An Interdepartmental Program in Health: Science, Society, and Policy

Last updated: September 2, 2020 at 1:54 PM

The Health: Science, Society and Policy program, which draws on a considerable range and depth of expertise in the College of Arts and Sciences and The Heller School for Social Policy and Management, is designed to:

Expand students' understanding of the biological, behavioral, social, and environmental factors that promote health or cause illness.
Introduce students to the political, economic, legal, public-health, and organizational dimensions of health care systems in the United States and throughout the world.
Provide students with hands-on experience in either an internship (in a health-care delivery, public health or advocacy organization), a laboratory (studying the biological basis of health, behavior, or disease), or a field-based research project (investigating aspects of health or illness in a social context).
Provide students with the opportunity to integrate their academic coursework and supervised fieldwork or laboratory experiences across a number of health-related disciplines through a team-taught, capstone seminar.

This major draws upon courses in the social sciences, life sciences, and the fields of policy, law, and management, and is especially appropriate for students preparing for careers or further study in health and medicine as well as students who want to examine the issues and concerns of this important sector in society. The major can be completed with either a BA or the more science-intensive BS degree. The minor in HSSP is designed to provide an introduction to interdisciplinary study of health and medicine and to supplement a student's major(s).

Learning Goals

Health: Science, Society and Policy (HSSP) is an interdisciplinary undergraduate major that focuses on health, health care, and health policy. Launched in 2003, HSSP is a unique program that draws from three of the major strengths of Brandeis: the life sciences, the social sciences, and the health policy expertise of the Heller School. HSSP students undertake four core courses: a core Science, a core Society course, a core Policy course, and HSSP 100b - Introduction to Epidemiology, Biostatistics & Population Health, an important perspective rarely offered to undergraduates. In addition to the capstone for majors, the required hands on experience (HOE) enables HSSP majors to engage academic material experientially in a setting related to either health or health care. HSSP majors may fulfill their HOE with a health-related summer or semester internship, a field or lab based research project, a senior thesis, through a study abroad program, or a Justice Brandeis Semester.

There are few programs like HSSP in the country; the emphasis is studying multiple perspectives on health and health care. Many HSSP graduates go on to graduate or professional school in medicine, public health, nursing, health administration, physical therapy, health law, and other health related fields.

In pursuing the major, students can choose a BA version or the more science intensive BS. In both cases, students take four core courses, a hands on experience, and a senior capstone course. Additionally, BA majors have a choice of several electives, while BS majors must complete a series of basic science courses as well as a couple of electives. HSSP courses emphasize social science perspectives about health and illness, others that examine health policy issues, and courses that present scientific views of disease and treatment.

Knowledge

The HSSP major emphasizes knowledge and awareness of health from the perspectives of science, society and policy in both US and global contexts. HSSP students will achieve significant competency in understanding:

The nature of disease and illness from a basic scientific perspective;
The social and cultural contributions to health and illness;
The impact of health care system in diverse social and cultural settings;
How public policies in health and health care are developed, implemented and evaluated.

Core Skills

Students completing a major in HSSP will also acquire important core analytic thinking and quantitative reasoning skills including the ability to:

Synthesize information and perspectives from different disciplines, especially but not exclusively about health and health care;
Critically think about and evaluate health care system organization and delivery;
Provide a first hand experience with a health related organization; this teaches students how to function in and evaluate a "real world" situation beyond the classroom;
Critically evaluate health issues with epidemiology, basic biostatistics and quantitative reasoning;
Research health-oriented problems and analyze and communicate findings in both written and oral presentations.

Social Justice

The HSSP curriculum provides the tools for those committed to the Brandeis ideal of learning in service of social justice. The HSSP graduate will come away with a strong understanding of:

The social determinants of health and disease and health disparities and the impacts of social inequality on health;
Issues related to access of health care and health reform options;
Social and cultural differences that pertain to health;
Selected major bioethical issues.

Upon graduating many of our students take different health-related routes:

Enter graduate and professional schools for health-related professions and occupations including medicine, nursing, medical social work, podiatry, physical therapy and others;
Seek careers in public health and in public policy related to health and health care, often ultimately pursue further education in public health, law, government, business, and public policy;
Embark on careers in health-oriented research (often beginning with entry level positions and sometimes seeking advanced academic degrees);
Work in health-related domestic or international public sector agencies or NGOs or become involved with health services or health advocacy organizations, both domestic and international.

How to Become a Major or a Minor

Students can begin study in the HSSP major or minor with virtually any course in the program. Students are encouraged to begin taking their core "science" course, core "society" course, and their core "policy" course early in their pursuit of an HSSP major.

Students interested in majoring or minoring in HSSP should also review the major/minor requirements and then make an appointment with the program’s Undergraduate Advising Head (HSSP UAH) to declare their chosen HSSP degree and be assigned an HSSP adviser.

Core Faculty

James Morris, Chair
(Biology)

Darren Zinner, Associate Chair
(Heller School)

Dolores Acevedo-Garcia
(Heller School)

Sarah Curi, Undergraduate Advising Head and Study Abroad Liaison
(Legal Studies)

Deborah Garnick
(Heller School)

Anita Hannig
(Anthropology)

Dominic Hodgkin
(Heller School)

Donald Katz
(Psychology)

Thuy Lam
(Biology)

Maria Miara
(Biology)

Wangui Muigai
(African and African American Studies)

Sacha Nelson
(Biology)

Alice Noble
(Legal Studies)

Sharon Reif
(Heller School)

Lindsay Rosenfeld
(Heller School)

Rajesh Sampath
(Heller School)

Mayada Saadoun, Internship Instructor
(Heller School)

Sara Shostak
(Sociology)

Cindy Parks Thomas, Honors Coordinator
(Heller School)

Affiliated Faculty (contributing to the curriculum, advising and administration of the department or the program)
Stuart Altman (Heller)
Susan Birren (Biology)
Wendy Cadge (Sociology)
Joe Cunningham (Psychology)
Elaine Lai Fulton (Biology)
Laura Goldin (American Studies)
K.C. Hayes (Biology)
Liz Hedstrom (Biology)
Eli Hirsch (Philosophy)
Constance Horgan (Heller)
Nina Kammerer (Heller)
Margie Lachman (Psychology)
Eve Marder (Biology)
Joan Press (Biology)
Sharon Reif (Heller)
David Sherman (English)
Neil Simister (Biology)
Melissa Stimmel (Legal Studies)
Gina Turrigiano (Biology)
Larry Wangh (Biology)
Jutta Wolf (Psychology)

Requirements for the Minor

To complete the minor, students must successfully complete the following six semester courses (four core courses and two electives):

One core "science" course: BIOL 14a (Genetics and Genomics), BIOL 15b (Cells and Organisms), BIOL 16a (Evolution and Biodiversity), or BIOL 42a (Physiology).
One core "society" course: SOC 83a (Sociology of Body and Health) or SOC 84a (Health, Community, and Society).
One core "policy" course: HS 104b (American Health Care) or LGLS 114a (American Health Care: Law and Policy).
HSSP 100b (Introduction to Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Population Health). Open to HSSP juniors and HSSP seniors, generally taken in the junior year. Offered in both fall and spring semesters.

Note: Entrance into HSSP 100b can only be guaranteed to those students who declare their HSSP minor before the end of their junior year, regardless of the number of satisfactorily completed courses.
One elective from any of the three focal areas.
One elective from one of the two remaining focal areas.

Note: Courses that fulfill the Focal Area A elective for the BA and minors only include: BISC 2b, BISC 5a, BISC 5b, BISC 6bj, BISC 11a, NPSY 11b, NPSY 12a, NPSY 16a, and NPSY 22b.
No course with a final grade below C- can count toward fulfilling the requirements for the minor in Health: Science, Society, and Policy. No course taken pass/fail may count toward the minor requirements.

Requirements for the Major

All majors are required to complete the four HSSP core courses plus HSSP 110a (Integrative Seminar on Health) and a hands-on experience course, as well as the elective requirements, which vary for the BA and the BS degrees.

