2023-2024 Academic Catalog

Nov 27, 2024

2023-2024 Academic Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

ID 106 - Healthy Cities

What makes a city a healthy place to live, work, and go to school? How does the health of a “place” affect the health of the individuals who live there? Who is responsible for the health of a city’s residents? The goal of this course is to introduce students to key challenges in urban public health and to Worcester, MA as a city determined to be the “the healthiest city in New England by 2020” in Worcester, MA. Students in the course will acquire an understanding of the key concepts and methodologies from a range of disciplines, including anthropology, sociology, and public health, and how they employ those tools to examine urban health problems.

Students in this course will explore and engage in a wide range of topics related to healthy cities. This is an entry course to the newly established collaboration between Clark and the Worcester Division of Public Health. Students who enroll in this class will get in-depth exposure to issues related to healthy cities, rights to the city, and environmental and urban issues that can potentially impact (positively or negatively) the health of its residents. Health, here, of course will be considered as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (WHO 1948). Students will have to critically reflect on reading material, but will also be introduced to interpreting basic health data and relating it to the urban environment in which they live. They will also get the opportunity to interact with public health professionals from the Department of Public Health, and apply through field trips what they learn in class to the real world.

Course Designation/Attribute: GP

Anticipated Terms Offered: Piloted Fall 2014