Health and Society: H S

Lower-Division Courses

H S X01. Introduction to Health and Society.

A broad, multidisciplinary overview that introduces students to the study of health and society.

H S X02. Current Approaches to Health and Society.

Continue exploring how social forces shape health behaviors and outcomes. Examine varied current subjects related to health, paying particular attention to methodological approaches and research designs used in the interdisciplinary health sciences. Explore career possibilities.

H S X10P. Physical Activity and Society.

Explores the way in which people are physically active in a social context - primarily in the United States. Examines how social forces influence physical activity including cultural, economic, historical, and demographic considerations. Examines physical activity on both the individual and population levels to better understand benefits and barriers to activity through the social context.

H S X19S. Topics in Health and Society.

This course is used to record credit the student earns while enrolled at another institution in a program administered by the University's Study Abroad Office. Credit is recorded as assigned by the study abroad adviser in the Health and Society major. University credit is awarded for work in an exchange program; it may be counted as coursework taken in residence. Transfer credit is awarded for work in an affiliated studies program.

Upper-Division Courses

H S X20C. Cancerland.

Explores the social and cultural terrain of cancer research, treatment, and public policy in the United States.

H S X29S. Topics in Health and Society.

This course is used to record credit the student earns while enrolled at another institution in a program administered by the University's Study Abroad Office. Credit is recorded as assigned by the study abroad adviser in the Health and Society major. University credit is awarded for work in an exchange program; it may be counted as coursework taken in residence. Transfer credit is awarded for work in an affiliated studies program.

H S X30. Health Care Policy in the United States.

An overview of the health care system in the United States and analysis of health policy issues primarily from the perspective of health economics.

H S X30C. Climate Change and Health.

Explore the basic science of climate change, including historical changes and how they have led to health problems and wars. Focus on global warming and how it will cause health problems in the coming decades. Examine solutions and moral and ethical dimensions to both global warming and its effects on human health.

H S X31C. COVID-19 Social Impacts and Public Dilemmas.

Explore the COVID-19 pandemic through multiple social, cultural, and economic lenses. Consider how globalization has influenced transportation networks and economic relationships that shape infectious disease transmission in the twenty-first century. Examine the effectiveness of different public health efforts to curb the spread of this virus. Discuss how the public health efforts of different nations and international governing bodies reveal different cultural values, political realities, and healthcare systems.

H S X40. Topics in Health and Society.

Selected topics on health and society.

H S X40.11. Medical Sociology.

Explores the social context of health, illness, and the health care system in American society. Discussion of the processes of medicalization and demedicalization, social factors influencing health and health care, the organization of the health care delivery system and patient outcomes, and the social meaning and experiences of illness.

H S X40.5. Health Disparities.

Examine health disparities and outcomes in four areas: core medical sociological theories and models; the biology of stress; intersections of race, class, and gender for health; and introduction to genetics and health disparities.

H S X40.7. Contemporary Practice of Medicine.

Explores what it means to be a practicing physician in contemporary America. Structured as a series of guest lectures by doctors from different medical specialties and at different stages in their careers; physician scientists and academicians; hospital administrators and related professionals; providers of medical care from international settings; and ethicists.

H S X40.8. Economic Sociology of Health.

Provides a look at the economics of health and health care through a sociological lens. Examines how the multidimensional nature and distribution of health and healthcare are shaped by a variety of social and economic factors. Gain an understanding of the power of incentives, markets, and cost-benefit analysis, as well as the limits of these tools, in creating effective health care policy.

H S X40.9. Valuing Mental Health.

Explores the value of health in general and mental health specifically. Comparison of notions of health and illness, non-communicable disease and mental illness, and relative valuations in health and mental health. Development of sound, sensitive, and defensible opinions about mental health through the use of plays, poems, songs, videos, short stories, and personal accounts of illness and disability.

H S X41. Health and Justice.

Examines ethical, political, and legal issues surrounding medicine, society, and healthcare.

H S X41C. Comparative United States Health Systems.

Examine the social and economic distribution of health and health care and how underlying social values shape both the health of a population and its approach to health care. Analyze health care systems worldwide to see what the advantages and disadvantages of these models are for different segments of society compared to the US model.

H S X47E. Sustainability, Equity, and Health.

H S X50E. Foundations of Epidemiology.

Introduction to the basic tenets of epidemiology as well as the different types of epidemiological study designs.

H S X78. Seminar in Health and Society.

Focuses on a key topic or debate within the Health and Society area of study and develops students' abilities to use data and write a research or policy paper that informs that topic or debate.

H S X79H. Honors Tutorial Course.

A supervised conference course to provide training in research and writing.

Graduate Courses

Professional Courses