Foundational Literacies: As part of completing the Health: Science, Society and Policy major, students must:

Fulfill the writing intensive requirement by successfully completing one of the following: ANTH 81a, ANTH 111a, BIOL 18b, HSSP 89a, HSSP 106a, JOUR 130b, or PHIL 123b.
Fulfill the oral communication requirement by successfully completing: HSSP 118b.
Fulfill the digital literacy requirement by successfully completing: HSSP 100b.

Option I: The BA Degree in HSSP

One core "science" course: BIOL 14a (Genetics and Genomics), BIOL 15b (Cells and Organisms), BIOL 16a (Evolution and Biodiversity), or BIOL 42a (Physiology).
One core "society" course: SOC 83a (Sociology of Body and Health) or SOC 84a (Health, Community, and Society).
One core "policy" course: HS 104b (American Health Care) or LGLS 114a (American Health Care: Law and Policy).
HSSP 100b (Introduction to Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Population Health). Open to HSSP juniors and HSSP seniors, generally taken in the junior year. Offered in both fall and spring semesters. The Denmark Institute for Study-abroad (DIS) courses: Epidemiology: Danish Case Studies or Epidemiology: Swedish Case Studies can substitute for HSSP 100b.
Capstone: HSSP 110a (Integrative Seminar on Health). Offered in both fall and spring semesters, HSSP 110a is open to all HSSP majors in their final year.
A hands-on experience (HOE) chosen from the following options:
Recognizing the disruptive impact of the pandemic on fulfilling the Hands-on-Experience (HOE), HSSP majors who plan to graduate by May 2021 may satisfy the requirement with one of the five options below (see Special Notes Relating to Majors).
1. An internship seminar: HSSP 89a (Internship and Analysis), ENVS 89a (Environmental Internship), LGLS 161b (Advocacy for Policy Change), PAX 89a (Internship in Peace, Conflict, and Coexistence Studies), PSYC 161a (Clinical Psychology Practicum I) and PSYC 161b (Clinical Psychology Practicum II). Note: Must complete the year-long sequence (i.e., both PSYC 161a and PSYC 161b) to receive credit, or WMGS 89a (When Violence Hits Home: Internship in Domestic Violence).
2. HSSP 98a or HSSP 98b (Independent Research in Health: Science, Society, and Policy).
3. HSSP 99d (Senior Research).
4. A health-related Justice Brandeis Semester (JBS) semester.
5. A health-related study abroad program.
  
  Note: All majors must communicate their HOE choice, in writing, to the HSSP Internship Instructor. In addition, students who choose to complete their HOE through options 1 and 5 must also meet with the HSSP Internship Instructor in the fall of their sophomore or junior year for written internship pre-approval, before accepting/registering for that option. Students who choose to complete their HOE through option 6 must meet with the HSSP Study Abroad Liaison for pre-approval.
Students wishing to obtain a Bachelor of Arts (BA) must complete all the 6 required courses listed above, plus 4 elective courses:
One Focal Area A elective. Courses that fulfill the Focal Area A elective for the BA only include: BISC 2b, BISC 5a, BISC 5b, BISC 6bj, BISC 10b, BISC 11a, CHIN 165a, NPSY 11b, NPSY 12a, NPSY 16a, and NPSY 22b.
One Focal Area B elective.
One Focal Area C elective.
One additional elective from any of the three focal areas or a research methods course.

Option II: The BS Degree in HSSP

One core "science" course: BIOL 42a (Physiology).
One core "society" course: SOC 83a (Sociology of Body and Health) or SOC 84a (Health, Community, and Society).
One core "policy" course: HS 104b (American Health Care) or LGLS 114a (American Health Care: Law and Policy).
HSSP 100b (Introduction to Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Population Health). Open to HSSP juniors and HSSP seniors, generally taken in the junior year. Offered in both fall and spring semesters. The Denmark Institute for Study-abroad (DIS) courses: Epidemiology: Danish Case Studies or Epidemiology: Swedish Case Studies can substitute for HSSP 100b.
Capstone: HSSP 110a (Integrative Seminar on Health). Offered in both fall and spring semesters, HSSP 110a is open to all HSSP majors in their final year.
A hands-on experience (HOE) chosen from the following options:
Recognizing the disruptive impact of the pandemic on fulfilling the Hands-on-Experience (HOE), HSSP majors who plan to graduate by May 2021 may satisfy the requirement with one of the five options below (see Special Notes Relating to Majors).
1. An internship seminar: HSSP 89a (Internship and Analysis), ENVS 89a (Environmental Internship), LGLS 161b (Advocacy for Policy Change), PAX 89a (Internship in Peace, Conflict, and Coexistence Studies), PSYC 161a (Clinical Psychology Practicum I) and PSYC 161b (Clinical Psychology Practicum II). Note: Must complete the year-long sequence (i.e., both PSYC 161a and PSYC 161b) to receive credit, or WMGS 89a (When Violence Hits Home: Internship in Domestic Violence).
2. HSSP 98a or HSSP 98b (Independent Research in Health: Science, Society, and Policy).
3. HSSP 99d (Senior Research).
4. A health-related Justice Brandeis Semester (JBS) semester.
5. A health-related study abroad program.
  
  Note: All majors must communicate their HOE choice, in writing, to the HSSP Internship Instructor. In addition, students who choose to complete their HOE through options 1 and 5 must also meet with the HSSP Internship Instructor in the fall of their sophomore or junior year for written internship pre-approval, before accepting/registering for that option. Students who choose to complete their HOE through option 6 must meet with the HSSP Study Abroad Liaison for pre-approval.
Students wishing to obtain a BS must complete all the 6 required courses listed above, plus the following:
The introductory biology sequence: BIOL 14a and BIOL 18b, BIOL 15b and BIOL 18a, and BIOL 16a.
One Focal Area A elective.
One Focal Area B elective.
One Focal Area C elective.
All BS majors must also successfully complete 16 credits worth of additional basic science courses from BIOL, BCHM, CBIO, CHEM, NBIO, PHYS, MATH, COSI at or above the 10-level. PSYC 51a (Statistics) may be used as one of these electives.

Note: Together, the 18-credit introductory biology sequence BIOL 14a (Genetics and Genomics) and the lab BIOL 18b; BIOL 15b (Cell and Organisms) and the lab BIOL 18a; and BIOL 16a (Evolution and Biodiversity) provides a solid foundation in biology. BIOL 14a is the prerequisite for BIOL 18b. BIOL 15b is the prerequisite for BIOL 18a. Many HSSP BS students choose to take BIOL 14a and BIOL 15b in their first year; BIOL 18b lab and BIOL 18a lab in their second year; and BIOL 16a in their third year. BIOL 14a, BIOL 15b, and BIOL 16a can be taken in any order - one is not a prerequisite for any other. Students usually take BIOL 42a - Physiology in their junior or senior year, following completion of BIOL 14a and BIOL 18b; BIOL 15b and BIOL 18a; and BIOL 16a. All courses are 4 credits. Labs are 2 credits, with the exception of BIOL 18a which is 4 credits.

Notes for Undergraduate Majors

Students interested in lab experience and senior research should contact prospective mentors about these opportunities.

No course with a final grade below C- can count toward fulfilling the requirements for the major in Health: Science, Society, and Policy. No course taken pass/fail may count toward the major requirements.

Outside Coursework: Majors may transfer up to two courses (8 credits) taken from outside of Brandeis with written pre-approval from the Undergraduate Advising Head. With few exceptions, such outside courses may only fulfill HSSP electives and/or the Additional Basic Science Course requirement.

AP credit/ IB credit: Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) credit cannot be counted for any HSSP major or minor requirement; if you test out of an introductory science course, you are required take a more advanced course.

