Description
The 30-credit Health & Society program within the Department of Public Health and Health Education provides students with foundational knowledge of community health. Students in the program learn about the many factors that shape the health of communities and explore evidence-based strategies to reduce health disparities. The online nature of the program provides flexibility for students who are working, or who want to pursue additional academic areas of interest such as a second major or a minor. The Health and Society program can complement a related second major, such as Psychology, Recreation and Leisure Studies, or Women and Gender Studies.
The program consists of Required core courses and content electives focused on various dimensions of health. Students interested in becoming a public health educator or sitting for the Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) Exam should speak with an advisor about our professional program in Public Health Education.
Program Requirements
Undergraduate students in this program pursue a Bachelor of Science degree and must complete its requirements.
Students must achieve a grade of “C” or better in each course applied to the major.
General Education Requirements (31-37 credits)
Major Department Requirements (30 credits)
Required Core Courses (15 credits)
- PBH 235 Zip Codes, Community and Health
- PBH 302 Foundations of Health Education
- PBH 317 Introduction to Public Health
- PBH 488 Biostatistics and Epidemiology
- PBH 495 Health Research
- PBH 488 and PBH 317 are prerequisites for PBH 495
Health-Related Content Courses (15 credits)
Candidates must complete 15 credits of content courses from the following list:
- PBH 303 Environmental Health
- PBH 311 Nutrition
- PBH 312 Mental Health
- PBH 313 Introduction to Safety
- PBH 402 Women’s Health*
- HCS 409 Introduction to Alcohol and Other Drugs
- PBH 419 Human Sexuality*
- PBH 450 Global Health*
- PBH 488 is a prerequisite for PBH 450
*denotes courses that meet both major and general education requirements
Electives (52–56 credits)
Total credits (120 credits)
Student Learning Outcomes
The Health and Society program is aligned with three of the eight Areas of Responsibility as defined by the National Commission on Health Education Credentialing.
Public Health and Society Major
Upon completion of the program, students will be able to:
- Conduct research and evaluation to answer programmatic and research questions
- Conduct advocacy activities to promote policy, system, and environmental change to benefit their priority population
- Carry out communication activities to enhance health and associated outcomes.