ANTHRO 3151 - Evolution of the Human Diet

Many researchers and health enthusiasts believe that the abandonment of our Paleolithic diet and lifestyle with the onset of agriculture some 10,000 years ago has lead to a rapid decline in health and perpetuated countless diseases of civilization. While diet fads come and go, it seems this new enthusiasm for Paleo diets is here to stay. But what is a Paleo diet anyway? Through a comparative evolutionary and anthropological approach we will examine the diets of extinct hominins, our extant primate relatives, ethnohistoric and contemporary foraging peoples, and even our own dietary habits. We will strive to answer key questions about diets in prehistory and their implications for living people today: How do we know what our ancestors ate? How have dietary hypotheses been used to explain processes in human evolution? How bad is agriculture for global health? What role did certain foods play in shaping our modern physiology? Are we maladapted to our contemporary diets? What does it mean to eat Paleo? A mix of discussion and lecture will encourage students to develop their own interests in human evolutionary nutrition.

ANTHRO 3272 - Becoming Human: A Biocultural Exploration of the Human Experience

PUBHLTHSOC 1000 - Foundations in Public Health

This course examines the foundations in public health using an equity and social justice approach emphasizing the interconnectedness of population and individual health. The course will cover the history and impact of public health, including the importance of health equity, social justice, and human rights, as well as the essential role of ethics in public health. The course will expose students to various public health professionals working on inter-professional teams to explore careers in public health, we will invite public health and community health experts from the St. Louis region as well as national and international guest speakers.

PUBHLTHSOC 1011 - First-Year Seminar: Environmental Justice and Public Health

Environmental justice has become a pervasive conversation topic as the effects of climate change become more and more prominent in daily life. Yet environmental justice has a longer history, one that is closely related to the global health developments. In this course, we will explore what environmental justice means, how it functions as a form of public health and health activism more broadly, and why the future of public health so heavily depends on it. Through these questions, students will further learn about how issues of environment and health are deeply intertwined with social, racial, and gendered inequities. As we will explore together, this relationship has led to conflicting political and economic priorities as well as the deliberate placement of environmental hazards next to or within working-class, Black and Brown, and other marginalized communities. The class is limited to first-year students.

PUBHLTHSOC 3010 - Topics in Public Health & Society: Health Communication and the Misinformation Crisis

PUBHLTHSOC 3100 - Research Methods in Understanding Health and Society

Research is the key to building evidence in public health. This course will provide an overview of public health research methods and the sequential research process. Core research concepts to be presented and applied include developing research questions, literature reviews, research ethics, study designs, data collection, quantitative and qualitative research methods understanding research data, and research dissemination.

PUBHLTHSOC 4010 - Topics in Public Health & Society: Animals and Insects and the Making of Modern Public Health

Dogs and rabies. Mosquitoes and malaria. Cows and the smallpox vaccine. Historically and contemporarily, the study and enactment of public health is simply rife with animals and insects, both as disease vectors and as tools. Starting in the medieval period and ending in the present day, this course will examine on a global scale how animals contributed to the creation of what we call western public health. We will ask a number of interrelated questions, including what the relationship is between interspecies ecologies and the development of western public health, why animals and insects are crucial parts of health narratives, and how we can retell traditional narratives about science and medicine through these living non-humans. In the process, students will learn how to interpret and analyze different kinds of sources to craft argumentative projects.

PUBHLTHSOC 4020 - Topics in Public Health & Society: Food, Public Health, and Culture

This course explores the intersection of food, culture, nutrition, and health, offering students a look at how food practices shape and are shaped by cultural forces. We begin by examining food taboos, focusing on how scholarly claims are constructed and supported by evidence. Next, we explore diverse health beliefs about food and the challenges of cross-cultural nutrition advice, including how unintended consequences can occur. Students will then study successful nutrition interventions, including the promotion of traditional Indigenous foodways in Peru and similar efforts in the U.S. These examples will illustrate the importance of culturally appropriate public health efforts for diet. Throughout the semester, students will engage with guest speakers and will take turns leading class discussions. Optional field trips to local restaurants will offer a hands-on experience of the cuisines studied in class, further enhancing students' understanding of food systems in diverse cultural contexts.

