Health, Wellness and Life Skills
Objectives
Health, wellness and life skills provides students with the tools to successfully balance personal well-being with social, professional, community, and global commitments. Students will complete noncredit modules or course equivalents in three areas: navigating health and safety; mind and body balance; and life skills. Some topics and experiences within these areas include:
Navigating Health and Safety
- Alcohol and drug education
- Sexual assault prevention
- Self-defense
- First Aid
Mind and Body Balance
- Physical fitness
- Nutrition
- Stress management
- Faith and spirituality
Life Skills
- CPR
- Financial literacy
- Career development
- Team building
- Negotiation skills
- Crisis management
- Reducing your carbon footprint
Modules are required in both navigating health and safety, and mind and body balance with a third module from any of the three areas. Students who complete these requirements will gain confidence and resilience by learning how to navigate difficult and potentially dangerous situations, gaining a solid foundation in the skills of everyday life, and establishing productive habits of mind and body.
Learning Goals
Core learning goals include, but are not limited to:
- Acquire skills and understanding that will set healthy lifelong attitudes towards physical and mental wellness and sustainable environmental practices
- Acquire awareness of and the ability to navigate situations that pose potential threats to personal and group safety
- Develop career and life skills needed to manage changes in life circumstances
Navigating Health and Safety
Learning goals for this component will include one or more of the following:
- Acquire ability to assess potential problem situations and develop a framework for resolving them
- Evaluate the personal safety of self and others; protect oneself in various environments
- Make healthy choices in regard to alcohol and drug use
Mind and Body Balance
Learning goals for this component will include one or more of the following:
- Acquire skills to engage in sports and individual athletic challenges
- Attain habits of activity to promote a lifelong healthy lifestyle
- Acquire the knowledge and skills to manage stress, and live a healthy, engaged life
Life Skills
Learning goals for this component will include one or more of the following:
- Apply skills developed in the academy (e.g., critical thinking, oral and written communication, research, digital literacy) to personal and professional issues
- Identify and articulate one's skills, strengths, knowledge, and experiences relevant to desired career goals
- Navigate and explore job or graduate school options, and take the steps necessary to pursue opportunities
- Connect with resources and networks to support and inform decision-making
- Apply environmental literacy skills and practices for global stewardship
- Engage in civic life and participate in the cultural life of a community
- Be informed managers of personal finances and consumers of financial products
How to Fulfill the Requirement
For students entering Brandeis beginning fall 2019, the health, wellness and life skills requirement will be satisfied by completing three noncredit, six-week module courses. All first-year students need to enroll in the core navigating health and safety module in their first semester at Brandeis, and students will then choose one module from mind and body balance and one other module from any of the three groups. Courses that satisfy the requirement in a particular semester are designated "hwl1" (navigating health and safety), "hwl2" (mind and body balance), or "hwl3" (life skills) in the Schedule of Classes for that semester. A list of health, wellness, and life skills courses is available in the Courses of Instruction.
Completion of one full season of participation on a varsity athletics team, as certified by the Department of Athletics, is equal to one mind and body balance module. Exemption of the mind and body balance module requirement is given to anyone who has served in the military. Students may also take a course outside of Brandeis to get CPR and AED certified. Any exemption for certification has to be the equivalent of the class offered by Brandeis, and must include CPR and AED training for adults and children. CPR certification is equivalent to the credit earned for the successful completion of one life skills (hwl3) module. Please contact the Department of Athletics for complete information on requesting an exemption.