Public Health

Overview

Public health seeks to improve human health through the development and application of knowledge that prevents disease, protects the public from harm, and promotes health throughout local communities, the state, the nation, and the world. The field of public health confronts complex health issues, such as improving access to health care, controlling infectious disease, and reducing environmental hazards, violence, substance abuse, and injury.

Through the Public Health Minor at Occidental College, students develop and apply knowledge from multiple disciplines for the promotion and protection of the health of the human population, giving due consideration to principles of human rights and cultural perspectives that abound in our multicultural country and world. The minor, like the field itself, is interdisciplinary. Students will learn about the scientific aspects of disease as well as the political and policy issues involved in improving people’s health and well-being. The minor is jointly administered by the departments of Biology, Kinesiology, and Urban & Environmental Policy (UEP), with course offerings from multiple departments.

Minor Requirements

Five courses are required to complete the Public Health minor.

COURSEWORK

Core Courses

STATISTICS REQUIREMENT

Students must complete one of the following courses:

ELECTIVES

Two additional courses from the list below:

Faculty

Advisory Committee

Regular Faculty

Stuart Rugg, chair

Professor, Kinesiology

B.S., University of California, Davis; Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles

Treena Basu

Assistant Professor, Mathematics

B.S., Jogamaya Devi College: University of Calcutta; M.S. University of Texas - Pan American; M.S. Bengal Engineering and Science University; Ph.D., University of South Carolina

Peter Dreier

E.P. Clapp Distinguished Professor of Politics; Professor, Urban and Environmental Policy

B.A., Syracuse University; M.A., Ph.D., University of Chicago

Sharla Fett

Associate Professor, History; Advisory Committee, American Studies

B.A., Carleton College; M.A., Stanford University; Ph.D., Rutgers University

Nina Gelbart

Professor, History

A.B., Harvard University; M.A., Ph.D., University of Chicago

Krystale E. Littlejohn

Assistant Professor of Sociology

A.B., Occidental College; M.A., Ph.D., Stanford University

Lynn Mehl

Professor, Kinesiology and Psychology

B.S., M.S., Ph.D., University of Southern California

Clair Morrissey

Assistant Professor, Philosophy

B.A., University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; M.A., Ph.D., University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Marcella Raney

Associate Professor, Kinesiology; Advisory Committee, Biochemistry

A.B., Occidental College; Ph.D., University of Southern California

Bhavna Shamasunder

Assistant Professor, Urban and Environmental Policy

B.S., B.A., University of California, San Diego; M.ES. Yale University; Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley

Kerry Thompson

Associate Professor, Biology

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles

Amanda Zellmer

Assistant Professor, Biology

B.S. University of Wisconsin; Ph.D., University of Michigan

On Special Appointment

Kanadpriya Basu

Part-Time Non-Tenure Track Assistant Professor, Mathematics

B.Sc., Presidence College, Univeristy of Calcutta; M.Sc. Bengal Engineering and Science University; M.S., University of Texas - Pan American; Ph.D., University of South Carolina

Jane Schmitz

Non-Tenure Track Assistant Professor, Urban and Environmental Policy

B.A., University of California, Davis; M.P.H., Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles

Nicole Vick

Non-Tenure Track Instructor, Urban and Environmental Policy

B.S., M.P.H., University of Southern California