Important Notes
Beginning this Fall 2013 the Biology Department's course and requirement changes come into effect.
These changes will have some impact on HSSP, although all students who entered Brandeis prior to this fall may complete their HSSP BS degree with either the prior Biology courses or the revised Biology courses.
The changes:
Bio 14, 15, and 16 will replace Bio 22a and Bio 22b.
Students can now take these Biology courses without taking Chemistry first. The labs for the Biology courses stay the same but can be taken separately from the Biology courses.
How these changes will affect HSSP BS requirements:
For the BS, students must still take BIO 42a as their core course, but can take as many as two of the new Bio 14, 15, and 16 courses to fulfill two of the three area A elective requirements.
The third Area A elective course must be chosen from the list of Area A electives listed above Bio 22b.
Many sophomores and juniors and all graduating seniors will not be impacted by these changes if they have already completed Bio 15 and/or Bio 22a and Bio 22b.
These changes will have some impact on HSSP, although all students who entered Brandeis prior to this fall may complete their HSSP BS degree with either the prior Biology courses or the revised Biology courses.
The changes:
Bio 14, 15, and 16 will replace Bio 22a and Bio 22b.
Students can now take these Biology courses without taking Chemistry first. The labs for the Biology courses stay the same but can be taken separately from the Biology courses.
How these changes will affect HSSP BS requirements:
For the BS, students must still take BIO 42a as their core course, but can take as many as two of the new Bio 14, 15, and 16 courses to fulfill two of the three area A elective requirements.
The third Area A elective course must be chosen from the list of Area A electives listed above Bio 22b.
Many sophomores and juniors and all graduating seniors will not be impacted by these changes if they have already completed Bio 15 and/or Bio 22a and Bio 22b.
No course offered to fulfill the requirements for this major may be taken pass/fail, and all grades in major courses must be at least a C-minus.
Students may, with approval from the HSSP chair, transfer up to two courses (eight credits) taken from outside Brandeis for the major, petitioning to use them as either core courses or electives.
Bachelor of Science Degree
Students wishing to obtain a bachelor of science degree in Health: Science, Society and Policy must fulfill the following requirements:
Required Courses (4)
- BIOL 42a (Physiology)
- HS 104b (American Health Care) or LGLS 114a (American Health Care: Law and Policy)
- HSSP 100b (Introduction to Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Population Health), a capstone course generally taken in the junior year
- HSSP 110a (Integrative Seminar on Health), a capstone course taken in the Spring of the senior year
- SOC 191a (Health, Community and Society)
Electives (5)
Students must take three electives from Focal Area A (above the 20 level) and one elective each from Focal Area B and Focal Area C.
| Focal Area A: Biological Dimensions of Health and Illness | |
| ANTH 116a | Human Osteology |
| BCHM 172a | Cholesterol in Health and Disease |
| BIOL 22a | Genetics and Molecular Biology |
| BIOL 22b | Cell Structure and Function |
| BIOL 42a | Physiology |
| BIOL 43b | Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy |
| BIOL 55b | Diet and Health |
| BIOL 106b | Chemical Biology: Medicinal Enzymology |
| BIOL 125a | Immunology |
| BIOL 126b | Protein Structure and Disease |
| BIOL 128a | Human Genetics |
| BIOL 132a | General Microbiology |
| BIOL 149b | Molecular Pharmacology |
| BIOL 160b | Human Reproductive and Developmental Biology |
| BIOL 172b | Growth Control and Cancer |
| NBIO 140b | Principles of Neuroscience |
| NBIO 145b | Systems Neuroscience |
| NBIO 146a | The Neurobiology of Human Disease |
