Health, Society, and Populations

The undergraduate program in Health, Society, and Populations (HSP) focuses on understanding health outcomes and their unequal distribution as a product of multiple interacting influences, including health care, behaviors, environmental conditions, genetic and biological factors, and social and cultural characteristics of groups and individuals. The B.A. in HSP provides graduates with a broad liberal-arts education in addition to a concentration on social science based approaches to population health. Students may further specialize in three areas: Global Health, Health Ecologies, and Social Inequalities in Health and Illness. HSP students will obtain fundamental knowledge of the complex relationship that exists among the global economy, societal problems and needs, and the distribution of health and illness, in addition to providing students the opportunity to develop critical thinking, communication, and independent study skills necessary for many entry-level career opportunities in city, state and federal government, nonprofit organizations and in the public and private health sectors.