Honors Program

To write a thesis, a student must have a 3.25 overall GPA or a 3.5 GPA from a minimum of five HSSP electives and three HSSP core courses. Students wishing to graduate with honors in HSSP will be required to take HSSP 99d (Senior Research) for which the formation of a three-faculty member committee and a formal defense before that committee is required. The committee will consist of the student’s adviser as well as two members decided upon by the student and the adviser, and must be approved by the chair of HSSP.

Special Notes Relating to Majors

Temporary Changes for Fulfilling the Hands-on-Experience Requirement for HSSP

Recognizing the disruptive impact of the pandemic on fulfilling the Hands-on-Experience (HOE), HSSP majors who plan to graduate by May 2021 may satisfy the requirement with one of the five options below.

If you have additional questions on how to fulfill the HSSP HOE requirement, please contact Dr. Saadoun, the HSSP internship instructor.

Option I

Conduct a remote internship and enroll in HSSP 89a.

Work with your preferred or established site to develop a plan for remote work as pertains to your academic goals and interests.
A summer internship must be related to health with a minimum time commitment of 110 hours over minimum 8 weeks.
A school-year internship must be related to health with a minimum time commitment of 100 hours over the semester.
Still need to be pre-approved by the Internship Instructor (Dr. Mayada Saadoun).

Option II

One of the following:

LGLS 161b Advocacy for Policy Change. Students must notify the course instructor of their plans to use LGLS 161b to fulfill the HOE requirement and complete a health-related final paper.
PAX 89a Internship in Peace, Conflict and Coexistence Studies
WGS 89a When Violence Hits Home: Internship in Domestic Violence
PSYC 161a Clinical Psychology Practicum I and PSYC 161b Clinical Psychology Practicum II. Students must complete the year-long sequence (i.e., both PSYC 161a and PSYC 161b to receive credit).

Note: some classes may be affected by the pandemic and we are working with instructors to understand the impact of the pandemic on their academic plans for this summer and the next academic year.

Students choosing one of the options above will need to complete the Petition to Request Substitution for a Requirement.

HSSP 98a/b - Independent Research
HSSP 99d - Senior Thesis

Option III

Students may opt to take a 4-credit research methods class, such as:

ANTH 81a Conducting Ethnographic Fieldwork
BIOL 51a Biostatistics
BUS 111a Business Analytics
ECON 83 Statistics for Economic Analysis
POL 52b Introduction to Stats for Social Sciences
PSYC 51a Statistics
SOC 118a Observing the Social World: Doing Qualitative Sociology
SOC 181a Methods of Social Inquiry
SOC 182a Applied Research Methods

At instructor’s discretion, students might take HSSP 40a Application of Epidemiologic Methods (2-credit class) coupled with conducting a field-based project/final paper which needs to be health-related.

Any of the aforementioned research methods classes will count toward the HSSP HOE, substituting for HSSP 89a. It may not double count with other HSSP requirements. Students will also need to work on a health-related final paper/project.

Option IV

Conduct an online health-related study abroad program that has hands on component, such as a remote internship. Students choosing one of the options above will need to complete the Petition to Request Substitution for a Requirement.

Option V

Enroll in HSSP 89a with a field-based research project (and without a formal internship). In addition to the HSSP 89a course requirements, students without an internship will need to conduct a limited field-based research project. This project will require a research plan, including data analysis or small number of remote interviews, and to deliver a final paper that describes the project.

Special Notes Relating to Undergraduates Interested in Premedical Studies

Although the HSSP program is not specifically designed to fulfill the premedical requirements, students can fulfill the requirements as follows:

By majoring in HSSP and selecting either:
- The BA option of HSSP and completing BIOL 14a (Genetics and Genomics) or BIOL 42a (Physiology) as the core "science" course.
- The BS option of HSSP.
By majoring in one of the life sciences or physical sciences and choosing HSSP as a minor. Students should consult the premed website and with their premedical adviser.

Combined BA/MS or BS/MS Program in Global Health

5-year Combined BA/MS or BS/MS Program in Global Health

The Global Health Bachelors-Masters Program provides a pathway for undergraduate students interested in and passionate about global health to obtain the skills necessary to enter careers in the global health space. This program represents a partnership with the undergraduate major in Health: Science, Society, and Policy (HSSP) and the Global Health Policy and Management (GHPM) degree program at the Heller School.

Students apply in the spring of their junior year through the Heller admissions process, preferably by March 1 but no later than June 1. Admitted applicants take three Heller GHPM core requirements HS 236a International Health Systems and Development (4 credits), HS 229f International Health Financing (2 credits), and HS 239f Intersectionality and Bioethics (2 credits) in the senior year. [Note: the latter two courses are offered as half-semester modules in the spring, so students are only required to take the equivalent of one full semester course per term.] These courses may count toward the undergraduate major in HSSP as Focal Area C or general electives. They do not count toward graduation requirements toward the GHPM MS degree, although they allow students room in their schedule to take additional electives. Accepted students will normally be expected to maintain a minimum GPA of 3.25 and a grade of B or better in the required courses.

Through partnerships, the GHPM program will help secure a summer internship (paid or unpaid, minimum 55 hours) for admitted students between undergraduate and graduate years. These internships count toward fulfilling two credits of electives that count toward graduation requirements for the graduate degree. Students will pay undergraduate tuition through their senior year and graduate with a bachelors degree (BA or BS, per HSSP requirements). In their fifth year, students will pay Heller tuition (however, as a Brandeis alum, Heller guarantees a 50% tuition scholarship for students accepted into the program), and, assuming adequate academic progress, will graduate with a Masters of Science in Global Health Policy and Management.

Courses of Instruction

Expand All

(1-99) Primarily for Undergraduate Students

HSSP 40a Application of Epidemiologic Methods
Prerequisite: HSSP 100b. Yields half-course credit.
Provides a firsthand experience conducting epidemiological research on a public health topic. The students will work with the instructor on a research question to apply methods learned in Introduction to Epidemiology and integrate the concepts by conducting a cross-sectional epidemiology study. Usually offered every year.
Thuy Lam

HSSP 89a Internship and Analysis
[ wi ]
Prerequisites: Open only to HSSP majors who have pursued a health-related internship with the approval of the Internship Instructor.
This course for declared HSSP majors combines: 1) a supervised health-related internship, and 2) a weekly, classroom-based discussion during the Internship Seminar. The internship placement must be clearly health-related and take place within a healthcare organization whose work involves science (e.g., natural sciences and medicine), society (e.g., the social sciences and public health), and/or policy (e.g., law, politics, economics, and organizations). The internship must be arranged in consultation with and approved in writing by the HSSP Internship Instructor BEFORE the internship begins. Further details available at: http://www.brandeis.edu/programs/hssp/experiential.html. Students are required to attend a weekly 1.5 hour section, keep a journal, write several short papers, and prepare several presentations - all of which requires reflection on and systematic analysis of the internship experience. Usually two sections are offered in the fall semester and one section is offered in the spring semester.
Staff

HSSP 98a Independent Research in Health: Science, Society, and Policy
Under the direction of a member of the HSSP faculty or faculty sponsor approved by HSSP chair, students conduct an intensive laboratory- or field-based project that culminates in a twenty- to twenty-five-page research paper. Usually offered every year.
Staff

HSSP 98b Independent Research in Health: Science, Society, and Policy
Under the direction of a member of the HSSP faculty or faculty sponsor approved by HSSP chair, students conduct an intensive laboratory- or field-based project that culminates in a twenty- to twenty-five-page research paper. Usually offered every year.

