Public Health Topics Course

Emerging Issues In Public Health | PUBHLTH 333

This is an undergraduate topics course that will be used by faculty members to teach special or emerging topics in Public Health. The specific material and format will vary by topic and instructor. Each section number corresponds to a different topics course. Please see below for more information on each course. 

Combating Misinformation in Public Health - section #002
  • 1 credit course taught in Winter 2024 for 7 weeks starting 03/04/24
  • Instructor: Dr. Lindsay Kalter
  • View Syllabus
Advanced Public Health Journalism - section #003
  • 3 credit course taught in Fall 2025
  • Instructor: Dr. Lindsay Kalter
  • View Syllabus
Assessing Environmental Threats to Public Health: In Practice and Research - section 004
  • 2 credit course taught in Fall 2025
  • Instructor: Dr. Melissa Slotnick
  • View Syllabus
Basic Computing for Data Analytics - section #005
  • 1 credit course taught in Fall 2025 from 08/25/25 to 09/29/25
  • Instructor: Dr. Nick Henderson
  • This course is crosslisted with BIOSTAT 607 section 001 which uses R. The Python and C++ sections are not crosslisted with an undergraduate course.
Design for Health Studies - section #006
  • 1 credit course taught in the first seven weeks of Fall 2025 from 08/25/25 to 10/10/25.
  • Instructor: Dr. Rod Little
  • This course will be an adaptation of BIOSTAT 593 for undergraduate students. 
  • PUBHLTH 383 is an enforced prerequisite for this course. 
Spirituality and Religion in Public Health - section #007
  • 2 credit course taught in the second seven weeks of Fall 2024 from 10/21/24 to 12/09/24.
  • Instructor: Dr. Geila Rajaee
  • Course description: From individual behaviors to policy development, this course will examine the role of spirituality and religious beliefs in public health practice. Students will explore an array of spiritual traditions and the religious demography of the United States to understand how beliefs (spiritual, religious, and/or personal/existential) inform and influence health.
Power and Politics of Public Health - section #008
  • 3 credit course taught in Winter 2026
  • Instructor: Dr. Lex Eisenberg
  • Course description: What’s so political about public health? This course interrogates power as the root cause of health inequities and explores strategies for transformative social change. Through critical analysis and real-world case studies, we examine how power relations and structural oppression fundamentally shape population health, and consider public health's role—and responsibility—in shifting these dynamics. Students will develop skills to map and analyze power dynamics in US systems and policies; critically evaluate public health's political dimensions; and apply organizing and narrative strategies to build collective power and advance health equity. By course end, students will understand not just why public health is political, but how to engage politically and strategically to address the fundamental causes of health injustice.
US Health Care System, Quality, Performance and Measurement - section #010
From Clinic to Community: Sleep Medicine and Public Health - section #011
Family Caregiving - section #012
Drugs and Society: A Public Health Perspective - section #013