Department website: http://krieger.jhu.edu/publichealth/
Public health combines a prevention orientation with a population perspective in pursuit of better health for all members of society. Public health professionals deal with critical large-scale issues such as access to health care; chronic disease control; mapping, predicting, and containing outbreaks of infectious disease; as well as researching factors such as gender, poverty, and education that contribute to health outcomes. Public health has close ties with medicine through clinical and biomedical research and healthcare policy.
The Public Health Studies Program offers undergraduates a major that links them to the world of public health through core courses taken on the Homewood campus, as well as electives taken at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (JHSPH).
Core coursework at Homewood includes Introduction to Public Health, Research Methods in Public Health, Fundamentals of Epidemiology, Environment and Your Health, Fundamentals of Health Policy and Management, Biostatistics, and a course in Social and Behavioral Health. Students also take coursework in Social Sciences, Biology and Calculus. Students will select additional public health coursework from a range of options that include global health, demography, health economics, medical sociology, history, and politics. The major is flexible and easily adapted to further coursework in the natural and social sciences. About two-thirds of Public Health Studies majors complete the premedical core curriculum.
Public Health Studies majors also complete the Public Health Applied Experience as part of their undergraduate degree requirements. This involves a supervised, hands-on experience working with public health professionals. The goal of the applied experience requirement is to ensure that students have practical public health exposure in a research or community setting. Find more information on the website.
The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is the oldest and largest school of public health in the United States. Although its primary function is as a graduate school, seniors majoring in public health studies take a semester's worth of courses therein fulfilling their B.A. degree requirements. Undergraduates may take classes in any of the 10 departments at JHSPH. Many students also get involved in ongoing research projects at JHSPH.
Available coursework at JHSPH includes the following areas: health education, environmental health sciences, epidemiology, health finance and management, health policy, human genetics, immunology and infectious diseases, international health, maternal and child health, mental health, nutrition, occupational medicine/health protection and practice, population studies, toxicology, and tropical medicine, among others.
An honors option is available to Public Health Studies seniors with a major GPA of at least 3.5. Public Health Honors students complete an independent research project under the supervision of a JHU faculty member and with the guidance of the Honors seminar instructor. Students register for AS.280.495 Honors In Public Health - Seminar in the fall and AS.280.499 Honors in Public Health in the spring. Interested students should discuss their plans with their PHS advisor no later than the spring of their junior year.
Many Public Health Studies students have pursued international public health internships and study abroad opportunities both during the academic year and over the summer. In addition to a wide array of general options available through the JHU Office of Study Abroad, the PHS program runs a public-health specific program during Intersession (3 weeks) in Uganda, which includes both academic and applied components and allows students to earn graded JHU credits which can be used toward the Public Health Studies major. The Uganda program compares health issues in urban and rural settings. For more information, go to the Study Abroad page.
The Public Health Studies office is located in the 3505 North Charles Building, adjacent to the Homewood campus. Public Health Studies advisors may be consulted about the various courses, careers, and graduate programs in public health on a walk-in basis or by appointment. Students can make an appointment via the PHSCal scheduling system. Information can also be obtained by emailing phstudies@jhu.edu or at the Public Health Studies website.
Bachelor of Arts/Masters Program
The Bachelor of Arts/Master of Health Sciences (BA/MHS) and Bachelor of Arts/Master of Sciences in Public Health (BA/MSPH) programs are a coordinated academic collaboration between the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. It enables talented and committed Public Health Studies majors to complete a BA from KSAS and master's degree from the JHSPH in five to six years.
The Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Department of Epidemiology, Department of Mental Health and Department of International Health will consider JHU undergraduates majoring in Public Health Studies for admission to the BA/MHS program. The Department of Environmental Health Sciences also offers a BA/MSPH in Occupational and Environmental Hygiene. The Department of Health Policy and Management offers a BA/MSPH in Health Policy. The Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health offers two BA/MSPH programs, one in Adolescent Health, and the second in Sexual and Reproductive Health.
Public Health Studies students apply for early admission during their junior year. Admitted students must complete the BA degree before formally enrolling in the graduate school, but up to 16 of the public health credits earned inter-divisionally toward the BA may also apply toward the MHS or MSPH degree. In addition, students in this program will receive co-advising from both schools to optimize their academic experience. Find more information on the website.
