From vaccines to climate change, explore local and global health issues through science, social science, economics, the arts and more.
The Pathway in Public Health is designed to educate students to explore current local and global health issues, exploring the broad areas of public health with a focus on health disparities in the U.S. Public health focuses on health promotion and on protecting and improving the health of individuals, families, communities, and populations. Our academic courses, experiential learning, study-abroad programs, and career-oriented internships offer a global perspective and allow broad applications to diverse intellectual interests. From the sciences, one might consider biological, chemical and epidemiological studies of medicine and health. From the social sciences, one may study the economic, social, demographic or behavioral factors influencing health outcomes and policies at local, state, federal and/or international levels. Offerings in literature and the arts could include narrative medicine, representations of illness in theater, and/or the study of kinesiology through dance. Our Pathways enables students to make connections across disciplines, to work collaboratively, to hone communication skills and to gain experience and knowledge in public health.
While students construct their own animating questions, some possible examples include:
- What are the effects of climate change on human displacement and health?
- Why is it important to vaccinate the population against disease?
- How can we structure interventions to counter the health effects of early childhood trauma?
- How can dance help people with disabilities?
- How is access to healthy food impacted by the socio-economic status of locations in L.A. and N.Y.C.?
