Public Health is concerned with identifying and acting on the factors that shape the health and diseases of populations. This course introduces the major concepts, tools, and debates of Public Health through an exploration of issues in this interdisciplinary field including health inequities, historical and ongoing strategies for control of communicable and noncommunicable diseases, and connections between social structures and the distribution of disease from a Public Health perspective. Students acquire basic knowledge, attitudes, and skills that are important for Public Health practice. This course is one of the two required courses for the Public Health minor.

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Global Health Disparities offers a cross cultural comparative analysis of the definitions of health and health care delivery, as well as an overview of specific chronic and acute health issues. The course addresses global health broadly and focuses on global health disparity. We analyze disparity with a multidisciplinary perspective, evaluating the political, economic, and sociocultural aspects of health inequality. This course is one of the two required courses for the Public Health minor.

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This course applies the sociological perspective to various topics regarding mental health and illness. The course covers topics such as the social construction of mental illness, the social epidemiology and epidemiology of mental illness, labeling and stigma of those with a mental illness, and mental health policy/treatment.

This course evaluates the social, psychological, and biological changes that occur with aging and how these changes affect interactions between older people and their family, friends, home, community, and society. Special attention is given to the sociological aspects of aging and the impact the increasing older adult population has on the US today. The course takes classroom learning and apply it to real world experiences through a significant service-learning project. Students should be prepared to spend 20 hours in a community-based project during the course of the semester.

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