For current course information and registration go to https://sis.jhu.edu/classes/
Courses
This course provides an overview of the field of public health. Topics include the major causes of morbidity and mortality; the socioeconomic, behavioral, and environmental factors that affect health; the analytical methods used in the field; the role of government in protecting the public’s health; key features of the U.S. health care system; and current challenges in the field. The course also introduces students to the basic conceptual models and approaches that are central to public health practice. This course is restricted to freshmen. Your enrollment may be withdrawn at the discretion of the instructor if you don't meet one of those criteria.
Distribution Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Writing and Communication (FA1), Citizens and Society (FA4)
Writing Intensive
An introduction to Urban Health with Baltimore as a case study: wellbeing, nutrition, education, violence and city-wide geographic variation. Lectures by JH Faculty, local government/service providers and advocates.
Prerequisite(s): Students who have taken AS.280.320 are not eligible to take AS.280.120.
Distribution Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Citizens and Society (FA4)
In epidemiology, public health scientists use quantitative and analytic tools examine to the distribution of disease across the population and to identify the various factors that shape these patterns. This course will explore how epidemiologic tools can be used to interrogate the social and structural factors that create health disparities in society. Students will learn about key social determinants of health (including class, race, and gender), the various pathways by which social experiences “get under the skin” to impact physiologic disease states, and how epidemiologists investigate these processes through population-based research. Students will leave the course with an understanding of the ways public health professionals and community members alike can use this public health research to develop policies and programs that protect the health of vulnerable groups and reduce inequality.
Distribution Area: Quantitative and Mathematical Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Citizens and Society (FA4), Ethics and Foundations (FA5)
This course explores the basic biology concepts relevant to public health. Case studies will be used to examine key scientific principles and their application. This course is designed for public health students who are not intending to pursue a career in natural sciences or medicine. This course satisfies the Public Health Studies Biology requirement, but does not satisfy Pre-Med requirement.All freshman must have taken or be currently enrolled in AS.280.101 to register.Department Approval Required.
Prerequisite(s): AS.020.151
Distribution Area: Natural Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Writing and Communication (FA1), Science and Data (FA2), Projects and Methods (FA6)
Writing Intensive
This course will cover the major world population changes in the past century as well as the contemporary situation and projections for this century. Topics include rapid population growth, the historical and continuing decline of death and birth rates, contraceptive methods as well as family planning and child survival programs, population aging, urbanization, population and the environment and the demographic effects of HIV/AIDS and Covid.
Distribution Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Citizens and Society (FA4), Ethics and Foundations (FA5)
This course examines the roles of science, media, politics and business in our society and explores how these spheres interact to influence our health. We will develop a conceptual framework that illustrates these relationships by analyzing historical and current case studies in public health, including HIV/AIDS, COVID-19, gun violence, climate change, and the opioid epidemic. We will discuss the nature of “evidence” and how it is used by various entities and actors to advance their interests, sometimes obscuring the truth. Students will write reflections on course materials, participate in classroom discussion, and undertake independent and group projects.
Prerequisite(s): AS.280.101;AS.280.350
Distribution Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Citizens and Society (FA4), Democracy (FA4.1), Ethics and Foundations (FA5)
This course presents a perspective on changing the health and wellbeing of residents of Baltimore and those who work in Baltimore. Seminar combines lectures from?AS.280.120?with additional readings and discussion to more deeply address urban health issues. The course will allow students to develop fellowship or project proposals and/or to fucus course reports on work they are doing or would like to do related to health and wellbeing. If you register for this course do NOT register for?AS.280.120.
Prerequisite(s): Students who have taken AS.280.120 are not eligible to take AS.280.320.
Distribution Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Citizens and Society (FA4)
This course will focus on mind-body practices and their place in public health. We will learn about different mind-body practices and talk about if/how mind-body practices can help amerliorate the national burden of disease. We will also learn how to identify evidence based practices (EBPs) in public health and learn the core components of designing EBPs. We will then combine what we learned about mind-body practices and designing EBPs to create programs that lessen the burden of disease. The mind-body portion of this course is experiential and will include the practice of meditation, yoga, other mindfulness exercises. You will also be asked to reflect on these practices through journaling.
Prerequisite(s): AS.280.101
Distribution Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Citizens and Society (FA4), Ethics and Foundations (FA5)
This course surveys the basic concepts underlying environmental health sciences (toxicology, exposure assessment, risk assessment), current public health issues (air, water- and food-borne diseases) and global health threats (climate change, designing healthy communities, and environmental justice).