HSSP 99d Senior Research
Under the direction of a member of the HSSP faculty, students conduct a year-long, original, health-related research project (laboratory- or field-based) and write a thesis.
Staff

(100-199) For Both Undergraduate and Graduate Students

HIS/HSSP 142a Health Activism
[ deis-us oc ss ]
Formerly offered as HSSP 142a.
Examines the history of health activism in the U.S. over the past 125 years, from late 19th century debates over compulsory vaccination to contemporary public health campaigns around gang violence and incarceration. Usually offered every third year.
Wangui Muigai

HSSP 100b Introduction to Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Population Health
[ dl qr ss ]
Core course for the HSSP major and minor. Open to juniors and seniors only.
Provides an orientation to the science of epidemiology, the quantitative foundation for public health policy. As a comprehensive survey course, students from varying academic backgrounds are introduced to biostatistics and major epidemiological concepts, and provided with training in their application to the study of health and disease in human populations. Case studies examine how environmental, physical, behavioral, psychological, and social factors contribute to the disease burden of populations. Usually offered every semester.
Staff

HSSP 102a Introduction to Global Health
[ ss ]
A primer on major issues in health care in developing nations. Topics include the natural history of disease and levels of prevention; epidemiological transitions; health disparities; and determinants of health including culture, social context, and behavior. Also covers: infectious and chronic disease incidence and prevalence; the role of nutrition, education, reproductive trends, and poverty; demographic transition including aging and urbanization; the structure and financing of health systems; and the globalization of health. Usually offered every year.
Staff

HSSP 104b Health Economics
[ ss ]
Prerequisite: ECON 2a or 10a.
Emphasizes the concepts and tools of health economics applicable to both developed and developing countries. Topics include: cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analysis, the demand for health services, insurance and risk, managed care, provider reimbursement, national health insurance, and an overview of health care systems in other countries. Usually offered every second year.
Dominic Hodgkin

HSSP 106a Managing Medicine
[ ss wi ]
Prerequisite: HS 104b or LGLS 114a.
Overview of the principles of management within health care, and how public policy decisions can influence the choices of individual healthcare organizations. Through case studies of real hospitals, insurers, and firms, the class examines choices of clinicians and managers aimed at improving health care quality, delivering patient satisfaction, and containing costs. Usually offered every year.
Darren Zinner

HSSP 107b Health Care Technology: Evaluating Emerging Medical Services, Drugs and Devices
[ ss ]
Recommended prerequisite: HS 104b or permission of the instructor. Priority given to HSSP majors and minors.
An overview of the role of medical technology in the U.S. health care system, with a focus on the impact of prescription drugs on the health care system, their promise for the future, and inherent risks. Usually offered every year.
Cindy Thomas

HSSP 110a Integrative Seminar on Health
[ ss ]
Prerequisite: Senior status in the HSSP major.
The capstone course is required for all HSSP seniors and is designed to integrate their academic coursework and fieldwork/laboratory experiences across a range of health-related disciplines. Section topics vary from semester to semester at the discretion of the instructing faculty member. Refer to the Schedule of Classes for specific topics. Usually offered every semester.
Staff

HSSP 112b Perspectives on Child Health and Well-Being
[ ss wi ]
Open only to juniors and seniors.
This is a survey course on child well-being in the United States. It is divided into four sections: child development, child and family context, environment, and programs and services. We will focus on early childhood and school-age child issues – with a complementary understanding of adolescence and family issues. The course will consider theoretical perspectives, the science of child development and outcomes, methods for understanding and tackling child public health issues and finally the services and programs available – and needed – for optimal child health. We will primarily use three frames: social determinants of health, social ecological model, and life course perspective. They consider race, gender, geography, socioeconomic status, sexuality, age, immigration status, education and other important issues in the larger context of child public health. Usually offered every year.
Lindsay Rosenfeld

HSSP 114b Racial/Ethnic and Gender Inequalities in Health and Health Care
[ ss ]
An examination of the epidemiological patterns of health status by race/ethnicity, gender, and socio-economic status. Addresses current theories and critiques explaining disparities in health status, access, quality, and conceptual models, frameworks, and interventions for eliminating inequalities. Usually offered every year.
Staff

HSSP 115b Perspectives on Behavioral Health: Alcohol, Drugs, and Mental Health
[ ss ]
A survey course which focuses on the science and biological basis of substance use and mental disorders, and linkages between behavioral health and general health. Consequences of behavioral health on society are discussed. Policy responses and the treatment system are assessed for their effectiveness. Usually offered every year.
Sharon Reif

HSSP 118b Viewing Medicine and Health Policy Through the Lens of Literature
[ oc ss ]
Literature – fiction, memoir, poetry and drama – offers a powerful lens for studying key health policy issues. By harnessing the power of authors’ imaginations, insights and compelling stories, students can gain deeper insight into patient centered care, ethics in research, access to healthcare, obesity and hunger, role of the pharmaceutical and tobacco, aging policy, disability, and clinicians’ roles and training. Usually offered every third year.
Deborah Garnick

HSSP 128a Disability Policy
[ ss ]
Focuses on exploring the principles and provisions of disability service programs in the United States and on developing an understanding of the complexities surrounding the financial, ethical, and legal issues related to current disability policies and the consequences of these policies. Usually offered every year.
Staff

HSSP 135a Special Topics in Public Health: U.S. History and Policy
[ ss ]
Prerequisite: Sophomore standing.
With an interdisciplinary focus, this course examines the complex history of efforts in the U.S. to improve our population's health. Key topics include promoting sanitation / environmental health, managing chronic / infectious diseases, and enhancing emergency preparedness as well as the role of law / government. Usually offered every year.
Sarah Curi

HSSP 148b The Policy Context of Families of Children with Disabilities
[ ss ]
Examines the role of families in raising children with disabilities, how families have influenced the development of policies/programs for children with disabilities, and how they interact with these policies/programs to improve their children's well-being and outcomes. Usually offered every year.
Dolores Acevedo-Garcia

HSSP 152b Introduction to Demography: Social Determinants of Health and Wellbeing
[ ss ]
Explores the social and health consequences of population dynamics within the U.S. and globally that affect wellbeing of families and nations including poverty and inequality, maternal and child health, aging, fertility and epidemiological transitions, workforce, immigration among other policy concerns. Usually offered every year.
Laurence Simon

HSSP 160a Looking with Uncertainty: The Healthcare Calling and Its Core Human Intelligences
[ ss ]
Focuses on medical uncertainty, the core challenge of the caregiver's practice in an increasingly digitized healthcare space. Students will examine the topic of conceptually, experientially (Rose Art Museum interactive work), and personally (examining professional calling). Usually offered every year.
Alexa Miller

HSSP 192b Sociology of Disability
[ ss ]
In the latter half of the twentieth century, disability has emerged as an important social-political-economic-medical issue, with its own distinct history, characterized as a shift from "good will to civil rights." Traces that history and the way people with disabilities are seen and unseen, and see themselves. Usually offered every year.
Steve Gulley

HSSP Core Course

HSSP Core Science Courses

BIOL 14a Genetics and Genomics
[ qr sn ]
Studies fundamentals of genetics, molecular biology and genomics through analytical thinking and problem-solving. Topics include heredity, meiosis, molecular basis of phenotypic variations, and an introduction to tools and techniques used by past and current researchers in genetics. Usually offered every semester.
Rachel Woodruff

BIOL 15b Cells and Organisms
[ sn ]
Introduces contemporary biology with an emphasis on cells, organs, and organ systems. Topics include the forms and functions of macromolecules, organelles, and cells, the integration of cells into tissues, and the physiology of fundamental life processes. The course is intended to prepare students to understand the biology of everyday life, and to provide a strong foundation for those who continue to study the life sciences. Usually offered every semester.
Neil Simister and Maria Miara

BIOL 16a Evolution and Biodiversity
[ qr sn ]
"Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution," the geneticist Theodosius Dobzhansky said famously. Evolution is the unifying theory of biology because it explains both the unity and diversity of life. This course examines processes and patterns of evolution, including the sources and fate of variation, natural selection and genetic drift, species and speciation, biogeography, and the history and diversity of life on Earth. We end with a discussion of human evolution and the impact we are having on the planet. Usually offered every fall.
James Morris

BIOL 42a Physiology
[ sn ]
Prerequisites: BIOL 14a and BIOL 15b.
Introduces basic physiological principles. Topics include the physiology of human nervous and endocrine systems, cardiovascular and respiratory systems, water and electrolyte regulation, digestion and absorption, the musculoskeletal system, reproduction, and immunology. Usually offered every year.
Staff

