Courses

The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular term. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the MyBU Student Portal for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.

• SPH LW 850: Public Health Law
  Graduate Prerequisites: SPH PH719 or consent of instructor. - Traditional public health is rapidly transforming itself from state programs to prevent disease in populations (e.g., vaccinations and newborn screening) to federal and international efforts to more broadly promote the "right to health." This problem-oriented seminar enables students to analyze and answer questions about health risks and public health policies as they typically arise in practice -- in all their complexity and without preassigned doctrinal labels. It covers contemporary examples of the seven deadly sins -- anger, gluttony, lust, sloth -- plus drugs, alcohol, tobacco, food, firearms, biobanks, epidemics, and surveillance. The seminar offers a systematic framework for identifying and controlling health risks, drawing on theories of risk perception, cognitive reasoning and empirical evidence. Students analyze and compare the applicability and effectiveness of different legal strategies to control risks, such as criminal and civil prohibitions, mandatory product standards, tort liability, mandatory data collection, biometric testing, conditions of employment, marketing restrictions, quarantine, and taxation. Emphasis is on the different scope of laws (state, federal and international) regulating personal behavior and laws regulating products and commercial activities. A writing project to develop a legal strategy to address a contemporary risk to health is required.
• SPH LW 854: Mental Health Law, Policy & Ethics
  Graduate Prerequisites: (SPHPH719) or permission from instructor. - This seminar tackles some of the most complex issues in mental health, such as involuntary confinement, adolescent disorders and decision-making, deinstitutionalization, the right to treatment and the right to refuse treatment, criminalization, substance use disorders, medicalization and the meaning of mental illness, forced treatments, discrimination, confidentiality, research, and professional ethics. The course will focus primarily on legal cases, utilizing these as case studies to explore the intersection of law, policy, and ethics to determine the manner in which we attempt to understand and regulate in the area of mental health.
• SPH LW 951: Directed Studies in Health Law, Bioethics, & Human Rights
  Graduate Prerequisites: (SPHPH719) or consent of instructor. - Directed Studies provide the opportunity for students to explore a special topic of interest under the direction of a full-time SPH faculty member. Students may register for a 1, 2, 3, or 4-credit directed study by submitting a paper registration form and a signed directed study proposal form. Directed studies with a non-SPH faculty member or an adjunct faculty member must be approved by and assigned to the department chair. Students are placed in a section by the Registrar's Office according to the faculty member with whom they are working. Students may take no more than eight credits of directed study, directed research, or practical courses during their MPH education.
• SPH LW 952: Directed Research in Health Law, Bioethics & Human Rights
  Graduate Prerequisites: (SPHPH719) or consent of instructor. - Directed Research provide the opportunity for students to explore a special topic of interest under the direction of a full-time SPH faculty member. Students may register for 1, 2, 3, or 4 credits. To register, students must submit a paper registration form and signed directed research proposal form. Students are placed in a section by the Registrar's Office according to the faculty member with whom they are working. Students may take no more than eight credits of directed study, directed research, or practica courses during their MPH education.
• SPH MC 705: Sexual Health: From Science to Policy
  Our knowledge of sex and sexuality is derived in large part from the sociocultural and religious context of our society and the specific community and families in which we have been raised. In this class we will use a variety of teaching methods to allow you to discover how much you really know about basic sexual health information, including current public health sexual health issues. Then you will acquire an understanding of the issues based on current thinking from the biologic and social sciences. After covering the basics of each topic, we will explore some of the contextual factors, such as history, culture, or economics that affect framing of the issues and discuss the direct public health ramifications. The course will also help you develop your skills in communication, debate, teaching, and podcasting about sexual health from a public health perspective.
• SPH MC 725: Women, Children and Adolescents: A Public Health Approach
  This survey course introduces students to public health theories, methods, and topics central to maternal, child and family health research and practice. Grounded in a life course perspective, this course examines how the health of infants, children, birthing parents, women, and families are shaped by the complex interplay of biologic and social determinants of health, over a lifetime and across generations. Through a case method teaching approach, select current topics tailored to student interest (e.g., asthma, adolescent pregnancy, infant mortality, vaccination, and food access) will be studied in depth and used to illustrate how the most urgent maternal, family and child health outcomes are monitored and addressed through research and practice. Throughout the course, special attention will be given to key drivers of health inequities, as well as multilevel, strengths-based approaches designed to address these. By the end of the course students will be able to formulate an MCH-related public health question, conduct and write a literature review, and write a policy memo. MC725 is the first required course in the MCH Certificate sequence.
• SPH MC 730: Leading to Face Challenges and Achieve Results in Public Health
  Graduate Prerequisites: SPH PH720 or instructor permission. - MC 730 strengthens students to have the confidence and competence to lead to achieve results in public health. The course is an experiential learning process, ideal for public health professionals who aspire to be activists for change. Students work in teams to teach and learn leadership theories and practical exercises to motivate and mobilize groups. The course creates a safe space for exploration and experimentation of leadership practices. We work to create a climate in which all students are able to clarify and question their assumptions, and engage in dialogue with others. We have conversations where obstacles to leading for results in public health are identified and discussed. Students will practice leading, from whatever position they are in, to face the challenges of public health, including the challenges of social and racial justice.
