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.

Injuries are an important public health problem and the leading cause of death for U.S. citizens under the age of 45 years. This 3-part course presents a public health approach to understanding and preventing both unintentional and violent injuries, with a focus on the policy tools available for reducing the burden of injury.

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.

Most of us can think of something risky, but what is risk? How is risk defined and quantified? And what do we do when an action, product or intervention has both risks and benefits? This course will dive into several topics in public health that are considered to have both risks and benefits including GMOs, water fluoridation, chemicals in sunscreen, and medical imaging techniques. Students will also have the opportunity to dig deeper into a topic of their choosing to explore how risks and benefits are balanced for individuals and populations.

This course will provide a comprehensive overview of issues related to health in women, addressing areas including but not limited to biology, psychology, geography, economics, health policy, and social issues.

The public health community - individuals and organizations - have an important role to play in shaping how populations receive and gain access to accurate health information. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention defines health communication as "the and use of communication strategies to inform and influence individual and community decisions that enhance health." This class will provide an introduction to the issues and methods associated with effective communication of health related information. Fulfills Junior Year Writing requirement.

The public health community - individuals and organizations - have an important role to play in shaping how populations receive and gain access to accurate health information. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention defines health communication as "the and use of communication strategies to inform and influence individual and community decisions that enhance health." This class will provide an introduction to the issues and methods associated with effective communication of health related information. Fulfills Junior Year Writing requirement.

The public health community - individuals and organizations - have an important role to play in shaping how populations receive and gain access to accurate health information. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention defines health communication as "the and use of communication strategies to inform and influence individual and community decisions that enhance health." This class will provide an introduction to the issues and methods associated with effective communication of health related information. Fulfills Junior Year Writing requirement.