Health and Society

The interdisciplinary Health and Society Major explores how social, cultural, economic, and political factors impact human health and well-being. Students work with faculty from the social sciences and humanities to develop a critical understanding of patterns of population health and possible strategies for promoting the health of marginalized and underserved populations. Students are encouraged to connect classroom learning with community-based internships and research. Questions at the core of the curriculum are:

How could we improve access to affordable quality health care and healthy living conditions?
How do poverty, patterns of inequality and discrimination, and global location affect people’s physical, mental, and social well-being?
How do people in different cultures think about health, illness, and health care?
What are the economic and social justice consequences of various health care policies?
How can we combat global pandemics and world-wide health concerns?
How do we make ethical medical care and health-related decisions?

This major prepares students for careers and graduate study in a wide range of health-related fields including: human services (eg. social worker, community health educator, patient advocate, medical interpreter, etc.); direct health care professions (eg. medical doctor, nurse, physicians’ assistant, doula, etc.); public health and policy; health care administration, and medical anthropology and sociology. Majors preparing for graduate work in health care fields are encouraged to complete the pre-health curriculum along with the Health and Society major. Double majors especially with related fields such as Psychology, Sociology and Anthropology, Crime and Justice Studies, Public Administration, Women and Gender Studies are encouraged.

The learning objectives for the Health and Society major are:

Demonstrate skill in applying perspectives of various disciplines from the social sciences and humanities to the analysis of the social, cultural, economic, political, and economic factors that impact the health status, needs, and behaviors of diverse populations;
Demonstrate an understanding of how systemic inequalities along lines of class, race and ethnicity, gender, and geographic location affect health outcomes;
Develop an understanding of how theoretical frameworks and research from multiple disciplines can be used to find innovative and practical solutions to health-related problems;
Demonstrate a critical understanding of the organization and efficacy of health care systems and policies;
Develop basic skills in qualitative and quantitative social scientific research methods and a critical understanding of knowledge production;
Develop effective oral and written modes of communicating health-related issues to diverse audiences.

For more information about the program contact the Health and Society Director, Professor Andrea Klimt (999-8831, aklimt@umassd.edu).