Topic:  Social Roots of Health & Illness: An Introduction to Social
Epidemiology

Social epidemiology explores the roles of human behavior and social
conditions in the promotion of health or disease.  Using
epidemiologic problem solving, and examples from disease
investigations, students will be introduced to concepts applicable in
public and mental health planning, interventions, and prevention.
This course offers advanced discussion of epidemiologic methods for
the study of patterns of human disease and behavioral factors in
disease causation—for any student interested in health issues and/or
health concerns.  There are no pre-registration requirements other
than a junior status or higher.  Interested graduate students may
enroll with permission of the department’s graduate advisor and the
instructor.

Topics include: 1.  An introduction to measures of health status (and
how do we use them),  2.  The epidemiologic imagination—an
interdisciplinary look at human behavior and disease,   3.  Models of
disease,  4.  Rules of evidence for disease causation—where do we
start,  5. Infectious diseases—an ancient/current scourge,   6. The
roles of individual health behaviors and the health-belief model,
7.  Chronic diseases, disability and patterns of coping,  8.  Disease
and working populations,   9.  Human changes in the environment and
disease,   10.  Race, gender, age, and social inequalities in health
status,   11.  Social Change and health transitions,  12.  Applying
social epidemiology to health promotion, tracking disease, and
evaluating interventions.