Inequality and discrimination in healthcare and the policies, institutions, systems, and ideologies that perpetuate them, are the main focus of the the Race, Gender and Health concentration. Frustrated by the persistence of scientific racism in the American healthcare system? Worried about the future of maternal and child healthcare? Tired of the ways limiting ideas about gender continue to negatively impact healthcare research, technologies, treatments, and clinical care? Want to learn more about gender-affirming care? Care deeply about disability rights? Want to dive into some of the most pressing social issues in medicine today? Then this is the concentration for you. 

The following list of pre-approved courses is intended to inspire, not to require.  This list suggests some of the courses which have been used in the past for the concentration and which can  individualize the concentration around a student's interests and goals.

Concentration Rules

  • Core courses may not be replaced by a petitioned course
  • Relevant courses may be petitioned
  • Up to three non-College courses* are permitted 


Electives (6 cu required)

AFRC 1201: Divinities, Diviners and Divinations
AFRC 2545: Sex, Love, and Race in African American Life and History
ANTH 1220: Becoming Human
ANTH 1238: Intro to Medical Anthropology
ANTH 2060: Cultures of Science and Technology
ANTH 2080: Anthropolgy of Futurity (DSGN 3120)
ANTH 2978: Just Futures Seminar II: Health and Healing in Abiayala (LALS 2978, GSWS 2978, HSOC 2332)
COMM 3730: Black Geographies: Race, Risk and Visual Cultures
GSWS 0002: Gender and Society (ENGL 0159)
GSWS 115: Before Transgender
GSWS 1361: Sex Matters: Politics of Sex in the Modern Middle East
GSWS 1490: Law and Social Policy on Sexuality and Reproduction
GSWS 2100: Trauma Porn to Title IX: Gender based Violence at Penn
GSWS 2320: Queer Life in U.S. History
GSWS 2700: Folklore and Sexuality
GSWS 3448: The Future of Disability and the Afterlives of Epidemics (HSOC 3447)
GSWS 5180: Nursing and Gendering of Health Care
HSOC 2457: History of Bioethics
HSOC 2537: Gender and Health (GSWS 2537)
HSOC 3120: Health in Philly, Past and Present
HSOC 3327: Birth Culture and Medical Technology
HSOC 3889: Trans Method (GSWS 3500, STSC 3899)
HSOC 4528: Race and Medicine 
HIST 1122: Sinners, Sex and Slaves
HIST 1172: Bodies, Race and Rights
HIST 1173: History of Sexuality in the U.S.
HIST 1365: Bacteria, Bodies, and Empires: Medicine and Healing in Eastern Mediterranean (HSOC 1362)
NURS 3430: Topics Course (check with HSOC advisor)*
PHIL 2510: Philosophy of Race
SOCI 0003: Sociology of Race
SOCI 1060: Race and Ethnic Relations (ASAM 1510, LALS 1060, URBS 1060)
SOCI 1100: Sociology of Gender (GSWS 1101)
SOCI 2450: Poverty, Race and Health
SOCI 2430: Race, Science and Justice (AFRC 2430)
STSC 2097: Race and Gender in Global Science
STSC 2198: Race, Science and Globalization 
STSC 3136: Queer Science (GSWS 3136)
STSC 3334: Hybrid Science: Nature, Health and Society
URBS 2850: Health on the Urban Margins: The Experience of Health in American Cities

ONE of these may be used in the concentration:

ENVS 1615: Urb Env: Lead In W Phila
ENVS 1625: Comm Based Envir Health         
ENVS 1635: Prevention Of Tobacco
ENVS 1645: Urban Asthma Epidemic

One of these may be used as an elective
BIOL 2510: Statistics for Biologists
STAT 1110: Intro Stat 

NOTE: ECON 0100/ECON 0200 cannot count for this concentration.

Updated 2/10/2023