| NBIO 150a | Autism and Human Developmental Disorders |
| NPSY 141a | Stress, Physiology and Health |
| NPSY 199a | Human Neuropsychology |
| Focal Area B: Social and Behavioral Dimensions of Health and Illness | |
| ANTH 111a | Aging in Cross-Cultural Perspective |
| ANTH 127a | Medicine, Body and Culture |
| ANTH 142a | AIDS: Science, Society and Policy |
| ANTH 154a | Culture and Mental Illness |
| ANTH 160b | Dirt, Disgust and Contagion: The Anthropology of Pollution |
| ANTH 164a | Medicine and Religion |
| ENG 58a | Literature and Medicine |
| ENG 58b | AIDS, Activism and Representation |
| HSSP 114b | Racial/Ethnic and Gender Inequalities in Health and Health Care |
| PHIL 23b | Biomedical Ethics |
| PSYC 33a | Developmental Psychology |
| PSYC 37a | The Psychology of Adult Development and Aging |
| PSYC 38a | Health Psychology |
| PSYC 130b | Life Span Development: Middle Adulthood |
| Psyc 142a | Sport Psychology: A Health Psychology Perspective |
| PSYC 145b | Aging in a Changing World |
| PSYC 169b | Disorders of Childhood |
| SOC 117b | Sociology of Science, Technology and Medicine |
| SOC 165a | Living and Dying in America: The Sociology of Birth and Death |
| SOC 189a | Sociology of Body and Health |
| SOC 190b | Caring in the Health-Care System |
| SOC 193a | Environment, Health and Society |
| SOC 194a | Sociology of Mental Health and Illness |
| Focal Area C: Health-Care Policy and Practice | |
| Undergraduates in the HSSP program may be admitted to the graduate-level courses below (numbered above 200) with the permission of the instructor. | |
| HS 124a | Dilemmas of Long-Term Care |
| HS 412b | Substance Use and Societal Consequences |
| HS 518a | Management of Health-Care Organizations |
| HS 519a | Health Economics |
| HS 520a | Payment and Financing of Health Care |
| HS 521a | Approaches to Political and Organizational Analysis |
| HSSP 102a | Global Perspectives of Health |
| HSSP 104b | Health Economics |
| HSSP 106a | Managing Medicine |
| HSSP 107b | Health-Care Technology: Evaluating Emerging Medical Services, Drugs and Devices |
| HSSP 112b | Public-Health Perspectives on Child Welll-Being |
| HSSP 115b | Perspectives on Behavioral Health: Alcohol, Drugs and Mental Health |
| HSSP 118b | Viewing Health Policy Through the Lens of Literature |
| HSSP 192b | Sociology of Disability |
| JOUR 130b | News Writing for Science and Medicine |
| LGLS 114a | American Health Care: Law and Policy |
| LGLS 121b | Law and Social Welfare: Citizen Rights and Government Responsibilities |
| LGLS 129b | Law, Technology and Innovation |
| LGLS 131b | Patient Autonomy: Law, Medicine and Ethics |
| LGLS 132b | Environmental Law and Policy |
| LGLS 138b | Science on Trial |
| LGLS 149B | Genetics, Law and Society |
| SOC 176a | Nature, Nurture and Public Policy |
| WMGS 106b | Women in the Health-Care System |
Experiential Learning Courses (1)
Choose from among the following:
- HSSP 89a (Internship and Analysis) or one of the following substitutions (with clear human health implications and approval of internship instructor): LGLS161b (Advocacy for Policy Change), ENVS89a (Environmental Internship), PAX89a (Internship in Peace, Conflict, and Coexistence Studies - for Sorensen Fellows only), or Justice Brandeis Semester (depending on the program)
- HSSP 98a (Independent Research in Health: Science, Society and Policy)
- HSSP 98b (Readings in Health: Science, Society and Policy)
- HSSP 99d (Senior Research)
- WMGS 92a (Internship and Analysis)
Capstone Course (1)
The following should be taken during the senior year:
- HSSP 110 (Senior Capstone)
Additional Basic Science Courses (24 credits)
- All courses must be at or above the 10-level.
- Students must also enroll in all laboratories that accompany electives used to satisfy these requirements (i.e., BIOL 18a must be taken with BIOL 22a). These labs will each count as half a course (two credits).
- PSYC 51a may count as one of the six additional basic math/science courses.