HSSP Core Society Courses

SOC 83a Sociology of Body and Health
[ deis-us ss ]
May not be taken for credit by students who took SOC 189a in prior years.
Explores theoretical considerations of the body as a cultural phenomenon intersecting with health, healing, illness, disease, and medicine. Focuses on how gender, race, class, religion, and other dimensions of social organization shape individual and population health. Usually offered every year.
Sara Shostak

SOC 84a Health, Community, and Society
[ ss ]
May not be taken for credit by students who took SOC 191a in prior years.
Reviews sociological theories of medicine as an institution of social control. Explores the relationships between social inequalities and health disparities. Examines how race and gender ideologies are embedded in medical and public health practice and knowledge production. Usually offered every year.
Siri Suh

HSSP Core Policy Courses

HS 104b American Health Care
[ ss ]
Examines and critically analyzes the United States healthcare system, emphasizing the major trends and issues that have led to the current sense of "crisis." In addition to providing a historical perspective, this course will establish a context for analyzing the current, varied approaches to health care reform. Usually offered every year.
Stuart Altman

LGLS 114a American Health Care: Law and Policy
[ ss ]
Closed to first-year students.
Focuses on individual rights, highlights how our laws and policies affect American health care. Traces the evolution of the doctor-patient relationship; explores access issues, including whether health care is or should be a fundamental right; assesses the quality of care and the impact of malpractice; and examines the cost of having (or not having) adequate health insurance. Concludes with options and prospects for meaningful reform. Usually offered every year.
Sarah Curi

HSSP Capstone

Focal Area A: Biological Dimensions of Health and Illness

ANTH 116a Human Osteology
[ sn ss ]
Anthropology majors have priority for enrollment. Students wishing to enroll during early registration should waitlist themselves.
Skeletal anatomy and application of forensic techniques to archaeological problems. Hands-on laboratory sessions focus on methods of estimating age at the time of death, determining sex, assessing skeletal variability, detecting instances of bone remodeling, and identifying cultural and natural modifications to bony tissue. Case studies exemplify bioarchaeological approaches. Usually offered every second year.
Javier Urcid

BCHM 88b Introductory Biochemistry
[ sn ]
Prerequisite: One year organic chemistry with laboratory, BIOL 14a, and BIOL 15b. Does not meet the requirements for the major in biochemistry or chemistry.
Topics include protein and nucleic acid structure; metabolism of biologically important compounds; formation and utilization of "energy-rich" compounds; introduction to enzyme mechanism; comparison of basic biochemical and chemical processes; and biochemical basis of disease. Usually offered every year.
Emily Westover

BCHM 100a Advanced Introductory Biochemistry
[ qr sn ]
Prerequisite: One year of organic chemistry with laboratory.
Topics include protein and nucleic acid structure; chemical basis of enzyme-catalyzed reaction mechanisms and enzyme kinetics; the chemical logic of metabolic pathways, including glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation; and regulation of enzymatic pathways through allosteric control. Usually offered every year in multiple sections.
Emily Westover

BIBC 126b Molecular Mechanisms of Disease
[ sn ]
Prerequisite: BCHM 88b or BCHM 100a. May not be taken for credit by students who took BIOL 126b in prior years.
Explores biochemical changes—in proteins, enzymes and metabolic pathways—that underlie human diseases. Examines molecular mechanisms for a variety of diseases, with a particular focus on molecular mechanisms for therapies. Draws heavily on current literature. Usually offered every second year.
Emily Westover

BIOL 18a General Biology Laboratory
[ oc sn ]
Prerequisite: BIOL 14a, BIOL 18b and sophomore standing. Yields full-course credit. Laboratory fee: $150 per semester. This lab is time-intensive and students will be expected to come in to lab between regular scheduled lab sessions. In order to accommodate students with time conflicts it may be necessary to re-assign students without conflicts to another section of the course. Students' section choice will be honored if possible.
Provides firsthand experience with a wide array of organisms and illustrates basic approaches to experimental design and problem solving in genetics and genomics. Usually offered every year.
Melissa Kosinski-Collins

BIOL 18b General Biology Laboratory
[ sn wi ]
Prerequisite: BIOL 15b and sophomore standing. Yields full-course credit. Laboratory fee: $150 per semester. This lab is time-intensive and students will be expected to come to lab between regular scheduled lab sessions. In order to accommodate students with time conflicts it may be necessary to re-assign students without conflicts to another section of the course. Students' section choice will be honored if possible.
Provides firsthand experience with modern molecular biology techniques and illustrates basic approaches to experimental design and problem solving in molecular and cellular biology including applications of biochemical techniques. Usually offered every year.
Kene Piasta

BIOL 42b Human Physiology Lab
Prerequisite: BIOL 42a. BIOL 42b may be taken concurrently with BIOL 42a. Yields half-course credit.
Students will be introduced to laboratory techniques used to study human physiology including electromyography, electrocardiography, exhaled gas analysis, and spirometry. Students will set up equipment, make predictions, record results and analyze how their observations reveal physiological principles. Usually offered every year.
Maria Miara

BIOL 43b Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy
[ sn ]
Prerequisite: BIOL 15b. Yields six semester-hour credits towards rate of work and graduation.
Focuses broadly on vertebrate anatomy. The gross and microscopic morphology of each organ system is considered in depth. Comparative anatomy, embryology, and relationships between structure and function are explored. Lectures, laboratory dissections, and clinical cases are used to illustrate the structure and function of vertebrates, with an emphasis on humans. Usually offered every spring.
James Morris

BIOL 43bj Comparative Anatomy
[ sn ]
Prerequisite: BIOL 15b.
Drawing from comparative anatomy and functional morphology, this course is designed to provide an overview of the form and function of organisms and provide a base on which to build further study organismal biology. Students will be introduced to the basics of the development, cellular make-up, evolution and function of the anatomy of many eukaryotes including vertebrates, fungi and plants anatomy. While the focus will be to examine these topics at the level of organs, organ systems and whole organisms, connections will be made to the molecular and cellular levels of organization. It is expected that students who pass this course will understand all concepts such that they may integrate them with each other and apply them to novel situations. Laboratory dissections, an end-of-term oral presentation and short answer tests will aid in this goal. Offered as part of JBS program.
Maria Miara

BIOL 44a The Biology of Human Sports and Exercise
[ sn ]
Prerequisite: BIOL 42a or BIOL 43b. BIOL 42a or 43b may be taken concurrently.
Examines the physiology and anatomy behind exercise science looking specifically at how the musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, respiratory and nervous systems respond to physical activity. We will consider how the body reacts differently depending on activity type, environment and age. Usually offered every third year.
Maria Miara

BIOL 46aj Biomechanics
[ sn ]
Prerequisites: BIOL 15b and BIOL 16a or BIOL 23a.
Introduces biomechanics at all scales and within a variety of taxonomic groups. Students will explore fluid and solid mechanics applying their knowledge to understand how physical properties impact our day-to-day lives. Offered as part of JBS program.
Maria Miara

BIOL 55b Diet and Health
[ sn ]
Prerequisite: BIOL 15b must be successfully completed prior to taking BIOL 55b.
Examines current evidence about the role of nutrition in human health and diseases, ranging from cardiovascular disease to diabetes. We also examine how specific nutrients – proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals, fiber and water – influence our well-being. We seek optimal, planet-friendly food choices to support healthy lives, as well as understanding the role of nutrigenomics and microbiota. Usually offered every second year.
Elaine Lai

BIOL 125a Immunology
[ sn ]
Prerequisites: BIOL14a and BIOL 15b. CHEM 25a is recommended. May not be taken for credit by students who took BIOL 70a in prior years.
Topics include properties and functions of cells involved in innate and adaptive immunity; genes, structure and function of immunoglobulins, B cell receptors and T cell receptors; lymphocyte differentiation; genetic regulation; MHC restriction; cell interactions and signaling; pathogen immunity (bacteria, viruses) and vaccines; tolerance and autoimmunity. Usually offered year.
Joan Press