Prerequisite(s): AS.280.101 OR AS.270.103
Distribution Area: Natural Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Science and Data (FA2), Projects and Methods (FA6)
Distribution Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Culture and Aesthetics (FA3), Citizens and Society (FA4)
Distribution Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Culture and Aesthetics (FA3), Citizens and Society (FA4)
Through lectures and small group discussions, students will develop a framework for analyzing health care policy problems and gain familiarity with current issues including managed care, Medicare and the uninsured.Public Health Studies majors have 1st priority for enrollment. Your enrollment may be withdrawn at the discretion of the PHS program if you are not a PHS major.
Prerequisite(s): AS.280.101
Distribution Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Citizens and Society (FA4), Ethics and Foundations (FA5)
Using problem-based learning focusing on public health topics, students learn to describe & summarize data, make inferences regarding population parameters, & test hypotheses. Recommended Course Background: Four years of high school math.
Prerequisite(s): Statistics Sequence restriction - Students who have completed any of these courses may not register: EN.553.211 OR EN.553.230 OR EN.553.310 OR EN.553.311 OR EN.553.420 OR EN.553.421 OR EN.553.430 OR EN.553.413
Distribution Area: Quantitative and Mathematical Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Science and Data (FA2)
Formerly known as Advanced Biostatistics Laboratory, a complementary course to 280.345, Public Health Biostatistics, this course teaches R programming skills necessary for conducting independent data analyses, beyond those presented in the main course. No programming experience is necessary, but a willingness to learn independently and work with other students is indispensable.
Prerequisite(s): AS.280.345
Distribution Area: Quantitative and Mathematical Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Science and Data (FA2)
Students will learn to formulate precise scientific and policy questions, design exploratory and confirmatory statistical analyses to address the questions, conduct appropriate analyses using the statistical package R, and communicate their findings through graphical and tabular displays that are presented in writing and in person. The course will be run seminar style in which students conduct data analysis to present to one another in one meeting per week. Evaluation will be through class participation and a final project in which students will analyze their own data set to address a question of their choice. Students need to have taken an introductory statistics course at the level of AS.280.345 (Public Health Biostatistics) and must have some experience using the statistical software R to perform basic analyses.
Distribution Area: Quantitative and Mathematical Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Science and Data (FA2)
A practical introduction to epidemiology focusing on the principles and methods of examining the distribution and determinants of disease morbidity and mortality in human populations.
Prerequisite(s): AS.280.101
Distribution Area: Quantitative and Mathematical Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Science and Data (FA2)
Introduces students to a social ecological perspective of population health; Explains key theories and models of health behavior; Describes social and behavioral factors affecting health outcomes; Illustrates the role of factors such as racism, income inequality, social norms, culture, communication and psychological constructs in health outcomes; Demonstrates applications of these theories and models in health behavior research and intervention.
Prerequisite(s): AS.280.101
Distribution Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Citizens and Society (FA4), Ethics and Foundations (FA5)
This course is composed of lectures on issues that impact the arena of public health and public policy, viewed through a health equity lens. With real-life examples of public health and public policy issues and practices in Baltimore and around the country, this course will provide real-life experiences in the fields of public health and public policy. Throughout the course a major effort will also be made to expose students to the wide array of opportunities that are available to those pursuing a career in public health.
Prerequisite(s): AS.280.101
Distribution Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Citizens and Society (FA4), Ethics and Foundations (FA5)
This course will examine the role of politics in Public Health. It will cover the legislative process at the local, state and federal level, as well as the role of the executive branch/administrative agencies in implementing new policies. The course will also discuss ways that those involved in the public health arena can influence legislation, policy and budgets as part of the political process.
Prerequisite(s): AS.280.101
Distribution Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Citizens and Society (FA4), Ethics and Foundations (FA5)
Designing the Future: Health and Aging is a course developed for students with a multidisciplinary and/or public health background and interest who are eager to learn new approaches that can be applied in a variety of settings. Students will be introduced to an overview of the public health impact of an aging society as well as design frameworks and methods (i.e. human centered design, co-design, social design) that can be applied to deal with complex problems impacting health and aging. They will apply parts of design frameworks to public health issues and explore purpose-driven innovations that integrate considerations of community-based and service learning and user experiences. Between group projects that include community partners and individual work, students will be involved in diverse activities including engaging in basic research (primary and secondary data collection and review), reframing problems, ideation or collective brainstorming and developing and testing concept prototypes. Grades are based on class participation, completion of group project, group presentation and papers.
