Program Requirements and Opportunities

The Health Studies Minor at Bryn Mawr and Haverford Colleges brings together courses and faculty members in the natural sciences, social sciences and humanities to guide students through the biomedical, cultural, ethical, and political questions that relate to health issues on local, regional and global scales.  Our Colleges value the intersection of public health and social justice, and this new course of study will allow students to approach these vital issues with greater knowledge and understanding. 

Given its multidisciplinary structure, the health studies minor will give scientific context to students in the social sciences and humanities who are interested in health policy, public health, law, medical ethics, social services, or health education.  The minor also complements the curriculum for traditional science majors by providing important social and behavioral dimensions for those students planning to go into medicine, nursing, physical therapy, psychology and other clinical fields.

This is a Bi-College minor, and courses will be taught by Bryn Mawr College and Haverford College across many disciplines. When approved by the Co-Directors, selected courses for the minor may also be taken at Swarthmore College, University of Pennsylvania and while studying abroad.

Minor Requirements

The minor consists of a total of six courses, five of which must be outside of the student's major, and must include the following:

• A multidisciplinary introductory course taught by two faculty members from different academic divisions that must be taken before enrolling in the Health Studies Capstone Seminar.  Introduction to Health Studies (HLTH H115B).
• Three core courses from a list approved by the Co-Directors.  Two of these courses must be elected from a Department outside of the student’s major and at least two of the courses should be at the non-introductory level.  Students must take one course in each of three areas:
  • M track:Mechanisms of disease and the maintenance of the health body (M)
  • R track: Cultural and Literary Rrepresentations of Health and Illness (R)
  • S track: Responses of familial, social, civic and governmental Structures to issues of health and disease (S)
• One additional course, outside the student’s major.  Students may choose either a core course (C) or one selected from a list of approved affiliate courses (A), which deal with health issues, but not necessarily as their primary focus.
• Health Studies Capstone Seminar. A capstone course organized around a theme, such as vaccines, AIDS, drug abuse, disability, migration etc.  Students will analyze current literature addressing the theme from their own disciplinary perspectives and will develop research proposals and collaborative projects.

Sample Core Courses--Please Visit Haverford's Health Studies Web Page for Updates

Track M

• ANTH B208: Human Biology
• ANTH B317: Disease and Human Evolution
• BIOL B210: Biology and Public Policy
• BIOL B303: Human Physiology
• CHEM B315: Medicinal Chemistry
• GNST B201: Nutrition, Smoking, and Cardiovascular Health
• PSYC B209/H209: Abnormal Psychology
• PSYC B351: Developmental Psychopathology
• PSYC B395: Psychopharmacology
• PSYC B346: Pediatric Psychology
• BIOL H121: Poisons, Plagues, Pollution and Progress
• BIOL H125: Perspectives: Genetic Roil and  Royal Families  0.5 credits
• BIOL H128: Perspectives:  How Do I Know Who I Am? 0.5 credits
• BIOL H308: Immunology 0.5 credits
• BIOL H310: Molecular Microbiology 0.5 credits
• ICPR H311A: Reproductive Health and Justice
• PSYC H245: Health Psychology
• PSYC H318B: Neurobiology of Disease

Track R

• ANTH B210: Medical Anthropology
• ANTH B237: Environmental Health
• ANTH B312: Anthropology of Reproduction
• ANTH B331: Advanced Topics in Medical Anthropology
• PHIL B205: Medical Ethics
• ANTH H260: Cultures of Health and Healing
• ANTH H200: Viruses, Humans, Vital Politics:  An Anthropology of HIV & AIDS
• ICPR H281: Violence and Public Health

Track S

• ANTH B210: Medical Anthropology
• ANTH B237: Environmental Health
• ANTH B312: Anthropology of Reproduction
• BIOL B210: Biology and Public Policy
• FREN B275/HIST B275: Improving Mankind: Enlightened Hygiene and Eugenics
• HIST B303: Topics in American History.  Topic: History of Medicine in America
• HIST B336: Topics in African History.  Topic: Social and Medical History of Medicine in Africa
• PSYC B231: Health Psychology
• PSYC B340: Women’s Mental Health
• ANTH H200: Viruses, Humans, Vital Politics:  An Anthropology of HIV & AIDS
• ICPR H311: Reproductive Health and Justice
• PSYC H242: Cultural Psychology
• PSYC H327: Supersized Nation: Understanding and Managing America's Obesity Epidemic

Affiliate Courses

Track M

• BIOL B201: Genetics
• BIOL B215: Experimental Design and Statistics
• BIOL B216: Genomics
• BIOL B255: Microbiology
• BIOL B271: Developmental Biology
• CHEM B242: Biological Chemistry
• SOWK B556: Adult Development and Aging
• BIOL H352: Cellular Immunology 0.5 credits
• BIOL H360: Bacterial Pathogenesis 0.5 credits
• CHEM H357: Topics in Bioorganic Chemistry 0.5 credits
• PSYC H223: Psychology of Human Sexuality

Track R

• ITAL B208: Petrarca and Boccaccio in Translation
• ITAL B303: Petrarca and Boccaccio in Italian
• FREN B325: Topics: Etudes avancées. Topic: Lumiéres et Medicine
• PSYC B260: The Psychology of Mindfulness
• PSYC B375: Movies and Madness
• ICPR H207A: Disability, Identity, Culture
• ICPR H223: Mental Affliction:  The Disease of Thought
• PEAC H201: Ethics and Justice: Applied Ethics of Peace, Justice and Human Rights
• WRPR H120: Evolutionary Fictions Available only to HC first year students
• WRPR H161: Written on the Body:  Narrative and the Construction of contemporary Sexuality Available only to HC first year students

Track S

• BIOL B215: Experimental Design and Statistics
• ECON B214: Public Finance
• EDUC B225: Topics: Empowering Learners. Topic: Health Literacies in Context
• PEAC H201: Ethics and Justice: Applied Ethics of Peace, Justice and Human Rights

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