• SPH MC 759: Perinatal and Child Health Epidemiology
  Graduate Prerequisites: SPH PH717 and PH720 or instructor permission. - Issues related to the perinatal period from the framework of epidemiologic methods will be examined in this course through critical review of epidemiologic studies and exploration of measurement, design and data. Key issues to be examined include maternal and infant mortality and morbidity, cesarean birth, preterm birth, breastfeeding and child development, with a special focus on disparities in these outcomes. Participants will review various sources of perinatal epidemiologic data, and will address classification issues and challenges in assessing pregnancy exposures and outcomes related to these data sources. The final course project involves working with fellow students on the development of a poster and an abstract for submission to a national research meeting based on an original analysis of a public database.
• SPH MC 763: Maternal and Child Health Policy Making
  Graduate Prerequisites: SPH PH719 - This course explores the process by which U.S. national and state policymakers allocate resources to mothers and children. Beginning with an analysis of the evolution of U.S. maternal and child health (MCH) policy, it uses case studies of MCH issues such as paid family leave, maternal mortality, breast cancer and child vaccination to examine the special features of legislative, executive, administrative, and judicial policy making in MCH. The course examines how policy making in MCH has traditionally been characterized by the frequent use of mothers and children as political symbols rather than providing actual health benefits. This course is taught in seminar format with weekly readings and student-led discussion.
• SPH MC 775: Social Justice and the Health of Populations: Racism & other systems of oppression the United States
  Graduate Prerequisites: Core Curriculum or instructor permission. - The goal of this introductory course is for students to equip themselves with the fundamental knowledge base necessary to critically re-examine systemic sources of health inequities, and challenge traditional public health models of addressing them. The course is intended for students with little to no prior exposure to frameworks such as Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality Theory; or little to no personal/lived experience with systems of oppression (i.e. belonging to one or more historically oppressed groups). Students who feel that they already have strong foundational knowledge around systems of oppression and anti-oppressive public health practices and approaches are encouraged to take MC776: Advanced Practice and Research Methods for Public Health Equity. Please consult the instructor if you're unsure of which course to take.
• SPH MC 776: Advanced Practice and Research Methods for Public Health Equity
  Graduate Prerequisites: Core Curriculum and either MC775 or willingness to complete summer pre-course reading packet This course prepares the more advanced student to conduct public health research and for public health practice from an explicitly intersectional, racial/social justice-centered foundation. Students will advance their skills in transformative public health practice, critical research methods frameworks as well as policy, program and institutional evaluation using a number of established strategies and tools. Culminating projects will address key questions around systems of oppression and population patterns of health, and the capacity of programs, policies and organizations to disrupt or perpetuate health inequities.
• SPH MC 783: Substance Use among Minoritized and Marginalized Populations
  This course offers a window into the drivers, patterns, and consequences of substance use among diverse populations throughout the lifecourse. Through assessment of current evidence, reflection and discussion, application of multilevel theoretical frameworks, and engagement with practitioners and researchers, we will explore the complexity of sex, gender, and racial-ethnic differences in substance use and health service utilization. We will review current trends in substance use among different communities, explore specific topics of public health significance (e.g., pregnancy, interpersonal relationships, infectious disease transmission, stigma, and disparities), contrast understandings of substance use acquired through quantitative and qualitative research methods, and critically evaluate the provision of care. This course will provide you with a deeper understanding of the significance and complexity of substance use and related issues among people with diverse identities and backgrounds.
• SPH MC 785: Reproductive Health Advocacy: From Rights to Justice
  This course prepares students to critically re-evaluate, strengthen, and argue their positions on matters related to the control of sex and reproduction. It allows student to focus on an array of issues related to fertility and its regulation among those who can become pregnant, and to use multiple frameworks--public health science, law, racism and oppression in the social history of fertility control, religion and politics--to identify their values and frame and argue their positions for purposes of advocacy. The course begins with an overview of the social and political history of fertility control and current reproductive health services and policies, and proceeds to hands-on conversations with a panel of advocates from diverse organizations, and a state house visit. We then examine debates at the state and national levels in preparation for advocacy skill-building and practice, such as op-ed writing, designing advocacy strategies, and creating products for advocacy organization
• SPH MC 786: Immigrant and Refugee Health
  This course focuses on immigrants in the U.S. and applies a community perspective to the study of their health and well-being. People move across borders for reasons that range from economic need to war and violence, to natural disasters associated with climate change. As migrants settle in the US., communities in the U.S. change and the public health challenges shift. Within communities, immigrants vary by ethnic identity, age, class, length of time in the U.S. and level of acculturation. Each of these factors influences concepts of health and if, how, when, and where health care is sought and received. The course begins with an overview of how political, economic, cultural factors at the global and local levels shape the migration patterns and health of immigrants and refugees. We then examine specific immigrant groups and health issues, with attention to interventions that engage community members to act. Students will gain critical skills in contextual analysis, community based participatory research, and project design. Students will learn about the importance of adopting a multicultural approach.
