HSOC Courses - Descriptions - Spring 2011

These courses originate in the HSOC program.

HSOC 010 Health and Societies
"Two fundamental questions structure this course:  (1) What kinds of factors shape population health in various parts of the world in the twenty-first century? and (2) What kinds of intellectual tools are necessary in order to study global health?  Grasping the deeper “socialness” of health and health care in a variety of cultures and time periods requires a sustained interdisciplinary approach.  “Health and Societies: Global Perspectives” blends the methods of history, sociology, anthropology, and related disciplines in order to expose the layers of causation and meaning beneath what we often see as straightforward, common-sense responses to biological phenomena.  Assignments throughout the semester provide a hands-on introduction to research strategies in these core disciplines.  The course culminates with pragmatic, student-led assessments of global health policies designed to identify creative and cost-effective solutions to the most persistent health problems in the world today."

HSOC 102 Bioethics
Bioethics is intended to introduce students to the thorny issues that confront medicine and biotechnology in this time of rapid change. The first part of the course will be devoted to an overview of the standard principles of academic bioethics. We will then consider several clinical topics to which the principles may be applied, including abortion and end-of-life treatment. Next we will consider problems of human research ethics and a number of emerging fields of interest to bioethicists, such as stem cells and cloning, neuroscience, and bioethics in relation to national security. We conclude with a look at the recent alleged “politicization” of bioethics.

HSOC 150 American Health Policy
This lecture course will introduce students to a broad range of topics that fall under the heading of American health policy. Its main emphasis will be on the history of health care in America from the U.S. Civil War to Obama care. The primary objective of the course will be to consider why the United States, until very recently, remained one of the only industrialized nations to have a private, non-nationalized health care system. Some of the themes addressed include: private health insurance (such as Blue Cross/Blue Shield), industrial health and workmen’s compensation, the welfare state (in Europe, Canada, and the U.S.), women’s health, especially maternal and infant care programs, Medicare/Medicaid, the Clinton Health Plan of 1993, injured soldiers and the Veterans Administration.

HSOC 259.601 Complementary and Alternative Medicine
This course will introduce the student to the study of complementary and alternative medicine (or CAM). In addition to providing an overview of several common modalities and systems currently used in the U.S., the course will explore such topics as health belief systems, spirituality and health, ethnicity and ethnomedicine, the social context of health, and the emergence of integrative medicine. Guest lectures by CAM and folk practitioners will be offered throughout the course.

HSOC 348 Current Issues in Global Health
War. Natural disasters. Single disease campaigns. The global pharmaceutical industry. In this course, we consider the history and contemporary reality of a number of factors related to health--and interrogate the category of “global health” itself. Course requirements include responding to scholarly and popular texts, screening documentaries, and participating in an in-class debate.

HSOC 420 Research Seminar in HSOC
This research methods seminar helps students develop skills crucial to independent research and to senior thesis development. The course combines focused reading, critical analysis of key texts, small-group projects, and writing and research exercises. Students can use this course to develop a plan for a senior research project, and to produce a polished thesis prospectus and literature review that can guide their thesis work over their senior year. They carry out a literature review and research plan for a thesis topic. This course fulfills the Capstone research requirement for students writing a senior thesis.