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Courses

  • HSOC-100. Introduction to Health Studies

    In this course we study health and healing from interdisciplinary perspectives. Topics we will study include: suffering and the meaning of health, mental health and addiction, disability studies, infectious and chronic diseases, and food, nutrition, and obesity studies. Guided by the Ursinus Core first question “What should matter to me?” and the third question “How can we understand the world?”, we will read texts and debate ideas raised by diverse disciplines about why and how health presents such important ethical and societal challenges. Three hours per week. Four semester hours. (DN, O.)

    HSOC/HIST-104 Pathogens, Plagues, & Pandemics: Histories of Disease, Medicine, and Public Health

    How has disease shaped the world we live in? Is sickness a great leveler that renders us all vulnerable, or does it exacerbate social inequities by harming some people more than others? How have our understandings of illness, immunity, medicine, and healthcare changed over time? What are the historical connections between medicine and power, both political and economic? Seeking answers to these questions, this course explores the history of disease, medicine, and global public health. Case studies include recurring outbreaks of the bubonic plague, smallpox and yellow fever epidemics, the Great Influenza, and covid-19. Other key topics include the rise of international medical research and the evolving mission of public health. Imperialism and race are two central themes that propel this course. As we progress, we’ll discuss how disease and healthcare have influenced ideas about race and difference, and how the power dynamics of imperialism have shaped disease response and medical research. Three hours per week. Four semester hours. (DN, H, O.)

    HSOC-150. Special Topics

    An occasional course focusing on a special topic in health and society. Prerequisite: HSOC-100, or permission of the instructor. Three hours per week. Four semester hours.

    HSOC/ANTH-283. Contemporary Issues in Public Health in the Yucatán

    Students will explore matters related to health and healing in Mexico with a particular focus on the Yucatán Peninsula and Maya peoples. This faculty-led program will enable students to receive credit for a four-credit course, as well as complete their XLP. The course offers an examination of Mexico’s medical system, structural factors that impact wellbeing in the region, and healers and healing approaches from biomedicine and indigenous traditions. Drawing on multiple academic disciplines we connect contemporary health and healing practices with national and local history, and wider transformations in global health. Topics of study include health inequity, traditional health beliefs and practices, reproductive health, mental health, and foodways and agriculture. Guest speakers and community site visits will enrich and deepen our understandings of health and wellbeing in this region. Includes travel to Mexico between the fall and spring semesters. Offered every two years. No prerequisites. Four semester hours. (GN, LINQ, O, SS, XLP.)

    HSOC-301. Readings in Health and Society

    Individual study of one or more selected topics in the relevant literature. May include preparation of a bibliography for a proposal for subsequent research. Requires consent of a member of the department who will serve as adviser. This course is graded S/U. One semester hour.

    HSOC-302. Readings in Health and Society

    Individual study of one or more selected topics in the relevant literature. May include preparation of a bibliography for a proposal for subsequent research. Requires consent of a member of the department who will serve as adviser. This course is graded S/U. Two semester hours.

    HSOC/HIST-304. Mosquitoes, Miasmas & Madness: Disease, Race, and Empire in the Tropical World

    This course explores the history of disease and medicine in the colonial world, particularly in the tropical zones of the Caribbean, Africa, and Southern Asia. We will analyze the colonial construction of “the tropics” as a place of dangerous illnesses; trace the development of hypotheses about racial or biological immunity to diseases endemic in hot, humid climates; and explore the relationship between health, race, and labor under colonialism in the tropics. We will also discuss the history of treating tropical illness, from African botanicals to the products of medical research in nineteenth-century Europe. The class will focus on the histories of yellow fever, malaria, cholera, and sleeping sickness, analyzed alongside themes of race and human biology, colonialism and labor, and science and public health. Prerequisite: sophomore standing and any 200-level history course, or permission of the instructor. Three hours per week. Four semester hours. (DN, GN, H.)

    HSOC-350. Special Topics

    An occasional course focusing on a special topic in health and society. Prerequisite: HSOC–100, or permission of the instructor. Three hours per week. Four semester hours.

    HSOC-381. Internship

    An academic/work experience under the supervision of an internship adviser and an on-site supervisor. Students must document their experience according to the requirements delineated in the College catalogue section on Internships. Contact any member of the Department for further information. Open to juniors and seniors. The term during which the internship work is performed will be noted by one of the following letters, to be added immediately after the internship course number: A (fall), B (winter), C (spring), or D (summer). Internships undertaken abroad will be so indicated by the letter I. The intern must complete a minimum of 120 hours of work. Prerequisites: A major in health and society, junior standing, at least 12 credits in health and society, and approval of the Department internship adviser. A minimum of 120 hours. Graded S/U. Three semester hours. (XLP.)

    HSOC-382. Internship

    An academic/work experience under the supervision of an internship adviser and an on-site supervisor. Students must document their experience according to the requirements delineated in the College catalogue section on Internships. Contact any member of the Department for further information. Open to juniors and seniors. The term during which the internship work is performed will be noted by one of the following letters, to be added immediately after the internship course number: A (fall), B (winter), C (spring), or D (summer). Internships undertaken abroad will be so indicated by the letter I. The intern must complete a minimum of 160 hours of work. Prerequisites: A major in health and society, junior standing, at least 12 credits in health and society, and approval of the Department internship adviser. A minimum of 160 hours. Graded S/U. Four semester hours. (XLP.)

    HSOC-391. Research

    An opportunity to engage in independent empirical research on a topic of your choice. Before the course begins, the student’s faculty supervisor must approve the student’s research proposal. A final progress report is required. Prerequisite: appropriate research methods course from the following list (one course from the following list): ANSO-200; HEP-261W; HIST-200W; PHIL-246; POL-300; PSYC-200Q; STAT-243W. Four semester hours. (XLP.)

    HSOC-491. Research/Independent Work

    Open only to candidates for Honors in Health and Society: Research methods course (one course from the following list): ANSO-200; HEP-261W; HIST-200W; PHIL-246; POL-300; PSYC-200Q; STAT-243W. Four semester hours. (XLP.)

    HSOC-492W. Research/Independent Work

    A continuation of HSOC-491. Prerequisites: HSOC–491 and permission of the coordinator. Four semester hours. (XLP.)