BIOL 128a Human Genetics
[ sn ]
Prerequisites: BIOL 14a and BIOL 15b.
Survey of topics, including: overview of the human genome; variation; mutation and polymorphism; reproductive genetics; single-gene inheritance and complexities thereof; multifactorial conditions;risk assessment including Bayesian analysis; gene mapping including linkage analysis and genome wide association studies (GWAS); molecular methodology in genetics and genomics; cytogenetics; hemoglobinopathies; population genetics; cancer genetics; genetics of development;biochemistry of selected genetic diseases; treatment including pharmacogenetics and gene therapy; ethical considerations in genetics and genomics. Usually offered every year.
Nikkola Carmichael

BIOL 132a General Microbiology
[ sn ]
Prerequisites: BIOL 14a, BIOL 15b, and CHEM 25a. May not be taken for credit by students who took BIOL 71a in prior years.
Topics include the physiology and properties of bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms; microbial nutrition, metabolism, growth; bacterial genetics; horizontal gene transfer; microbial pathogenesis; immunity; antibiotics and other means of microbial control. Usually offered every year.
Susan Lovett

BIOL 153aj Project Lab in Biomimetics / Bioinspiration
[ oc sn ]
Prerequisites: BIOL 15b and BIOL 16a or BIOL 23a.
Explores how the natural world has been used to inspire designs solving real-world problems, identify a problem themselves, learn techniques to plan and build their own bio-inspired designs and present their products in a clear and accessible manner. Offered as part of JBS program.
Maria Miara

BIOL 160b Human Reproductive and Developmental Biology
[ sn ]
Prerequisites: BIOL 14a and BIOL 15b.
Course deals with hormonal, cellular, and molecular aspects of gametogenesis, fertilization, pregnancy, and birth. Pathological and abnormal variations that occur and the available medical technologies for intervention, correction, and facilitation of these processes are discussed. Usually offered every year.
Judith Jackson

BIOL 172b Growth Control and Cancer
[ sn ]
Prerequisites: BIOL 14a and BIOL 15b, and CHEM 25a.
Examines the fundamental rules of behavior of cells in multicellular organisms. Examines the research that has revealed the molecular basis of cancer development, including the cellular and molecular mechanisms that govern cell growth, differentiation and survival in normal cells, and how this regulation is disrupted in cancer. Usually offered every second year.
Rachel Woodruff

CBIO 106b Chemical Biology: Medicinal Enzymology
[ sn ]
Prerequisites: Satisfactory grade in BIOL 14a, BIOL 15b, CHEM 25a and 25b, and BCHM 100a or the equivalent.
Introduces students to the conceptual framework and experimental methods in medicinal chemistry. Topics include mechanisms of drug-target interactions, strategies for lead optimization and issues in metabolism, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. Readings drawn from textbooks and the original scientific literature. Usually offered every second year.
Lizbeth Hedstrom

NBIO 140b Principles of Neuroscience
[ sn ]
Prerequisites: Sophomore standing, BIOL 15b, one additional BIOL, BCHM, NBIO or NPSY course and one of the following: One year of college-level chemistry with lab, one year of college-level physics with lab, or any math course above 10a,b. AP scores are not accepted to meet the prerequisite. Junior standing recommended.
Examines the fundamental principles of neuroscience. Topics include resting potentials, action potentials, synaptic transmission, sensory systems, motor systems, learning, neural circuits underlying behavior, neurological diseases, and mental illness. Usually offered every year.
Eve Marder

NBIO 145b Systems Neuroscience
[ sn ]
Prerequisite: NBIO 140b.
Explores fundamental questions in circuit-and systems-level neuroscience. We will take a systems-level perspective to explore how the brain supports behavior and cognition. Students will read and discuss seminal and current findings to understand how the brain represents and perceives the external environment, adapts and learns, executes control, and uses internal representations to make decisions and drive behavior. The focus will in particular be on underlying circuits, neural representations and neurophysiological mechanisms. The course will follow an arc that covers sensory systems, perception and behavior, neural coding, cognition, and motor control. Emphasis will be on bridging across these levels, and on critical analysis and synthesis. Usually offered every year.
Shantanu Jadhav

NBIO 146a The Neurobiology of Human Disease
[ sn ]
Prerequisite: Any of the following BIOL 100b, BIOL103b, BIOL 105b, BIOL 122a, BIOL 123b, BIOL 128a, NBIO 140b, or NBIO 143b.
A lecture- and literature-based overview of the neurobiological underpinnings of neurological and psychiatric disorders including autism, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and other developmental and degenerative disorders. Usually offered every second year.
Susan Birren

NPSY 141a Stress, Physiology, and Health
[ sn ss ]
Prerequisites: NPSY 11b, NBIO 146a, PSYC 38a, or NPSY 199a.
About a third of all diseases in western society are related to stress. The study of psychosocial determinants of health is a growing field, in which biological and psychological research is combined to understand pathways between CNS processes and health. We will study these processes in this course. Usually offered every year.
Staff

NPSY 199a Human Neuropsychology
[ sn ss ]
Prerequisite: Psych 10a or Math 10a and at least sophomore standing.
Designed as an introduction to human neuropsychology. Topics include cerebral dominance, neuroanatomical mapping, and localization of function, with special reference to language, memory, and related cognitive function. Usually offered every year.
Staff

Focal Area B: Social and Behavioral Dimensions of Health and Illness

AAAS/HIS 131a African Americans and Health
[ ss ]
May not be taken for credit by students who took AAAS 131a in prior years.
Examines African American health experiences from the 17th century to the present, with a focus on the strategies and practices African Americans have employed to improve their health. Explores the historical development of “racial” diseases and inequalities. Topics include: slave health, the black hospital movement, eugenics, midwifery, and the crack and opioid epidemics. Usually offered every second year.
Wangui Muigai

AAAS/HIS 154b Race, Science, and Society
[ deis-us ss ]
May not be taken for credit by students who took AAAS 154b in prior years.
Traces scientific concepts of race from the 18th century to today, interrogating their uses and transformations over time. It explores how science has defined race, how people have challenged such conceptions, and alternate ways for understanding human difference. Usually offered every second year.
Wangui Muigai

ANTH 127a Medicine, Body, and Culture
[ djw nw ss ]
Examines main areas of inquiry in medical anthropology, including medicine as a sociocultural construct, political and economic dimensions of suffering and health, patients and healers in comparative medical systems. Usually offered every year.
Sarah Lamb or Anita Hannig

ANTH 140b Critical Perspectives in Global Health
[ nw ss ]
What value systems and other sociocultural factors underlie global public health policy? How can anthropology shed light on debates about the best ways to improve health outcomes? This course examines issues from malaria to HIV/AIDS, from tobacco cessation to immunization. Usually offered every third year.
Elanah Uretsky

ANTH 142b Global Pandemics: History, Society, and Policy
[ nw ss ]
Takes a biosocial approach to pandemics like HIV/AIDS, SARS, and Ebola as shaped not simply by biology, but also by culture, economics, politics, and history. Discussion focuses on how gender, sexuality, religion, and folk practices shape pandemic situations. Usually offered every fourth year.
Elanah Uretsky

ANTH 154a Culture and Mental Illness
[ ss ]
Without underestimating the importance of biological causes and treatments, this course challenges the hegemony of bio-medical models in psychiatry by seeking to conceptualize emotional problems and mental illness as historically situated and culturally constructed. Examines how factors related to political circumstances, social institutions, religious belief systems, socio-economic status, and ethnic background participate in shaping forms of distress and the ways they are dealt with in various socio-cultural settings. The course will also consider alternative therapies such as art therapy, community-based treatments, and culturally specific approaches to emotional healing and accommodation. Usually offered every third year.
Ellen Schattschneider