Prerequisite(s): Students who are enrolled in or have taken AS.280.389 cannot take AS.280.379.;AS.280.101 must be completed prior to registering for AS.280.379.
Distribution Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Citizens and Society (FA4)
Global health addresses the staggering global disparities in health status, drawing on epidemiology, demography, anthropology, economics, international relations and other disciplines. We review patterns of mortality, morbidity and disability in low and middle income countries, starting with malnutrition, infectious diseases and reproductive health, and continuing to an emerging agenda including mental health, injury prevention, surgical care, chronic diseases, and health impacts of climate change. Gender, health systems and health workforce challenges, and career trajectories in global health are also discussed. Recommended course background: Minimum of one prior course in Public Health.
Distribution Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Citizens and Society (FA4)
The goal of this course is to introduce students to the importance and value of partnerships between medical/health institutions and community organizations to improve community and neighborhood health outcomes. This course will discuss how community engagement can assist in population health concerns and challenges faced in clinical settings through the promotion of community health. Discussed through the viewpoints of a health system and clinician, the how and why of community engagement will be explored, centering on how to create a medical-community relationship, executing engagements and projects, and measuring vital outcomes to reaffirm these partnerships’ significance. This course will combine lectures, class discussions, and services learning. Students, in teams, will complete 40 hours of service learning outside of class time for a community-based organization. This course qualifies as a PHS Upper Level Elective. Students cannot register for this course and AS.280.379.
Prerequisite(s): Students who took or are taking AS.280.379 are not permitted to take AS.280.389.;AS.280.101 must be completed prior to registering for AS.280.389.
Distribution Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Citizens and Society (FA4), Ethics and Foundations (FA5)
In this course, students will discuss the importance of history, contexts, and structures of power that influence community partnerships addressing social determinants of health. We will explore sociological, educational, and organizational theories and methodologies to frame community engagement practices that center community voices and redistribute power dynamics in partnerships aimed at improving community health. This course is valuable to students who want to prepare themselves for engaging communities collaboratively, through anti-oppressive lenses. By the course’s conclusion, students should have an understanding of how to account for and address the systems, history, and positions of power that affect the success and anti-oppressive outcomes of community projects that address social determinants of health.
Prerequisite(s): AS.280.101
Distribution Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Citizens and Society (FA4), Democracy (FA4.1)
This course introduces students to a social structural, justice orientation to public health, with an emphasis on service learning in Baltimore City. Through lectures, class discussions, reflection practices and experiential learning, students will gain an understanding of education, healthcare, housing and other sectors as social determinants of health. The course draws on a social ecological framework and highlights the role of relationships and policies in impacting community resources foundational to health and well-being. Students will choose a community-based organization according to their interests and schedule and, working in teams, complete 45 hours of service-based learning. Grades are based on class participation, completion of a service learning project, group presentation, and papers. Open to Junior Public Health Studies majors and, space permitting, to others upon permission of instructor. This course qualifies as a PHS upper elective; however, it does not satisfy the PHS Applied Experience requirement.
Distribution Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Citizens and Society (FA4)
This course delves into the interplay between intimacy, sexual health, stigma, syndemics, STIs, and vulnerable populations, with a special emphasis on LGBTQ communities in the United States. Syndemics, the co-occurrence of multiple health problems, interact synergistically within specific social contexts, magnifying their impact. Through a comprehensive exploration of epidemiological principles, research methods, and case studies, students will gain a deep understanding of the challenges faced by communities in optimizing their sexual health. This is a Gordis Teaching Fellowship course. Priority registration is given to Public Health Studies majors. Other students will be permitted to register as space allows.
Prerequisite(s): AS.280.350
Distribution Area: Quantitative and Mathematical Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Science and Data (FA2), Citizens and Society (FA4)
This course introduces students to different actors in the access to medicine ecosystem and mechanisms by which health technologies like medicines, vaccines, and diagnostics can be made more available to individuals in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Students will learn how health technologies are developed and examine case studies for expanding access to pharmaceutical products including through pricing techniques, licensing, and expanding local manufacturing capacity. Using this knowledge, they will develop the tools to make stakeholder-specific recommendations aimed at making health technologies more accessible in LMICs, culminating in a final policy memo and presentation The intention of this course is not to make experts of students in the topics covered in each session—all of which could comprise their own course or series of courses—but rather to increase competency across a range of topics and actors to help students envision where they may fit in the access to medicine space. This is a Gordis Teaching Fellowship course. Priority registration is given to Public Health Studies majors. Other students will be permitted to register as space allows.