• SPH MC 795: The Health of Adolescents and Emerging Adults
  Graduate Prerequisites: (SPHPH717 OR SPHEP714 OR SPHPH720) - This course equips advanced undergraduates and Master's students from all departments and disciplines to examine the public health challenges presented by adolescents. The course begins with an introduction to adolescent development (i.e., in terms of biology, behavior, social roles, and psychology), and also reviews basic themes of public health (i.e., a public health approach, the social ecological framework). The course continues with in-depth review of the prevalence and causes of several key risk behaviors and health problems among adolescents, including: unintentional injury, sexual risk behaviors, suicide and mental health, obesity, multiple types of violence, and substance use. The course also reviews: health policy, school health, the role of the media on adolescent health, and issues in adolescent health research. Class sessions involve a variety of formats including small group work, lecture and discussion, activities, and debates.
• SPH MC 800: Preventing Mental Health Concerns: A Life Course Perspective
  The course will use a prevention framework to examine mental health interventions targeted to women, children, and youth. We will explore how events that occur during critical developmental periods - early childhood, adolescence, and pregnancy - can alter the life course of the individual and the family. Readings will focus on preventive interventions that target specific mental health concerns, as well as those focused on addressing risk and protective factors common to many mental health issues. We will pay particular attention to how preventive interventions can be implemented and disseminated at a community level and integrated into primary care health care settings and major public health programs. The course will involve substantial group work; the majority will be done during formal class sessions.
• SPH MC 802: Implementing Community Health Initiatives: A Field-Based Course in Leadership and Consultation
  Graduate Prerequisites: SPH PH720 or instructor permission. - This course is designed for public health students from diverse backgrounds who aspire to be effective leaders for change in community health settings. This course applies justice-based practice and humble consulting frameworks. Students work in teams to define and address a specific challenge with partners in a community health agency, health system, or cross-sector organization. Course sessions engage students in learning and teaching key concepts, theories, and practices in management, leadership, and community partnership. Students apply tools to define a challenge, scan the environment, investigate evidence, define interests of key stakeholders, map organizational processes, align and mobilize constituents, synthesize findings, and communicate findings and recommendations to the client organization in a polished presentation and consultant report. Throughout the course, students are challenged to use anti-oppression practices and learn to build strong teams, create breakthroughs when breakdowns occur, and assess themselves and others as team players. The course prepares students to act as collaborative consultants in real-world professional settings.
• SPH MC 820: Managing Public Health Programs and Projects
  Graduate Prerequisites: SPH PH718 or instructor permission. - During this course we will focus on developing skills in both program and project management using the basic tenants of management theory, implementation, budgeting, and quality improvement. The class emphasizes professional development through a team approach. Students will employ a group process to analyze an existing program or organization and create tailored deliverables for a real public health client. The class is run like a work environment with an expectation that each student will come prepared to be an active and responsible team member. A portion of class time will be allocated for team meetings, which will allow for the simulation of workplace practices including: agenda setting, meeting facilitation, workflow management, peer evaluation, and oral presentation. Individual skills will be developed through the use of teaching cases and homework assignments. The approach is interactive and student- centered, with a focus on individual growth as it relates to collective work.
• SPH MC 840: Gender, Intersectionality and Health Policy
  Graduate Prerequisites: SPH PH720 or instructor permission. - This course provides an opportunity to link theory, experience, and policy- making in the field of women's health, including cis and trans women, people assigned female at birth (AFAB), and gender nonbinary folks. The semester starts by exploring policy change and analysis with a critical eye to the intersection of gender, race/ethnicity, geography, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, and other identities. The remainder of the course utilizes case studies to examine the landscape of decisions and policies that shape health and well-being in a gendered context and a path forward for health and equity. Topics include mammography, trans affirming policies, social security, domestic workers rights, and BMI. Students complete the course with sharpened ability to make arguments and promote their ideas orally and in writing to audiences as diverse as legislators, the media, private foundations, public health policy-makers, and the general public. This class carries SB concentration credit.
• SPH MC 931: Directed Studies in Maternal and Child Health
  Directed Studies provide the opportunity for students to explore a special topic of interest under the direction of a full-time SPH faculty member. Students may register for a 1, 2, 3, or 4-credit directed study by submitting a paper registration form and a signed directed study proposal form. Directed studies with a non-SPH faculty member or an adjunct faculty member must be approved by and assigned to the department chair. Students are placed in a section by the Registrar's Office according to the faculty member with whom they are working. Students may take no more than eight credits of directed study or directed research during their MPH education.