Health & Society Major Requirements

This major consists of 12 courses, distributed as follows:

Required Courses (4 Courses)

  • HLS 116 Introduction to Community Medicine*
  • STT 211 Applied Statistics for the Social Sciences (or approved substitute)
  • HLS 201 Research Methods in the Health Sciences**
  • HLS 301 Senior Seminar in Health and Society

* Offered alternate fall semesters, not open to freshmen.
** Offered every spring semester.

Core Courses (Choose 4 courses)

  • ANT 216 Medical Anthropology
  • ECO 236 Health Policy
  • HIS 208 Health, Medicine and Social Reform
  • HIS 209 Changing Concepts of Disease
  • HIS 305W American Health Policy and Politics
  • PHL 225 Ethical Decisions in Medicine
  • PSC 245 Aging and Public Policy
  • PSY 283 Behavioral Medicine
  • SOC 262 Medical Sociology (not offered every year)
  • CAS 394 London Health Sciences Internship*

* Only one of these courses may be counted toward the Core requirement. If both are taken, one must be designated as an Elective.

Elective Courses (Choose 4 Courses)

Choose from this list or from the Core list, excluding the 4 courses used to satisfy the Core Course requirement.

  • ANT 218 Birth and Death: Anthropology of Vital Events
  • ANT 278 Solving Population Problems: Global Perspectives
  • ECO 261 State and Local Public Finance
  • ECO 263 Public Finance
  • HLS 216 / 217 Peer Health Advocacy I & II*
  • HLS 391 Independent Study (Requires approval of faculty adviser)
  • PHL 103 Moral Problems
  • PSC 216 Legislative Process
  • PSC 237 Domestic Social Policy
  • PSY 161 Social Psychology
  • PSY 209 Psychology of Human Sexuality
  • PSY 282 Abnormal Psychology
  • PSY 367 Gender and Mental Health
  • PSY 381 Psychology of Developmental Disabilities
  • PSY 385 Practicum in Developmental Disabilities
  • REL 208A Medicine, Magic, and Miracles in the Greco-Roman World
  • WST 206F Feminism, Gender, and Health

This list of electives is not exhaustive. Almost every semester, one or more new courses which fit under the HLS "umbrella" are offered. Because these frequently are "one time only" offerings, they are not included here. They appear on the HLS course compilation for the semester in which they are offered. Also, please note that not every course on the list above is offered every year. Questions about the availability of particular courses should be directed to the offering departments.

* HLS 216, offered in the fall, carries 4 credits. HLS 217, offered in the spring, carries 2 credits.

Upper-Level Writing

The upper-level writing requirement for Health and Society consists of HLS 116 and ONE of the following Core courses:

Students with two majors must meet the writing requirement in BOTH majors.

Independent Study & Internship Courses

Requirements
Only two independent study/internship courses (Health Services Practicum, London Internship, HLS 391), may be counted toward the Health and Society major. Students wishing to enroll in additional semesters of independent study or internship are free to do so, but only two such courses will count toward the major.
Honors:
Students who wish to work for an honors degree in Health and Society, which involves the writing of a senior thesis, should apply to do so in the fall semester of their senior year. A set of instructions can be obtained in Lattimore 312.
Maintaining a Multidisciplinary Program:
In order to retain as far as possible the interdisciplinary character of the Health and Society major, students are urged to select courses from a variety of departments. A program which includes four or more courses from a single department is not likely to be approved. In the case of double majors, only two courses from the second major may count toward Health and Society requirements.
Graduate Courses:
With written permission of the faculty adviser and the course instructor, senior Health and Society majors may enroll in graduate courses from the Master's in Public Health curriculum and may substitute these courses for "regular" Health and Society courses. Senior wishing to enroll in a graduate course should make sure that they have completed any prerequisites. In addition, seniors should understand that enrollment in graduate courses is strictly at the discretion of course instructors. Instructors are free to limit any undergraduate enrollment to those seniors who are prevented by an irremediable conflict from completing the Senior Seminar or one or more Core courses.
Rochester Curriculum:
A HLS major with a second major in another department or program within the Social Science division of the curriculum must identify which of the majors he or she is using to meet the Social Science requirement. The rule which limits to one course overlaps between the major and a Cluster in another division applies only to the major the student has designated to meet the Social Science requirement. Thus, a student majoring in Health and Society and Political Science may legitimately complete the "Ethics and Values" Cluster (Humanities) with three courses from Health and Society provided (s)he designated Political Science for the Social Science requirement.

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