in current public health research and programming. Enhancing students?

What is the air we breathe composed of and where do various pollutants come from? How does exposure to air pollutants manifest in chronic disease? What level of exposure is too much and how can I minimize my exposure? The goal of this course is to answer these questions and provide you with tools to quantify the environmental risks of air pollution. Exposure to air pollution is unavoidable and ranks as one of the top ten global health risks in the development of non-communicable diseases. Air pollution represents a complex mixture of thousands of gaseous and particulate chemicals.

This course is about the unique health needs and health disparities within the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) communities, and among the individuals who make up each of these communities. We will learn about gender identity and sexual orientation development in kids and young adults, sexual health, global perspectives, strategies for improving the healthcare experience of LGBT people (e.g., patient-centered and compassionate care), barriers to accessing health care, and many other relevant topics.