Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society

Minor Objective

The goal of the 6-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.

• Two Elective Courses from List A
• One Elective Course from List B

List A

Carroll School of Management

• Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship (MGMT2139)

Connell School of Nursing

• Population Health Nursing Theory (NURS4260, CSON students only)
• Population Health Practice in the Community (NURS4261, CSON students only)
• Global Healthcare (NURS5350) (Swiss exchange program course)
• Ecuador: Global Health Perspectives (NURS5345)

Lynch School of Education and Human Development

• Psychological Responses to Humanitarian Crises (APSY7471)
• Social Issues and Social Policy (APSY6397)
• Community Change: Prevention and Promotion (APSY3320)
• Building Sustainable Communities (APSY3320)
• Psychological Disorders
• Health Psychology (APSY4151)

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
• ENVS3311 Sustainable Agriculture
• ENVS3345 Environment and Public Health
• BSLW1113 Climate Change Law and Ethics

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
• THEO Christian Perspectives on Bioethics
• THEO5498 HIV/AIDS and Ethics
• LAWS9326 Bioethics and the Law Seminar
• THEO5498 HIV/AIDS and Ethics
• TMCE8159 Catholic Healthcare: History, Contexts, Values, and Principles
• TMCE8518 Global Health and Theological Ethics
• TMCE8072 Human Genetics and Biotechnologies: Challenges for Science and Religion
• TMCE7128 Just Sustainability
• TMCE7052 Theological Bioethics: From the Basics to the Future

List B

Connell School of Nursing

• NURS3210 Contemporary Issues in Public Health

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
• PHCG4140 Children’s Health and the Environment

OR

• An approved field practicum at a local site in the Greater Boston area

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 A or 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. The only exception is for CSON students, for whom two population health nursing courses (NURS4260 and 4261) will count as electives.

*Students can use no more than one course to satisfy the requirements of both the Global Public Health minor and their major.