Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society
Global Public Health and the Common Good
Boston College offers an undergraduate minor and a range of courses in Global Public Health and the Common Good through the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society. Our entry-level courses are open to students from across Boston College and are designed to introduce students in any field of study to core concepts in public health.
Enrollment in the six-course (18 credit) minor in Global Public Health and the Common Good is by a competitive application submitted in the spring of the freshman or sophomore year. Students accepted into the minor have the opportunity to delve deeply into epidemiology, the core science of public health, and to pursue coursework and research in diverse areas of public health such as infectious disease epidemiology, the epidemiology of cancer, children’s environmental health, environmental epidemiology, nutritional epidemiology, and refugee health. A distinctive future of the minor is its strong emphasis on the ethical, moral, and legal foundations of global public health.
The minor provides opportunities for academic and experiential learning, reflection, and service in the United States and overseas.
The minor in Global Public Health and the Common Good is open to students with career interests in medicine, nursing, environmental studies, and public health. It will prepare students for postgraduate studies in public health (M.P.H. and Ph.D.) and enrich the education of students headed to medicine, dentistry, and nursing. And because public health is highly interdisciplinary and intersects many fields of human endeavor, the minor is open also to students interested in law, economics, international studies, mathematics, physics, chemistry, the humanities, business, social work, and education.
Minor Objective
The goal of the six-course minor in Global Public Health and the Common Good is to introduce students from a wide range of majors, disciplines, and schools across Boston College to key concepts in Global Public Health. Program graduates will gain knowledge of:
- The theory, history, and key issues in Global Public Health;
- Epidemiology: the study of the distribution and determinants of health and disease in populations—the foundational science of public health;
- The social, economic, and environmental determinants of health and disease;
- The contributions of public health to the stability and well-being of modern societies; and
- The moral and ethical foundations of Global Public Health.
Minor Requirements
The Global Public Health and the Common Good minor consists of 3 required core courses and a selection of 3 elective courses.
Core Courses
- PHCG1210: Public Health in a Global Society (fall and spring, cross-listed as NURS1210)
- PHCG2120: Introduction to Epidemiology (fall and spring)
- One of the following:
- PHCG2130: Global Public Health Law (fall semester only)
- PHCG3223: The Ethics of Global Public Health and the Common Good (spring semester only, cross-listed as THEO3223)
Electives
In addition to the 3 required courses, students are also expected to select 3 elective courses from the list below. Please note: Additional electives may be considered subject to the approval of the program director and Associate Deans. Students may also be eligible to take two elective courses from List B and one elective course from List A. Please contact publichealth@bc.edu for further information.
- Two Elective Courses from List A
- One Elective Course from List B
List A
Carroll School of Management
- MGMT2139 Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship
- BSLW1113 Climate Change Law and Ethics
Connell School of Nursing
- NURS4260 Population Health Nursing Theory (CSON students only)
- NURS4261 Population Health Practice in the Community (CSON students only)
- NURS5345 Ecuador: Global Health Perspectives
Lynch School of Education and Human Development
- APSY7471 Psychological Responses to Humanitarian Crises
- APSY6397 Social Issues and Social Policy
- APSY3320 Building Sustainable Communities
- APSY4151 Health Psychology
School of Theology and Ministry
- TMCE7052 Theological Bioethics: From the Basics to the Future
- TMCE7128 Just Sustainability
- TMCE8072 Human Genetics and Biotechnologies: Challenges for Science and Religion
- TMCE8159 Catholic Healthcare: History, Contexts, Values, and Principles
- TMCE8518 Global Health and Theological Ethics
Law School
- LAWS4501 New Frontiers in Environmental Policy*
- LAWS4503 Water Law and Policy*
- LAWS4505 Climate Change Law and Policy*
- LAWS9326 Bioethics and the Law Seminar
*Students must take either ENVS2256 or PHCG2130 prior to enrolling in this course. In addition, students must be registered by the department. Please email publichealth@bc.edu for further information.
Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences
Biology
- BIOL1440 Sustaining the Biosphere
- BIOL2300 Biostatistics
- BIOL5150 Vaccine Development and Public Health
Communications
- COMM4465 Health Communication
Earth and Environmental Sciences
- EESC1174 Climate Change and Society
- EESC2297 Environmental Hydrology
- ENVS3315 Sustainable Agriculture
- ENVS3345 Environment and Public Health
- ENVS2256 Environmental Law and Policy
Economics
- ECON1151 Statistics
- ECON2242 Public Policy and an Aging Society
- ECON2213 Economics of Health Policy
- ECON2273 Development Economics
- ECON2275 Economic Development: The Experience of El Salvador
- ECON2277 Environmental Economics and Policy
- ECON2278 Environmental Economics
- ECON3315 Economics of Immigration
- ECON3317 Economics of Inequality
- ECON3363 Micro Public Policy Issues
- ECON3373 Impact Evaluation in Developing Counties
- ECON3374 Development Economics and Policy
- ECON3385 Health Economics
- ECON3390 Applied Health Economics
- ECON3391 Economics of Energy and Development
Sociology
- SOCY1002 Introductory Sociology for Health Care Professionals
- SOCY1096 Aging and Society
- SOCY1097 Death and Dying
- SOCY1078 Sociology of Health and Illness
- SOCY1073 States, Markets, and Bodies
- SOCY3373 Sexuality and Society*
Theology
- THEO3222 Bioethics and Social Justice
- THEO5498 HIV/AIDS and Ethics
List B
Connell School of Nursing
- PHCG/NURS3210 Contemporary Issues in Public Health
- NURS5350 Global Healthcare: Meeting Challenges and Connections
Lynch School of Education and Human and Development
- APSY4050 Public Health Practice in the Community
Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences
- BIOL2320 Case Studies in Epidemiology
Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society
- PHCG3120 Cancer Epidemiology
- PHCG/NURS3210 Contemporary Issues in Public Health
- PHCG4120 Obesity Epidemiology and Prevention
- PHCG4140 Children’s Health and the Environment
Connell School of Nursing Students
CSON students only must take the following two courses, which will count as electives:
- NURS4260 Population Health Nursing Theory
- NURS4261 Population Health Practice in the Community
- One elective from List B above
Additional Notes
*Students enrolled in the Global Public Health minor can use no more than one course to satisfy the requirements of both the minor and the University Core or their major. The only exception is for CSON students, for whom two population health nursing courses (NURS4260 and 4261) will count as electives. *CSON students are required to complete an additional assignment in NURS4260 if they use the course as an elective for the minor. Please contact the teacher of record of NURS4260 for more information.