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Interdisciplinary Major & Minor

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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:

  1. Describe major public health problems, important actors, systems and institutions in public health, and the role of public health advocacy, programs, research and policy in addressing public health problems from an interdisciplinary perspective.
  2. Explain how theories and empirical methods are implemented in public health programs, research and policy from an interdisciplinary perspective.
  3. Analyze how structural inequalities and biological, behavioral, cultural, economic, ethical, political, social and economic factors and perspectives shape public health challenges and evaluate ethical approaches to addressing them to advance social justice and equity from an interdisciplinary perspective. 
  4. 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.
  5. Apply public health knowledge to real-world problems from an interdisciplinary perspective. 

Declaring a Public Health Major or Minor

Thanks for your interest in public health. Before declaring a public health major or minor, students need to meet with the chair (Prof. Lauren Stutts). In that meeting, students will share what courses they have taken and what courses they plan to take each semester in order to complete the major or the minor. The Chair of Public Health will also assign students an advisor before they complete the major/minor form. 

Students interested in majoring should ideally take PBH 110: Introduction to Public Health by the end of their first year, PBH 280: Foundations of Global Health and PBH 292: Foundations of Epidemiology by the end of their second year, and PBH 250: Public Health Methods by the end of their second year/beginning of junior year. Students interested in minoring should ideally take PBH 110: Introduction to Public Health by the end of their first/second year and PBH 280: Foundations of Global Health OR PBH 292: Foundations of Epidemiology by the end of their second/third year.

Courses You Might Take

PBH 251
Health Disparities US & Beyond

This course explores connections between race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and U.S. social policy with the historical and current trends in health disparities in the United States. The course offers a foundation in both core concepts and theoretical frameworks for understanding health disparities and will introduce theory and strategies for developing health interventions and policies to address the crisis of racial, ethnic and socioeconomic health disparities within the U.S.

PBH 280 | SOC 280
Introduction to Global Health

Global health is an emerging interdisciplinary field that approaches health issues as transnational challenges requiring multi-level, community-based solutions. Topics include global health inequities, strategies for control of communicable diseases, global rise of non-communicable disease, connections between social structures and global distribution of disease, and debates over health as a human right. The course is cross-listed as PBH 280 and SOC 280.

PSY 354
Medical Rehab & Disability

This course addresses the conceptualization, assessment and treatment of chronic health conditions, traumatic injuries and disabilities. The sources include peer-reviewed articles, videos, and memoirs from the vantage point of the patient, caregiver and healthcare provider—including a unique graphic medicine novel. The course has a community-based component that is especially valuable for students who are interested in a health profession.

Interested in Studying Public Health at Davidson?