In the US, Health is a privilege, not a right. Approaches to health in this country have focused on treatment and cures, rather than prevention and care. Studies have shown that your zip code, where you live, matters more to your health than your genetic code. Concurrently, data continues to emerge that trauma, and the effects of trauma, can be passed through our genes, from generation to generation, suggesting that enslavement, forced displacement, and poverty of our ancestors are felt in our bones, today.
Over 7 weeks, students will review the history of public health in the United States, explore how it plays out in cities, regions, and neighborhoods, and understand how it helps certain populations and hurts other populations, all in the name of building healthy communities. Students will spend time looking at seemingly non-public health decisions and follow it down to clear and tangible spaces, places, and populations, and understand the health implications of those decisions. Students will participate in weekly discussions and contribute reading reflections, module projects, and a final analysis project.