ANTH 164a Medicine and Religion
[ djw nw ss ]
Prerequisite: ANTH 1a or equivalent.
Considers the convergence of two cultural spheres that are normally treated as separate: medicine and religion. The course will examine their overlap, such as in healing and dying, as well as points of contention through historical and contemporary global ethnographies. Usually offered every second year.
Anita Hannig

ANTH 164b Cancer and Community
[ djw oc ss ]
Addresses the biophysical and sociocultural dimensions of cancer: how can this dreaded disease be both alienating and associated with new forms of solidarity and social connection? We also consider how vulnerability to cancer is mediated by structures of social inequality. Usually offered every second year.
Ellen Schattschneider

ENG 58a Literature and Medicine
[ dl hum wi ]
How has literature grappled with illness, healing, and the patient-doctor encounter? How can poetry and storytelling communicate with experience of bodily pain--and how does the body seek to communicate its suffering without language? We examine literary responses to the body's biological vulnerabilities, and seek to contextualize the vulnerable body within the cultural and political fields that shape medical knowledge and practice. Readings in fiction, poetry, essay, and drama will suggest the art, or craftsmanship, involved in the healing sciences, as well as the diagnostic nature of literary criticism. Reading for new approaches, generated by the literary imagination, to controversial issues in medical ethics. Usually offered every third year.
David Sherman

NEJS 184b Disability Cultures: Art, Film and Literature of People with Disabilities
[ djw hum ]
Explores cultural representations of disability in Israel, Europe, and the US. By focusing on literature, film, dance, and visual art, it explores physical, mental, and emotional disability experiences, and their relations to gender, sexuality, nationalism, and identity politics. Usually offered every second year.
Ilana Szobel

PHIL 23b Biomedical Ethics
[ hum ]
An examination of ethical issues that arise in a biomedical context, such as the issues of abortion, euthanasia, eugenics, lying to patients, and the right to health care. The relevance of ethical theory to such issues will be considered. Usually offered every second year.
Eli Hirsch

PHIL 123b Neuroethics
[ dl hum wi ]
Focuses on the philosophical and ethical implications that arise from advances in neuroscience. We will investigate questions like: What are the evolutionary origins of moral judgement? Does evolutionary theory shed light on morality? Do our moral motivations derive from reason or pre-reflective intuition? Do psychopaths have moral responsibility? Do we have free will? Is there an obligation to enhance ourselves? Should drugs be used to enhance mental functioning? Is it moral to grow human organs in animals for purposes of transplantation? Usually offered every third year.
Staff

PSYC 33a Developmental Psychology
[ ss ]
Prerequisite: PSYC 10a.
An examination of normal child development from conception through adolescence. Course will focus on theoretical issues and processes of development with an emphasis on how biological and environmental influences interact. Usually offered every year.
Staff

PSYC 37a The Psychology of Adult Development and Aging
[ ss ]
Prerequisite: PSYC 10a.
Describes the sensory, cognitive, personality, health, and social changes that occur during early, middle, and later adulthood. Emphasis is on pathways to successful development and healthy aging in the context of a shifting balance of gains and losses in psychological and physical functioning. Usually offered every year.
Margie Lachman

PSYC 38a Health Psychology
[ ss ]
Prerequisite: PSYC 10a.
An examination of the social and psychological factors important for well-being, physical health, and effective medical care. Psychological perspectives are applied to such topics as health promotion and compromise, the stress-illness relationship, social relations, chronic illness, death and dying, and health care provider and patient interactions. Usually offered every year.
Jutta Wolf

PSYC 126a Pathways and Mechanisms Linking Emotions to Mental and Physical Health
[ ss ]
Prerequisite: PSYC 10a.
Emotions are associated with mental and physical healthy and disorders such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and cardiovascular disease. This course surveys concepts of emotion and the physiological processes linking emotions to health, emphasizing stress as a mediator. Usually offered every fourth year.
Sarah Lupis

PSYC 130b Life Span Development: Early and Middle Adulthood
[ ss ]
Prerequisites: PSYC 10a, PSYC 51a, and PSYC 52a, plus one of the following: PSYC 31a, PSYC 33a, PSYC 36b or PSYC 37a, or permission of the instructor.
Seminar on advanced topics in life span developmental theory and methodology. Substantive emphasis will be on cognitive, personality, social, and physical changes that occur in early adulthood and midlife. Usually offered every second year.
Margie Lachman

PSYC 169b Disorders of Childhood
[ ss ]
Prerequisites: PSYC 10a, 33a, and permission of the instructor. Seniors and juniors have priority for admission.
Issues of theory, research, and practice in the areas of child and family psychopathology and treatment are reviewed in the context of normal developmental processes. Usually offered every semester.
Joseph Cunningham

SOC 117b Sociology of Science, Technology, and Medicine
[ ss ]
From the moment we are born, to when we die, our lives are shaped by science, technology, and medicine. This course draws on both historical and contemporary case studies to examine how science and medicine enter into our ideas about who we are as individuals and members of social groups (e.g., gender, race, ethnicity), understandings of health and illness, and ideals regarding what constitutes a good life, and a good death. Usually offered every second year.
Sara Shostak

SOC 133b Sociology of Reproduction
[ ss ]
Explores reproduction as a social and biological set of meanings and processes through which racial, national, gender, and socio-economic inequalities have been amplified, reconfigured and contested across time and place. It locates individual reproductive experiences and outcomes in regional, national and global contexts. Usually offered every year.
Siri Suh

SOC 150a HIV/AIDS, Society, and Politics
[ ss ]
Uses social science research and film in historical perspective to explore the global HIV/AIDS epidemic. Topics include gender and sexuality, global inequalities, social movements, the "AIDS industry," and public policy related to HIV/AIDS. Usually offered every second year.
Gowri Vijayakumar

SOC 165a Living and Dying in America: The Sociology of Birth and Death
[ deis-us ss ]
Not open to first year students. Not open to students who had a death in their immediate family in the past year.
This course introduces the tools and concepts central to the sociological study of birth and death in the United States. It is discussion-based and includes guest speakers, field trips, and interactive assignments. Usually offered every year.
Wendy Cadge

SOC 179a Sociology of Drugs in America
[ ss wi ]
Explores the use, misuse, and control of drugs in the United States, both legal medications and illicit "street" drugs. Examines pressing contemporary debates and dilemmas surrounding drugs in contemporary America, including the opioid crisis. Usually offered every second year.
Caitlin Slodden

SOC 187a Race, Health and Medicine in the African Diaspora
[ ss ]
Offers critical perspectives on race, medicine, health, and illness in the African Diaspora. Specifically, we explore how intertwining ideologies of race and gender have contributed to the (mis)management of illness and health in populations of African descent from the periods of slavery and colonization until the present day. Usually offered ever year.
Siri Suh

SOC 194a Sociology of Mental Health and Illness
[ ss ]
Examines sociological approaches to mental health and illness. The focus is on the history, definitions, social responses and consequences of conceptualizations and treatment of mental illness. This will include some discussion of social factors related to mental disorder and types of mental health treatment. Usually offered every second year.
Christopher Gillespie

WGS 128b Transgender Health and Wellness
[ deis-us ss ]
Explores transgender health and wellness, through a depathologizing, decolonizing, intersectional, and gender-affirming approach. Topics include gender health across the lifespan, social determinants of gender health, transgender representation in the media, strategies to address health inequities within transgender communities. Usually offered every year.
Beth Clark

WGS 151a The Social Politics of Sexual Education
[ deis-us ss ]
Covers the history and sociocultural politics of sexual education in the Global North with a strong focus on the U.S. Using queer, feminist, disability, and race theory, it examines what shapes "sex" and "education." Usually offered every third year.
Keridwen Luis

WGS 156b Sexuality and Healthcare
[ deis-us ss ]
Considers how ideas about gender and sexuality affect healthcare, with a particular focus on queer and trans communities. Examines the creation of "the homosexual" and "the transsexual" as medicalized categories; the recent expansion of access to healthcare; and medicine's role in constructing certain kinds of bodies. Usually offered every second year.
Keridwen Luis

WGS 182b Feminist Bioethics: Social Justice and Equity in Health Care
[ deis-us ss ]
Examines emergence of feminist bioethics, current issues of ethical debate related to human health, and the historical context of the field. Real-world applications of feminist ethical analysis are explored through problem-based learning, discussion, reading, research, and written, oral, and visual communication. Usually offered every year.
Beth Clark

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.