Prerequisite(s): AS.280.340
Distribution Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Citizens and Society (FA4)
Health systems are built on healthcare services and public health interventions designed, funded, and implemented by a myriad of actors, from governments to multilateral organizations and NGOs. These stakeholders of the system regularly assess whether a new program or intervention, fueled by technological or knowledge advances, is a worthwhile investment. They must weigh the benefits, costs, and relevance of a new program against other health programs, but also against other societal investments such as education and infrastructure. Funding, people, and time are limited: health programs must be evaluated, compared, and prioritized. This course will ask students to act as consultants hired by a government or a private organization, to comprehensively evaluate a public health intervention. They will be provided with all the tools and knowledge needed to evaluate the costs, the effectiveness, and the social impact expected for this intervention. They will then reflect on how their assessment fits within contemporary debates on public health funding and governance, including concerns about ethics and the decolonization of global health. Students may showcase the final product of this course as part of their portfolio for their future endeavors, including applying for consulting jobs. Course background in Microeconomics is highly recommended. This is a Gordis Teaching Fellowship course. Priority registration is given to Public Health Studies majors. Other students will be permitted to register as space allows.
Prerequisite(s): AS.280.340 AND AS.280.345
Distribution Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Citizens and Society (FA4), Ethics and Foundations (FA5)
This course examines the health disparities and determinants of health that impact the health of LGBTQ+ populations. Students will gain familiarity with key epidemiological reports, behavioral and social science theories/frameworks, intervention studies, and scientific debates concerning the factors influencing the health disparities experienced by LGBTQ+ populations.The readings and discussions will be approached from the perspective of social, policy, and cultural contexts, providing insights into the unique challenges and experiences faced byLGBTQ+ communities globally. This is a Gordis Teaching Fellowship course. Priority registration is given to Public Health Studies majors. Other students will be permitted to register as space allows.
Prerequisite(s): AS.280.240
Distribution Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Citizens and Society (FA4)
This 3-credit course provides an overview of one of the leading infectious causes of death worldwide. While nominally a class in malariology, this course aims enhance each student’s comfort interpreting and presenting scientific literature, essential for a career in any academic discipline. Following a month-long overview of malaria, we will focus on reading and presenting scientific literature in the field of malariology. Special attention will be paid to work on malaria vaccines. Students will be guided through proper reading and presentation of scientific literature throughout this course. At the end of the term, students will complete a final paper and presentation proposing a novel solution to one of the challenges to malaria treatment and elimination discussed in this course. No previous knowledge of malaria is required or expected. Coursework in Cell Biology, Immunology, Biochemistry, and Genetics are all helpful but not prerequisites for this course. This is a Gordis Teaching Fellowship course. Priority registration is given to Public Health Studies majors. Other students will be permitted to register as space allows.
Prerequisite(s): AS.280.101 AND AS.280.240 AND AS.020.151
Distribution Area: Natural Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Citizens and Society (FA4), Ethics and Foundations (FA5)
This course is designed to introduce undergraduate students to disability justice and its applications to public health. Students will learn the history and principles of disability justice, critique models and definitions of disability, and evaluate the inclusion and exclusion of disabled people in public health research, programs, and policies. Students will also develop a deeper awareness of disability justice and its importance to understanding issues of health disparities and inequities affecting disabled people across the life course. This course will require students to critically reflect on their own beliefs, values, and attitudes as they tackle topics of eugenics, oppression, and stigmatization of multiply marginalized disabled people with a life course perspective. This course will center the artistic, academic, and advocacy work of queer and trans disabled people of color. Students will participate in class discussions, write brief posts about assigned content, submit reflections, and complete a final project. Prior knowledge of disability studies is not required. This is a Gordis Teaching Fellowship course. Priority registration is given to Public Health Studies majors. Other students will be permitted to register as space allows.
Prerequisite(s): AS.280.355 OR AS.230.341
Distribution Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Citizens and Society (FA4), Ethics and Foundations (FA5)
Effective communication is imperative in reaching time-sensitive goals in reducing the effects of climate change. Using the framework of persuasive communication and behavior change theory, the course will provide a practice-based opportunity for students to apply their knowledge to develop their own climate communication campaigns. Students will gain familiarity with issues in historical approaches of climate approaches, understand audiences navigating climate misinformation, and social and behavioral theories of change, with an emphasis on arts-based approaches to climate communication. Through lectures, seminars, screenings, and workshops, the course will culminate with an applied assignment of students’ original creative climate communication pieces. This is a Gordis Teaching Fellowship course and instructor approval is required. All students interested are encouraged to request approval; those with a public health background will be strongly considered for approval.
