2024-2025 Academic Catalog 
    
    Nov 03, 2024  
2024-2025 Academic Catalog

Health, Science & Society Major


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Health, Science & Society Overview


The Health, Science, and Society major introduces students to health as a multi-dimensional lens through which to understand how biological, environmental, political, and social forces shape individual and societal well-being.  Students in Health, Science, and Society will learn about biological and social determinants of health, how health, debility, and disease occupy a fundamental place in human experience, how socio-economic structures foster wellness and good health as well as disease and health disparities, and the crucial ways that the human-environment nexus shapes health.  The major is built on four main perspectives: biomedical science, social determinants of health, data analysis, and ethical considerations. 

Thinking about health, disease, and medicine at a biomolecular level provides a critical perspective for anyone wishing to have a strong foundation in a health-related field. Considering social, economic, and environmental factors, such as socioeconomic status, education, the physical environment, employment, social support networks, and access to health care leads to a broader understanding of health issues within a society. In both social sciences and biomedical sciences, the appropriate use of statistical analysis of data is required for appropriate and meaningful conclusions to be drawn. Questioning what is good, just, fair, and compassionate provides insight about what a society or individuals should do to promote health equity using different kinds of evidence about health inequalities. Together, these perspectives provide a well-balanced lens through which to consider complex health-related questions. 

The major is supported by faculty with diverse interests from many departments, and it provides a great opportunity for students to gain a strong foundation in diverse health sciences and strengthen their qualifications for a variety of professional directions.

Beyond the classroom, Health, Science, and Society majors learn about the research and field experience of faculty and their undergraduate and graduate student peers through workshops, panels, and informal gatherings. Students are required to build on and expand their knowledge with hands-on experience through either an internship or applied research.

Major Requirements


Below you will find the requirements to complete the Health, Science, and Society (HSS) major at Clark University. The major requires 13.25 credit units, divided into several categories. The first category comprises foundation courses. The six foundation courses provide you with an overview of key disciplines that provide understandings of health.  The HSS major’s second category is research methods.  Students will gain an understanding of quantitative and qualitative approaches to studying health, measuring health patterns across populations, and understanding how social and cultural factors shape illness experiences. Students will gain experience deepening and applying these skills through a required internship or research project. The HSS major’s third category is elective courses. Your electives allow you to deepen your understanding of community and global health, health psychology, public health, the sociology of health and medicine, or STEM approaches to health. In your senior year as an HSS health major you will pursue a Capstone experience through taking a Capstone course, producing an Honor’s thesis based on independent research, or taking part in an Honor’s Studio course.  All students will take the HSS Senior Symposium course to share their capstone experiences and to reflect on their professional development and career aspirations.

Foundation Courses: 6

BIOL 101 - Introduction to Biology I  

BIOL 102 - Introduction to Biology II  

ID 108 - What is Public Health?  

ID 121 - Culture, Health, and Development: What Makes Us Sick?  

ID 208 - Health (in)equity: social determinants and policy solutions  OR SOC 241 - Sociology of Medicine  

PHIL 130 - Medical Ethics  

Methods Courses: 2

BIOL 106 - Introductory Biostatistics  (prereq BIOL 101, BIOL 102, MATH 120)

and one of the following:

BIOL 117 - Epidemiology  (prereq BIOL 101 and BIOL 102)

ID 132 - Methods of Inquiry: Applied interdisciplinary approaches for social change  

ID 236 - Spatial Analysis for Health  

SOC 202 - Social Research Process  

Elective Courses: 3

See below for the list of elective courses.

Practicum or Internship: 1

180 hours of engaged time working in a clinical, laboratory or community health setting in Worcester, elsewhere in the US, or on study abroad.

HSS 298 - Internship  

HSS 299 - Directed Study  

Capstone, Honor’s Thesis, or Honors Studio: 1.0*

ID 282 - Community Based Health Research   OR

HSS 298 - Internship   - in a clinical, laboratory or community health setting. (One semester of Practicum is a prerequisite.) OR

HSS 299 - Directed Study  OR

HSS 297 - Honors  

*Taken with .25 Capstone Symposium

Capstone Symposium (.25)

The Capstone symposium is an opportunity for seniors to come together bi-monthly to reflect on their Capstone course, project, or research.

 

Elective Course Lists

Biomedical Science Course List    

BIOL 109 - Microbiology  

BIOL 143 - Neuroscience  

BIOL 212 - Microbiomes  

BIOL 218 - Genetics and Disease  

BIOL 236 - Biology of Cancer  

BIOL 255 - Virology  

BCMB 237 - Chemistry and Biology of Medicine  

BCMB 276 - Chemical Biology - Techniques and Applications in Research  

Social Determinants of Health Course List

EN 120 - Discovering Environmental Science  

EN 265 - Cities, Regions, Climate Change & Health  

ID 106 - Healthy Cities  

ID 208 - Health (in)equity: social determinants and policy solutions  

ID 233 - Approaches to Community Health  

ID 248 - Gender and Health  

ID 277 - Approaches to Global Health    

SOC 241 - Sociology of Medicine  

SOC 277 - What Makes People Sick? Social Determinants of Health  

CRW 202 - Imagining Place: Writing Health, Science and the Environment  

Research Methods Course List

BIOL 117 - Epidemiology  

GEOG 110 - Introduction to Quantitative Methods  

ECON 160 - Introduction to Statistical Analysis  

ID 236 - Spatial Analysis for Health  

PSCI 107 - Research Methods  

QBUS 110 - Quantitative Methods for Managers  

Health Ethics & Values Course List

BIOL 144 - Bioethics: stem cells, embryos and reproduction  

PHIL 130 - Medical Ethics  

PHIL 104 - AIDS to COVID: Ethics and Pandemics  

Health, Science & Society Faculty


Ellen Foley, SSJ (Director)

Michael Addis, Psychology

Nathan Ahlgren, Biology

Esteban Cardemil, Psychology

James Cordova, Psychology

Patrick Derr, Philosophy

Tim Downs, SSJ

Charles Jakobsche, Chemistry

Denis Larochelle, Biology

Deborah Merrill, Sociology

Neva Meyer, Biology

Arundhati Nag, Chemistry

Yelena Ogneva-Himmelberger, SSJ

Nicole Overstreet, Psychology

Deborah Robertson, Biology

Justin Thackeray, Biology

Rosalie Torres Stone, Sociology

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