Health Policy in Social Context

What is disease? What is health? How are health and disease distributed among the populations? What factors determine the life expectancy of Americans? What role does a universal health care system play in Americans’ health? How do health policies and other policies influence health outcomes? To answer these questions, we need to examine health and medicine in their social, cultural and historical contexts.

In this 2-credit intensive weekend class, we will investigate the social and cultural constructions of health and illness with a focus on the social determinants of health. Students will develop skills to examine how social factors shape health outcomes and learn to collectively tackle the issue through engaged problem solving.

This class is in an online format where class meetings are conducted via Zoom, and learning activities take place on Canvas. The faculty will offer alternative assignments if conditions or illness prevent students from accessing our synchronous meetings, which will allow students to earn comparable credit. To successfully participate in this program, students will need Canvas, Zoom, a computer, and a cell phone. Students can expect our remote teaching to be 3 hours of Zoom meetings per session for a total of 3 sessions.