PUBHLTHSOC 2000 - Introduction to Public and Global Health

Required for PH&S Majors and Minors

Welcome to Intro to Public and Global Health, a course designed to provide a comprehensive introduction to the multifaceted dimensions of public health both within the United States and internationally. Throughout this course, students will embark on a journey to understand how health has been defined within the global context, exploring the historical evolution of public and global health disciplines as well as contemporary issues within the field. Delving into the ethical landscape of global health research, programming, and policy, students will articulate human rights issues and examine approaches ensuring ethical interventions. The course will shed light on the intricate interplay of social determinants of health, unraveling their impact on well-being and the emergence of health inequities. By examining both successes and failures in global health interventions, students will gain a nuanced understanding of the challenges inherent in the field. Furthermore, the course will foster a comparative analysis of the organization, structure, and function of diverse healthcare systems across international settings. Finally, with a focus on morbidity and mortality, students will explore major causes, trends, and measures of infectious and chronic disease, as well as some underappreciated and emerging issues, providing a holistic perspective on the critical issues shaping the landscape of public and global health today. We will engage with class topics through a range of mediums, including book chapters, scientific papers, media pieces, podcasts, guest lectures from leaders in the field, and TED talks. It may be a big class, but students will have the opportunity to voice their opinions on key class topics during small, weekly discussion groups.  Get ready to be captivated, challenged, and inspired - because global health has never been this thrilling!

PUBHLTHSOC 3000 - Public Health Theories, Models, and Frameworks

Required for PH&S Majors and Minors

This course will provide an overview of social and behavioral science and humanistic theories and frameworks that are currently used to: 1) understand health related behaviors; and 2) guide development of interventions and policies designed to promote positive health behavior including those that prevent, reduce or eliminate major public health problems. We will also explore the history of these theories and frameworks and the cultural and artistic approaches to change health and health related behaviors. We will use an ecological framework to examine theories at multiple levels of the culture and social ecology from individual to policy level, focusing on applications that will impact health at the population level.

PUBHLTHSOC 3010 - Topics in Public Health & Society (Food Policy)

This course will cover food policy for public health in the United States. Topics covered will include government nutrition recommendations, nutrition programs like SNAP and WIC, food labeling, food safety, rules governing food marketing, the occupational health of people who produce food, and local ordinances governing urban agriculture.

PUBHLTHSOC 3700 - Introduction to Epidemiology

This course introduces core tools of epidemiology—the study of the distribution and determinants of health in populations. Students define and interpret basic measures (incidence, prevalence, risk, odds), compare common study designs (cross-sectional, case-control, cohort, randomized trials), identify threats to validity (bias, confounding, effect modification), and communicate findings clearly to nontechnical audiences. No coding is required.

PUBHLTHSOC 4000 - APEX: Advanced Practical Experience in Public Health Seminar

Required for PH&S Majors

The Advanced Practical EXperience in Public Health (APEX) course bridges the gap between public health theory and skills, providing students with the practical knowledge and experience needed for real-world public health engagement. Students will enhance their skills and knowledge through activities such as community-based research, developing health interventions, assessing community health needs, and program evaluation. Students may also collaborate with community-based organizations to address public health challenges, preparing them for the realities of public health practice.

PUBHLTHSOC 4010 - Topics in Public Health & Society (Epidemics, Pandemics, and Society)

This course explores how social systems, human behavior, and ecological changes contribute to the emergence, spread, and impact of infectious diseases. The course integrates historical case studies, a One Health perspective, and policy analysis. It highlights how human-driven factors such as land-use changes, globalization, and inequality reshape pathogen ecologies and create favorable conditions for disease transmission. The course emphasizes equity and community engagement, asking who bears risk, whose knowledge informs prevention, and how interventions can be designed to address social and structural determinants of health.

