Human Health and Disease
The Constitution of the World Health Organization famously defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (http://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/pdf/10.2105/AJPH.36.9.1041). The next sentence is less often quoted: “The enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition.” Clearly the situation of many people around the globe falls short of these ideals, and large numbers of people continue to become sick and die as a result of preventable problems like malnutrition, infectious disease, and lack of access to basic health care. Moreover, a large percentage of people in more developed countries like the United States suffer from health problems related to excess (e.g. obesity, diabetes, hypertension). Students make personal decisions every day that can affect their physical health and virtually all other aspects of their lives.
In the Human Health and Disease thread we seek to increase student’s awareness of the range of problems that affect their own health as well as the health of humans in their local and global communities. Students in this thread will identify and think deeply about the “big questions” related to human health, and to learn how solutions to these complex problems may require thinking across disciplines and a worldwide perspective. We expect that students who successfully complete this thread will emerge with a more nuanced, diverse, and humane perspective on the multidisciplinary issues related to human health.
This thread can be 9 or 18 hours.
Students must take courses from at least two course levels: 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000.
Courses in a 9-hour thread must be from a minimum of two disciplines. Courses in an 18-hour thread must be from a minimum of four disciplines, with no more than nine credits from any one discpline.