Distribution Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Citizens and Society (FA4)
Using lectures, oral presentations, and writing assignments, this seminar is designed to assist Public Health Studies majors in writing a senior thesis. Students will formulate their topics, develop research skills, and address issues of professional ethics. Participating in this seminar is required for students pursuing honors in Public Health Studies. Permission Required. Classes will be held at Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Distribution Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Writing and Communication (FA1), Science and Data (FA2), Projects and Methods (FA6)
Writing Intensive
A research methods seminar to prepare students doing honors in Public Health Studies. Permission Required.
Distribution Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Writing and Communication (FA1), Science and Data (FA2), Projects and Methods (FA6)
Writing Intensive
Perm. Req'd, Public Health Majors Only. This is a supervised, hands-on experience working with public health professionals. Students will complete 80 hours of applied work and will submit a synthesizing assignment at the end of the term. Students completing their AE in the current semester will be enrolled in Section 2. Students whose time will roll over to an additional grading period will be enrolled in Section 1. Please contact your PHS Advisor for complete details.
Prerequisite(s): You must request Independent Academic Work using the Independent Academic Work form found in Student Self-Service: Registration, Online Forms.
AS Foundational Abilities: Citizens and Society (FA4), Projects and Methods (FA6)
Permission Required. S/U only.
Prerequisite(s): You must request Independent Academic Work using the Independent Academic Work form found in Student Self-Service: Registration, Online Forms.
AS Foundational Abilities: Citizens and Society (FA4)
Permission Required.
Prerequisite(s): You must request Independent Academic Work using the Independent Academic Work form found in Student Self-Service: Registration, Online Forms.
AS Foundational Abilities: Citizens and Society (FA4)
Prerequisite(s): You must request Independent Academic Work using the Independent Academic Work form found in Student Self-Service: Registration, Online Forms.
AS Foundational Abilities: Citizens and Society (FA4), Projects and Methods (FA6)
Cross Listed Courses
Agora Institute
What role does scientific expertise play (or not play) in American democracy? What role should scientific expertise play (or not play) in American democracy? These are the key questions we’ll address in this class, focusing on a wide range of examples such as government responses to public health crises, environmental crises, and war. We’ll tackle these questions from multiple angles, drawing on ideas from across the social sciences, including political science, psychology, sociology, economics, history, and communication. We’ll focus largely on the United States, though in some cases compare the US experience with other democracies to understand how unique aspects of our democratic institutions influence the link between science and democracy.
Distribution Area: Humanities, Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Citizens and Society (FA4), Democracy (FA4.1), Projects and Methods (FA6)
Behavioral Biology
This course will examine the historical and current theories of sexual orientation and sexual variation development by examining the biological, psychological and social contributing factors that influence the development of sexual orientations and variations along with treatment and modification of problematic sexual behaviors. Priority given to Behavioral Biology majors.
Prerequisite(s): Students may receive credit for AS.200.204 or AS.290.330 or AS.290.420, but only ONE can count towards the upper level SOCSCI in Behavioral Biology
Distribution Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Science and Data (FA2), Citizens and Society (FA4)
Earth & Planetary Sciences
Humans are having such a massive impact on Earth systems that some call this the Anthropocene epoch. Should we consider this state of affairs progress or catastrophe? How to we find a sustainable path to the future? This course provides an interdisciplinary introduction to the principles and practice of sustainability, exploring such issues as population, pollution, energy and natural resources, biodiversity, food, justice, and climate change through the lens of systems thinking. Course open to freshmen, sophomores, and juniors. Seniors by instructor permission only.
Distribution Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Writing and Communication (FA1), Science and Data (FA2), Citizens and Society (FA4)
Writing Intensive
Prereq: 270.103 or permission of instructor.This course will investigate the policy and scientific debate over global warming. It will review the current state of scientific knowledge about climate change, examine the potential impacts and implications of climate change, explore our options for responding to climate change, and discuss the present political debate over global warming.
