Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Public Health

Program Steering Committee and Advisors

Jonathan Forde, Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science
Gregory Frost-Arnold, Associate Professor of Philosophy
Keoka Grayson, Associate Professor of Economics
Jessica Hayes-Conroy, Chair, Associate Professor of Gender, Sexuality and Intersectional Justice
Justin Miller, Professor of Chemistry

The public health program is an interdisciplinary program offering a major and a minor for students preparing for professional or graduate training in health care or careers enhanced with public health understanding. Public health is a field dedicated to understanding and improving the health of people and the communities they live within. The Public Health program serves students planning to enter a variety of health professions fields. Students in the program can expect to graduate with a deep appreciation for the complex social, biological, economic, cultural, and ecological dimensions of human health. The program has also been designed in a way that facilitates opportunities for pursuing a pre-med pathway or other pre-professional pursuits. Students are encouraged to study abroad through programs including (but not limited to) those in Galway, Ireland; Copenhagen, Denmark; and Stockholm, Sweden.

Mission Statement

The public health program seeks to advance an approach to human health and wellness that embraces multiple perspectives, invites reflexivity, encourages critical thinking, and centers justice as our foundational goal.

Offerings

Public Health Studies Major (B.A.) 

Interdisciplinary, 12 courses

Learning Objectives:

• To enable students to study important issues of human health and health care in the United States and abroad.
• To teach students to recognize the varied social, cultural, economic, biological, and ecological determinants of health.
• To allow students to think critically, creatively, and expansively about what it means to study and intervene in human health at both the clinical and population level.
• To allow students to gain auxiliary skills vital to public health professionals in the 21st century.
• To encourage students to improve communication skills and to consider ethical foundations essential for health professionals.
• To enable students to pursue an area of concentration that deepens their knowledge of human health in ways specific to their career aspirations.  

Requirements:
The required courses are PBHL 100 (Introduction to Public Health), either PBHL 201 (Epidemiology) or PBHL 301 (Critical Social Epidemiology), GSIJ 204 (Politics of Health), and a Tools Course. In addition, students must take three Public Health Core Electives from at least two different disciplines, three courses within a chosen area of concentration (Health Science, Environmental Health, Global Health, or Health Justice), and one additional course from any listed for the major. No more than three 100-level courses can be counted for the major, and students must take at least two 300- or 400-level courses in addition to the capstone. Six courses must be unique to the major. All courses must be passed with a grade of C- or higher. Credit/no credit courses cannot be counted toward the minor.

Public Health Minor

Interdisciplinary, 6 courses

Requirements:
The required courses are PBHL 100 (Introduction to Public Health), PBHL 201 (Epidemiology), GSIJ 204 (Politics of Health), and a Tools Course. In addition, students must take two Public Health Core Electives, one of which must be at the 300- or 400-level. Three courses must be unique to the minor. All courses must be passed with a grade of C- or higher. Credit/no credit courses cannot be counted toward the minor.

Tools Courses

ANTH 273 Research Methods
BIOL 212 Biostatistics
ECON 202 Statistics
ENV 203 Fundamentals of Geographic Information Systems
ENV 207 Environmental Statistics
GEO 107 Statistics for Citizens
GEO 207 Environmental Statistics
GSIJ 305 Food, Feminism & Health
MATH 351 Math Statistics
PSY 201 + 202 Statistics in the Psychological Science / Introduction to Research Methods in Psychological Science

Core Electives

Natural Science Division:
BIOL 160 Nutrition
BIOL 167 Introductory Topics
BIOL 215 Evolutionary Genetics 
BIOL 220 General Genetics 
BIOL 222 Microbiology
BIOL 224 Anatomy
BIOL 232 Cell Biology
BIOL 233 Physiology
BIOL 302 Immunology
BIOL 327 Cancer Biology
BIOL 340 Neurobiology 
BIOL 341 Developmental Biology 
BIOL 380 Genomics
CHEM 138 Nutrition 
CHEM 348 Biochemistry I

Social Science Division:
ANTH 260 Medical Anthropology
ECON 243 Political Economy of Race
EDUC 202 Human Growth and Development
EDUC 203 Children and Disabilities
EDUC 221 Understanding Autism
EDUC 306 Technology and Disability
EDUC 330 Disability and Transition: Life After High School
GSIJ 212 Gender & Geography
GSIJ 211 Place & Health
GSIJ 305 Food, Feminism & Health
GSIJ 362 Theories of Bodies, Health, and Wellbeing

Humanities Division:
BIDS 235 Healer and Humanist: Frantz Fanon the Revolutionary
ENG 114 Sickness, Health & Disability
GSIJ 219 Black Feminism
GSIJ 220 Body Politic
GSIJ 247 History, Psychology, and Feminism
GSIJ 302 Trans Studies
GSIJ 303 Disability & Sexuality
HIST 151 Food Systems in History
PHIL 156 Biomedical Ethics
REL 213 Death & Dying
REL 292 Deviance and (De)Medicalization

