Interdisciplinary Major & Minor
The Public Health Interdisciplinary Major and Minor promote holistic and interdisciplinary understanding of public health.
It draws from the theoretical and methodological frameworks from diverse academic disciplines, highlighting biological, economic, ethical, psychological, and sociocultural dimensions of public health problems and strategies intended to address them.
The program advances these learning objectives:
- Identify and describe major public health problems, important actors and institutions in public health, and the role of public health advocacy, programs, research, and policy in addressing public health problems.
- Explain how diverse disciplines, theories, and empirical methods are implemented in public health programs, research, and policy.
- Analyze how structural inequalities and biological, behavioral, cultural, economic, ethical, political, social, and economic factors and perspectives shape public health challenges and evaluate approaches to addressing them.
- Evaluate how public health challenges disproportionately affect marginalized and vulnerable groups and the potential of public health advocacy, research, programs, and policy to advance social justice and equity.
- Interpret ethical considerations of public health concepts and evaluate sources of information about public health, identify misinformation, and gain skill in effectively communicating accurate public health information to diverse audiences as part of PBH courses.
Declaring a Public Health Major or Minor
Students considering a public health major or minor through the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies (CIS) must first meeting with the chair of the Department of Public Health (Prof. Kata Chillag) or a Department of Public Health faculty member designated by the chair,to obtain permission to go forward with the application process (for majors and minors) and prior to completing the declaration form (for minors).
This meeting must occur in advance of the CIS application deadline. Students are encouraged to complete this meeting by the end of September of their sophomore year to ensure that they can complete the required steps in advance of the deadline. While the application form will not be accepted without permission, students are encouraged to review the application form in advance to help with consideration and planning. Students are also encouraged to meet with the CIS director early in the process.
Current Public Health majors and minors are required to meet twice yearly (including in the semester they plan to graduate) with the chair of the Department of Public Health or designate during the Student-Advisor Conference period.
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