Distribution Area: Natural Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Science and Data (FA2), Citizens and Society (FA4), Democracy (FA4.1)
Economics
Application of economic concepts and analysis to the health services system. Review of empirical studies of demand for health services, behavior of providers, and relationship of health services to population health levels. Discussion of current policy issues relating to financing and resource allocation.
Prerequisite(s): AS.180.102
Distribution Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Science and Data (FA2), Citizens and Society (FA4)
Benefits of good health and its costs. Health demand and supply in poor countries. Welfare economics of Public Health. This is a writing seminar. There are some lectures on how to write a paper and on the substance of the economics of international health but the focus and only assignment is a 40-page paper by each student under the supervision of the instructor.
Prerequisite(s): Students who have taken AS.180.391 cannot take AS.180.390.;AS.180.301
Distribution Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences
Writing Intensive
Environmental Health and Engineering
This course provides a broad overview of environmental engineering - what environmental engineering is and what environmental engineers do. Whenever possible, the topic areas listed herein will be presented in the context of real-world environmental problems. Specific topics include: Environmental engineering ethics and justice, professional engineering licensure, membership in professional societies and associations, environmental engineering design process and components, mass and energy balances, environmental chemistry, mathematics of growth and decay; risk assessment and management; water resources (quantity and quality), surface water pollutants, eutrophication; groundwater flow, contaminant transport, groundwater remediation; water quality control, municipal water and wastewater systems, drinking water standards; air pollution, national ambient air quality standards, toxic air pollutants, mobile and stationary source control technologies, indoor air quality; global atmospheric change, the greenhouse effect, global energy balance, carbon emissions, stratospheric ozone depletion, and issues pertaining to hazardous, solid, and medical waste management. Overviews of pertinent environmental laws and regulations will be presented where applicable. The course encompasses conceptual design projects for environmental systems and infrastructures.
Distribution Area: Engineering
AS Foundational Abilities: Science and Data (FA2)
First Year Seminars
In this First-Year Seminar students will develop an understanding of the ways in which gender structures health and well being through adulthood and later life. The experience of sexual minorities and the ntersection of gender with class and ethnicity will also be discussed. Students will be expected to participate actively and lead discussions on specific topics.
Distribution Area: Humanities, Social and Behavioral Sciences
History of Science, Medicine, and Technology
Course provides an introduction to health and healing in the ancient world, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance. Topics include religion and medicine; medicine in the Islamicate world; women and healing; patients and practitioners.
Distribution Area: Humanities, Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Culture and Aesthetics (FA3), Citizens and Society (FA4)
The history of medicine and public health from the Enlightenment to the present, with emphasis on ideas, science, practices, practitioners, and institutions, and the relationship of these to the broad social context.
Distribution Area: Humanities, Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Citizens and Society (FA4), Ethics and Foundations (FA5)
How can we think about the interconnections between racism, theories of race and the practice of medicine? Living at a moment when racial disparities in health outcomes in the United States are still very stark, this course will provide a historically grounded approach to thinking about the roles that race and racism have played in healthcare, the production of health disparities as well as the role of medicine in the development of racist thought. While much of this course will focus geographically within the United States, this class will also explore global histories of medicine, encountering questions of race and medicine in Africa, the South Pacific and Asia. In addition to the analysis of primary source documents and historical texts, students will also be introduced to theoretical approaches to the study of race and racism from W.E.B. Dubois, Sylvia Wynter, Frantz Fanon and others.
AS Foundational Abilities: Science and Data (FA2), Citizens and Society (FA4), Democracy (FA4.1)
Writing Intensive
Medicine, Science and the Humanities
National struggles over the right to health care, and over the health needs of marginalized groups, have taken distinctive forms in Baltimore City during the past century. The renowned Johns Hopkins University came to symbolize, for many residents, the power of medicine both to heal and to harm – and the need for community action. This course delves into the archives of local institutions to understand the work of activists and advocates who connected health, medicine, and social justice. We focus on specific sites, from the segregated wards of Johns Hopkins to the People’s Free Medical Clinic on Greenmount Avenue, where demands for equity changed the city's health care landscape. Through interdisciplinary readings and conversations with local organizers, we consider how historical memory can serve as a creative resource for the art and politics of the present.
Distribution Area: Humanities
AS Foundational Abilities: Writing and Communication (FA1), Citizens and Society (FA4), Democracy (FA4.1), Ethics and Foundations (FA5)
Writing Intensive
Philosophy
Introduction to a wide range of moral issues arising in the biomedical fields, e.g. physician-assisted suicide, human cloning, abortion, surrogacy, and human subjects research. Cross listed with Public Health Studies.