JOUR 130b Science and Journalism in Society
[ ss wi ]
Scientific progress has brought extraordinary medical advances and serious environmental crises. Good medical and science journalism has never been more important in understanding our world and how to fix it. This course is an introduction to the skills needed to cover medical and science news. It focuses on how to report and write daily news stories and longer features. It also explores the ethical, social, and political issues raised by the press coverage of science and medicine. Usually offered every second year.
Staff

LGLS 114aj American Health Care: Reform
[ ss ]
Nine years after the historic passage of the ACA, the United States and our health care system are at a crossroads. While the ACA seems to have weathered most of the significant implementation challenges, even its most ardent supporters acknowledge that the law provides only a partial fix for our nation's health care system. While access should improve appreciably, particularly for those who are currently uninsured, many will still remain without access to needed care. Moreover, among advanced nations our costs are the highest by far and the quality of our care is no better than that found in these less costly nations. We will explore the ACA, the events leading up to its passage, the policies the law was designed to further, its impacts so far--and the potential repeal and replace efforts. Offered as part of the JBS program.
Alice Noble

LGLS 131b Patient Autonomy: Law, Medicine, and Ethics
[ ss ]
Focuses on patient rights, examines how health care decisions are made, and by whom. Explores a range of current issues in the field of biomedical ethics, including the legal and ethical aspects of the physician-patient relationship, the doctrine of informed consent, medical futility, assisted reproduction, physician-assisted suicide, personhood, the right-to-die, clinical research, and emerging technologies. Analyzes hard and often tragic choices involving life, quality of life, and death. Assesses the ability of the legal system to set standards and resolve conflict. Usually offered every second year.
Staff

LGLS 131bj Patient Autonomy: Law, Medicine and Ethics
[ ss ]
At the heart of our evolving health care system are the doctor and the patient. Related to the doctor-patient relationship are often complex issues related to patient autonomy, life and death treatment decisions, and the cost of and access to care. They implicate questions of justice and the just distribution of care, a key goal of health care reform. We will explore ethical, legal, and social issues (including end-of-life-decision making, physician assisted suicide, procreative liberty, cloning, and genetic therapies) from the micro level of patient care at the patient's bedside to the macro issues of the health care system in which patient care is delivered and financed. Offered as part of the JBS program.
Sarah Curi

LGLS 138b Science on Trial
[ qr ss ]
Surveys the procedures and analytic methods by which scientific data enter into litigation and regulation/policy making. Introduces basic tools of risk analysis and legal rules of evidence. Case studies of tobacco litigation and regulation; use of DNA and other forensic evidence in the criminal justice system; the Woburn ground-water contamination case; and other topics to be selected, such as genetics in the courtroom, court-ordered Cesarean sections, polygraph testing, alternative medicine, and genetically modified foods. Usually offered every second year.
Daniel Breen

LGLS 149b Genetics, Law and Society
[ ss ]
Explores the social policy implications of new genetic technologies, including legal, ethical, and political challenges. Topics include privacy and discrimination, changing definitions in family law, information technology and intellectual property, forensic implications of DNA testing, regulation of reproductive technology. Usually offered every second year.
Alice Noble

HSSP Research Methods Courses

Research methods courses counting towards the BA only (does not satisfy the focal area requirement).

ANTH 81a Conducting Ethnographic Fieldwork: Methods and Practice of Anthropological Research
[ oc ss wi ]
Formerly offered as ANTH 181aj.
Examines principal issues in ethnographic fieldwork and analysis, including research design, data collection, and ethnographic representation. Students will develop a focused research question, design field research, and conduct supervised fieldwork in a variety of local settings. Usually offered every second year.
Jonathan Anjaria, Elizabeth Ferry, or Pascal Menoret

BIOL 51a Biostatistics
[ dl sn ]
Prerequisites: BIOL 14a and BIOL 15b.
An introductory level biostatistics class providing an overview to statistical methods used in biological and medical research. Topics include descriptive statistics, elementary probability theory, commonly observed distributions, basic concepts of statistical inference, hypothesis testing, regression, as well as analysis of variance. Basic statistical analysis using the R software package will be introduced. Usually offered every semester.
Kene Piasta

BUS 111a Business Analytics
[ ss ]
Prerequisites: BUS 6a, BUS 10a and BUS 51a.
This course is about analyzing and interpreting data about markets and customers. It has been designed for managers who will be using data analytics, and so is intended for students wanting to go into marketing, finance, consulting, entrepreneurship, business strategy and operations management. Students who take this class will learn about the sorts of business decision problems in which research information is most useful, including problems related to pricing, target market selection, and new product introduction. Usually offered every year.
Xavi Vidal-Berastain

ECON 83a Statistics for Economic Analysis
[ dl qr ss ]
Prerequisite: ECON 2a or 10a. Students must earn a C- or higher in MATH 10a, or otherwise satisfy the calculus requirement, to enroll in this course.
A first course in statistical inference. Topics include descriptive statistics, probability, normal and binomial distributions, sampling distributions, point and interval estimation, properties of estimators, hypothesis testing, regression, and analysis of variance. Usually offered every semester.
Linda Bui, Nidhiya Menon, and Tymon Słoczyński

POL 52a Basic Statistics for Social and Political Analysis
[ qr ss ]
Provides a foundation in statistics focusing on descriptive statistics, inference, hypothesis testing and the basics of regression analysis. Becoming familiar with basic statistics will help you to prepare for a career as a social scientist. Usually offered every second year.
Alejandro Trelles

PSYC 51a Statistics
[ dl qr ss ]
Prerequisite: PSYC 10a or the permission of the instructor. This course normally should be completed by the end of the sophomore year.
Covers the fundamentals of descriptive and inferential statistics. Techniques useful in the behavioral sciences will be emphasized. Students learn the theory of statistical decisions, practical application of statistical software, and how to analyze journal articles. Usually offered every semester.
Staff

PSYC 51aj Statistics
[ qr ss ]
Prerequisite: PSYC 10a or the permission of the instructor.
Covers the fundamentals of descriptive and inferential statistics. Techniques useful in the behavioral sciences will be emphasized. Students learn the theory of statistical decisions, practical application of statistical software, and how to analyze journal articles. Offered as part of JBS program.
Staff

SOC 18a Observing the Social World: Doing Qualitative Sociology
[ dl ss ]
May not be taken for credit by students who took SOC 118a in prior years.
Observation is the basis of social inquiry. What we see--and by extension, what we overlook or choose to ignore--guides our understanding of social life. This class focuses on how to conduct a qualitative research study, including literature review, participant observation, in-depth interviews, and coding and analysis. Usually offered every year.
Wendy Cadge or Sara Shostak

SOC 81a Methods of Social Inquiry
[ dl ss ]
May not be taken for credit by students who took SOC 181a in prior years.
Introduces students to qualitative and quantitative approaches to social research. Throughout the course emphasis is on conceptual understanding, with hands-on applications and exercises. No statistical or mathematical background is necessary. Usually offered every second year.
Sara Shostak

SOC 82a Applied Research Methods
[ dl qr ss ]
May not be taken for credit by students who took SOC 182a in prior years.
Provides an introduction to research methods and quantitative analysis commonly used in sociology. Using quantitative data, the class explores how higher education reflects the social stratification found in U.S. society. Participants will read peer-reviewed journal articles; design their own survey and analyze the results; and conduct analysis on a national data set focused on education. The course assumes no prior knowledge of research methods, but it does assume a curiosity about why we conduct research, how research studies are designed, and a willingness to analyze the results of different research studies. Usually offered every second year.
Staff

University Bulletin (2020-2021)