Fine Arts Division:
DAN 225 Anatomy & Kinesiology
DAN 305 Somatics

Concentrations

Health Science Concentration:
BIOL 160 Nutrition
BIOL 167 Introductory Biology
BIOL 215 Evolutionary Genetics
BIOL 220 Genetics
BIOL 222 Microbiology
BIOL 224 Anatomy
BIOL 232 Cell Biology
BIOL 233 Physiology
BIOL 236 Evolutionary Analysis
BIOL 302 Immunology
BIOL 327 Cancer Biology
BIOL 341 Developmental Biology
BIOL 380 Genomics
CHEM 110 Introductory General Chemistry
CHEM 120 Intermediate Chemistry
CHEM 190 Accelerated General Chemistry
CHEM 138 Nutrition
CHEM 240 Introductory Organic Chemistry
CHEM 241 Intermediate Organic Chemistry
CHEM 348 Biochemistry
MATH 237 Differential Equations
MATH 353 Math Models
PHIL 238 Philosophy of Natural Science

Environmental Health Concentration:
AFS 211 Black Earth: Nature and African American Writing
ATMO 245 Climate Change Science
BIOL 167 Introductory Biology
BIOL 225 Ecology
BIOL 238 Aquatic Biology
BIOL 240 Global Change Biology
CHEM 210 Quantitative Analysis
ENV 200 Environmental Science
ENV 201 Environment & Society
ENV 203 Fundamentals of GIS
ENV 204 Geography of Garbage
ENV 215 Environment & Development in East Asia
ENV 237 Environmental Justice in Indian Country
ENV 281 Remote Sensing
ENV 309 Environmental Change in the Indigenous World
ENV 310 Advanced GIS
ENV 320 Natural Resource Law
ENV 345 Decolonial Environmentalisms
ENV 360 Environmental Afrofuturisms
GEO 140 Environmental Geology
GEO 142 Earth Systems Science
GEO 182 Introduction to Meteorology
GEO 255 Global Climate and Oceans
GEO 365 Environmental Meteorology
GSIJ 204 Gender & Geography
PHIL 154 Environmental Ethics

Health Justice Concentration:
AFS 208 Growing Up Black
ANTH 110 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
ANTH 341 Making Babies
ECON 122 Economics of Caring
ECON 243 Political Economy of Race
ECON 305 Political Economy
ECON 310 Economics and Gender
EDUC 203 Children and Disabilities
EDUC 221 Understanding Autism
EDUC 306 Technology and Disability
EDUC 330 Disability and Transition: Life After High School
ENG 114 Sickness, Healthy, and Disability
ENG 246 Decadence
GSIJ 150 Chicana Feminism and Visual Culture
GSIJ 205 Queer and Trans Social Movement
GSIJ 206 Reading Feminisms
GSIJ 207 Transnational Intimacies
GSIJ 209 Queer of Color Critique
GSIJ 211 Place & Health
GSIJ 218 Queer Representation in Theater and Film
GSIJ 219 Black Feminisms
GSIJ 220 Body Politic
GSIJ 247 History, Feminism, and Psychology
GSIJ 300 Intersectional Feminist Theory
GSIJ 302 Trans Studies
GSIJ 303 Disability & Sexuality in US Culture
GSIJ 305 Food, Feminism & Health
GSIJ 308 Chicana and Latina Art
GSIJ 309 Stormy Weather, Ecofeminism
GSIJ 310 Queer Theory and Methods
GSIJ 362 Theories of The Body, Health, and Wellness
HIST 227 African-American History I
HIST 228 African-American History II
HIST 348 Black Women and the Struggle for Rights in America
HIST 284 Africa: From Colonial to Neocolonial
HIST 354 Lives of Consequence
PHIL 156 Biomedical Ethics
PHIL 162 Ethics of Civic Engagement
PHIL 250 Feminism: Ethics and Knowledge
PHIL 345 Power, Privilege, and Knowledge
POL 175 Introduction to Feminist Theory
REL 213 Death and Dying
SOC 205 Men and Masculinity
SOC 221 Race & Ethnic Relations
SOC 223 Inequalities
THTR 290 Theatre for Social Change

Global Health Concentration:
Note: this concentration’s electives also include up to 2 language courses at the 200 level or above