PUBHLTHSOC 4011 - Water and Health in the Colonial and Postcolonial World

Fulfills Writing Intensive Requirement

Water supplies are becoming scarcer globally due to climate change. We use clean water- fresh and salt - in a variety of ways that provide comfort, stability, and health, making it one of the most valuable commodities on Earth. While countries in Global North are beginning to see more frequent and lengthier droughts, those in the Latin America, Africa, and South Asia have long struggled over how to distribute and use their clean water supplies. This class will examine how colonialism and its far-reaching effects have created an environment of scarce water supplies in many areas of the world. Water access is difficult to achieve, but for much of the Global South, the colonial period helped craft the problems we see today. This class will ask what colonial and postcolonial technologies' construction and use teach us about equitable clean water distribution, how social and cultural identities influence water supplies and use, and why water has been such an important element- and commodity- in our world , especially where Europeans settled and marginalized local populations.

PUBHLTHSOC 4012 - Global Hunger, Malnutrition and Obesity

Fulfills Writing Intensive Requirement

This course critically examines global and local paradigms of food production, nutrition, and health through an interdisciplinary lens. We begin by analyzing the dominant "feed the world" model rooted in the Green Revolution and industrial agriculture. Drawing on work by Glenn Stone and others, we explore the social and ecological shortcomings of this model and the promise of agroecological alternatives—often developed by Indigenous and smallholder farmers themselves.

We then shift our focus to the politics of food and health in the United States. Through readings by Julie Guthman, Natalie Boero, and Gyorgy Scrinis, we interrogate how fatphobia, the concept of an "obesity epidemic," and reductive nutritionist ideologies have shaped American food and health discourse—often in ways that reinforce social inequality and benefit corporate interests.

Finally, we investigate how these paradigms travel globally, with a focus on Guatemala, Malawi, the Philippines, Ghana, and West Papua. We consider how global development projects and interventions (e.g., GMOs, nutrition education) interact with local foodways and sociopolitical dynamics. Through this, students will come to understand that hunger and malnutrition are often political problems—rooted in inequality, dispossession, and systemic violence—rather than simply technical ones.

Throughout the course, students will develop their analytical and writing skills through a series of drafts and final papers, culminating in a reflection on their evolving understanding of food systems and justice.

PUBHLTHSOC 4020 - Topics in Public Health & Society (Race: Science, Power, and Health)

This course examines race as a social and political construct –not a biologically valid category –and traces how racialized power shapes population health. The course dismantles biological myths about human difference, explores human biological variation in ecological and evolutionary context, and centers on how structural racism, environmental exposures, and social determinants produce persistent racial health disparities and inequalities. Through epidemiologic evidence, historical case studies, and policy analysis, students develop public health approaches to redress disparities and promote health equity.

PUBHLTHSOC 4030 - Topics in Public Health & Society (Health, Human Rights, and International Justice)

Drawing from multidisciplinary material, this course will delve into the complex relationship between health, human rights, and international justice. Students will first explore the theoretical foundations of international human rights and international criminal law, while also examining relevant systems and institutions established to address serious violations of each. The course will then highlight specific health-related harms – such as starvation, reproductive violence, and certain forms of torture – to explore the central questions: When might violations of health also constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity, or acts of genocide? What is the role and value of the health sciences in understanding and addressing these violations? What is the relationship between health impacts of mass atrocities at individual and population levels? To approach answers, this course will draw from medical and public health literature, international legal instruments, case studies, and guest lectures from world experts. In addition to regular discussion and debate, students will take turns facilitating class exchanges with our guest lecturers. Students will also complete short reflection papers throughout the semester and a final paper based on a case study of their choice.

PUBHLTHSOC 4120 - Public Health and Medicine: Health Decision Making

In this course, students will explore the complex landscape of health decision making with an emphasis on decision making within the healthcare system. We will discuss how our cognitive and psychological biases influence our decisions, how numeracy and health literacy affect our choices, and how we can use effective communication strategies within and outside healthcare settings to support health decisions. Drawing from case studies in public health, medicine, and scholarly literature, we will consider a number of issues related to medical diagnoses and treatment, and the comprehension and communication of uncertainty in the context of delivering person-centered health messages and person-centered care.