Distribution Area: Humanities, Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Writing and Communication (FA1), Ethics and Foundations (FA5)
Writing Intensive
Political Science
This course examines the politics of food at the local, national, and global level. Topics include the politics of agricultural subsidies, struggles over genetically modified foods, government efforts at improving food safety, and issues surrounding obesity and nutrition policy. Juniors, seniors, and graduate students only. Cross-listed with Public Health Studies. A student who takes AS.190.223 (Understanding the Food System) in Summer 2021 cannot also enroll in this course.
Prerequisite(s): A student who takes AS.190.223 (Understanding the Food System) cannot also enroll in this course.
Distribution Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Writing and Communication (FA1), Citizens and Society (FA4), Democracy (FA4.1)
Writing Intensive
Sociology
Why do billions of people continue to live in poverty? What obstacles stand in the way of secure and dignified lives for all? Who is most likely to bring about change, what strategies should they follow, and what kinds of institutions should they put in place? This course will introduce the main theoretical perspectives, debates, and themes in the field of international development since the mid-20th century. It has three sections. The first section focuses on debates over the optimal conditions and strategies for generating economic growth and on the relationship between growth, human welfare, and inequality. The second section presents critical assessments of development interventions from various perspectives. The third section considers the role of social movements in shaping development and social change in the 21st century.
Distribution Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences
This course employs a comparative perspective to examine the gendered impact of international development experiences and policies. Students will discuss the historical evolution of how the concept of gender has been constructed, conceptualized, and integrated into international development theory and practice. The course will also examine how greater international development. In particular, we will examine structural theories of poverty reduction, individual theories of power and processes of stratification at the household and family level. Specific issue areas will include the globalization, class and work political participation and social movements. Cross-listed with International Studies (CP, IR). Fulfills Economics requirement for IS GSCD track students only.
Distribution Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Writing and Communication (FA1), Citizens and Society (FA4)
Writing Intensive
Humanitarian organizations play life-preserving roles in global conflicts, and have front-row views of disasters ranging from the 2010 Haiti earthquake to the 2011 Fukushima tsunami in Japan. Yet even while they provide vital assistance to millions of people in crisis, such organizations are beset by important paradoxes that hinder their capacity to create sustainable interventions. They work to fill long-lasting needs, but are prone to moving quickly from one site to the next in search of the latest emergency. They strive to be apolitical, yet are invariably influenced by the geopolitical agendas of global powers. How do such contradictions arise, and what is their impact upon millions of aid recipients around the world? Drawing on case studies from South Sudan to Haiti, this course addresses these contradictions by exploring how and why medical aid organizations attempt, and sometimes fail, to reconcile short-term goals, such as immediate life-saving, with long-term missions, such as public health programs and conflict resolution initiatives.
Distribution Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Writing and Communication (FA1), Citizens and Society (FA4)
Writing Intensive
This course introduces students to core concepts that define the sociological approach to health, illness and health care. Topics include: health disparities, social context of health and illness, and the Sociology of Medicine.
Distribution Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Writing and Communication (FA1), Citizens and Society (FA4)
This course examines how the psy disciplines – psychology, psychiatry, psychotherapy and related fields – create knowledge about the mind, and how these fields have in turn shaped political and social life since early 20th century. We will explore how the psy disciplines have proven useful to projects of state building by reconstructing the human mind as a calculable, quantifiable entity, one that can be measured and governed across diverse educational, military, and healthcare settings. We will then ask how psychiatric categories such as bipolar disorder and PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) were created, and consider their impact on both the legal/medical management of illness and on lay and expert notions of sanity and normality. Finally, we will examine the rising influence of humanitarian mental health interventions, and immerse ourselves in the debates they have engendered concerning the use of psychotherapy to alleviate suffering in war and disaster zones.
Distribution Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Writing and Communication (FA1), Citizens and Society (FA4)
Writing Intensive
This course will examine the role of housing, or the absence thereof, in shaping quality of life. It will explore the consequences of the places in which we live and how we are housed. Consideration will be given to overcrowding, affordability, accessibility, and past and existing housing policies and their influence on society. Special attention will be given to the problem of homelessness.
Prerequisite(s): Students may not have previously taken AS.230.223.
Distribution Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences
AS Foundational Abilities: Writing and Communication (FA1), Citizens and Society (FA4)