AFS 110 Introduction to African Experience
AFS 150 Foundations Africana Studies
ANTH 260 Medical Anthropology
ANTH 221 Human Rights of Indigenous People
ANTH 296 Africa: Beyond Crisis, Poverty, and Aid
ANTH 354 Seminar: Food, Meaning, Voice
BIDS 235 Healer and Humanist: Frantz Fanon the Revolutionary
ECON 227 Women and International Development
ECON 210 Economic Inequality
ECON 211 The Economics of Energy, Development and Climate Change
ECON 227 Women and International Development
ECON 233 Comparative Economics
ECON 240 International Trade
ECON 311 The Economics of Immigration
ECON 344 Economic Development
GLS 101 Introduction to Global Studies
GLS 201 Global Cultural Literacies
GSIJ 213 Transnational Feminisms
RUSE 251/351 Sexuality, Creativity and Power
HIST 151 Food Systems in History
HIST 237 Europe Since the War
HIST 240 Immigration and Ethnicity in America
HIST 284 Africa: From Colonial to Neocolonial
HIST 286 Plants and Empire
HIST 301 The Enlightenment
HIST 318 Making of the Individualist Self
HIST 353 Invention of Africa
INRL 208 Gender & Politics in Middle E & N Africa
INRL 254 Globalization
INRL 258 State, Society, and Market in the Middle East and North Africa
INRL 259 African Politics
INRL 260 Human Rights and International Law
INRL 275 Environmental Insecurity
INRL 285 Borders, Belonging, and Rights in the Middle East and North Africa
INRL 301 International Relations of India
INRL 350 International Relations of China
INRL 380 Theories of International Relations
REL 236 Gender and Islam
REL 347 Gender and Identity in the Muslim World
RUSE 251/351 Sexuality, Creativity and Power (same as GSIJ 251/351)
SPN 304 Body/Border
SPN 316 Voces de Mujeres

Course Descriptions

PBHL 100 Introduction to Public Health Drawing from interdisciplinary sources as well as key scholarship from within the field of public health, this course provides an introduction to the core functions of public health, covering both US and global contexts. The course uses historical and contemporary examples to highlight the role of public health in promoting the health status of different populations, and the relationship of public health to other forms of health promotion in clinical and community settings. Focal topics include issues of global health, environmental health, health justice, and clinical health. Students are encouraged to think critically and reflexively about what it means to intervene in human health in such contexts, and to consider how social inequality and structural injustice plays a significant role in health outcomes. (Offered annually)

PBHL 201 Epidemiology This class introduces students to the history, basic concepts and methods of epidemiology, the study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states and events in different human populations, and the subsequent application of practices to improve outcomes. Students will learn about, and practice using, epidemiology to better understand, characterize, and promote health at a population level. The class will cover key concepts in epidemiology using historic and emergent examples, and it will explore epidemiological methods for the control of infectious and chronic diseases, mental health issues, health hazards, and more. Quantitative aspects of epidemiology are emphasized, including data sources, measures of disease frequency, study design, and screening tools. (Offered in rotation with Critical Scoial Epidemiology)

GSIJ 204 The Politics of Health This course takes an interdisciplinary approach to the critical study of health politics, including the politics of gender, race and sexuality. Through the themes of social and environmental justice, students will explore the uneven distribution of health care and wellness both within the United States and beyond. Topics include the history of the women’s health movement, breast cancer awareness campaigns, reproductive health and technologies, HIV/AIDS, feminist psychology, eating disorders, environmental health and toxicity, and more. In exploring these topics, feminist theory will serve as a lens through which we examine different experiences of illness and disease. At the same time, feminist pedagogy will serve as the model upon which we build our policy recommendations. (Formerly WMST 204) (Hayes-Conroy)

PBHL 301 Critical Social Epidemiology Social epidemiology is a broad field of study concerned with the distribution of health and disease in relation to patterns of social inequality. This course traces some of the less recognized histories, theories, and methodologies of social epidemiology, critically examining the origins of epidemiological science, the historical erasures of marginalized voices in epidemiology, and the assumptions that underpin much contemporary epidemiological work. Topics include the ecosocial theory of disease distribution, the history of critical thought in Latin American Social Medicine/Collective Health, the work of WEB Dubois, the relationship between epidemiology and racism/colonialism, reflexive and qualitative epidemiology, and more. This course is interdisciplinary and draws from scholarship in public health, health geography, disability studies, gender studies, and the health humanities, among other fields. (Hayes-Conroy; offered in rotation with Epidemiology)

PBHL 400 Senior Capstone This capstone course in public health studies is designed to help students better understand how to pursue knowledge production in the field of public health. Students will conduct primary or secondary research projects on public health topics and learn how to present this research effectively in oral and written form. The seminar style of the class will allow students the opportunity to discuss a variety of contemporary issues in public health with their peers, and it will encourage the development of students’ professional identities as public health scholars. Students will be encouraged to explore questions of ethics and responsibility in relation to public health research and practice, and it will engage their peers in dialogue about the future trajectories of public health as a field and profession. (Offered annually)