WGH200 [Spring 1] Women, Gender, and Health: Perspectives

Dr. S. Gruskin, Dr. N. Krieger

2.5 credits
Seminars. One 3-hour session each week.

This course will focus on constructions of gender and sex and their implications for understanding determinants of population health and creating healthy public policy. It will consider how different frameworks of addressing gender and biological sex shape questions asked and explanations and interventions offered for societal patterns of health, disease, and well-being. The course will demonstrate ways of conceptualizing gender in relation to biology and health, using case examples pertaining to breast cancer, smoking, cumulative trauma disorders of hands and wrists, HIV/AIDS, violence, access to health services, sexual health, reproductive health, and population policy. In all these cases, issues of gender will be related to other social determinants of health, including social class, racism, and other forms of inequality. Implications of diverse approaches will be debated, as part of developing useful strategies for improving physical, mental, and social well-being of women and men. 

WGH220 [Spring 2] Sexuality and Public Health NEW!!

Dr. Bryn Austin 

2.5 Credits
Lectures. Case studies. One 3-hour sessions each week.

This course provides an introduction to the breadth of research and research methods in the study of sexuality and sexual health promotion as applied within and across countries and communities defined by ages, gender, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic position, nationality, culture, and setting. Students will develop skills needed to carry out epidemiologic research and community-based interventions related to sexual health promotion. Students will be introduced to way to integrate conceptual models, methodologies, and perspectives from a variety of disciplines to inform a uniquely public health approach to the promotion of sexual health. Class session format includes lectures, discussions, case studies, individual and group presentations, and in-class writing assignments.

WGH211 [Fall 1] Women, Gender, and Health: Introductory Perspectives

Dr. Stacey Missmer, Invited guest lecturers
2.5 credits
Lectures, case studies. One 3-hour session each week.

This course will introduce students to gender as a theoretical concept and a category of analysis in public health - that is, the way gender has contributed to differentially structuring women and men's experiences of health. The course aims to answer such questions as: 

• How has gender influenced the construction of public health in diverse societies?
• How do our social frameworks and structures, such as gender, affect people's experiences and expectations of health?

This course is designed for students who wish to enhance their understanding of, and skills related to, the social and cultural factors that have influenced the development of individuals' and societal health. The interfaces among gender, class, race/ethnicity, and sexuality will also be emphasized.

The course will cover a broad range of health issues for which gender has been of special importance. Topics to be covered include: reproductive health, sexual health and sexuality, mental health and violence, occupational health and work, environmental health and pollution, epidemiology and disease, and health policy. Issues relating to the distribution of health, disease, and well-being, including policy, will be addressed across sessions. Additionally, sessions will include international, domestic, and historical perspectives, with attention paid to both research and policy dimensions.

WGH207 [Spring 2] Advanced Topics in Women, Gender, and Health

1.25 credits
Seminars. One 2-hour session each week.

This interdepartmental, interdisciplinary seminar will offer the chance to analyze ways by which diverse constructs of gender influence public health research and practice. Using different examples each week, the core WGH faculty and students will focus on how gender contributes to classifying, surveying, understanding, and intervening on population distributions of health, disease, and well-being. Discussion of these examples will draw on different disciplines, conceptual frameworks, and methodological approaches (both quantitative and qualitative). For example, traditional epidemiological and biostatistical methods, along with multilevel, ecosocial, and health and human rights frameworks will be applied, as appropriate, in the assessment of gender-based health related disorders. The format will include formal presentations and informal discussions. 

WGH210 [Fall 2] Women, Gender, and Health: Critical Issues in Mental Health Perspectives

Dr. B. Gottlieb
1.25 credits
Lecture, seminar. One 2-hour session each week.

This course explores issues relevant to mental illness and mental healsth from a gender perspective. Course themes include illness constructs, life cycle and transitions, collective and individual trauma, role and relationship, and embodiment. Topics include eating disorders, pain, hormonally mediated mood disorders, and victimization, and will highlight examples from US and international experience. Readings will be multidisciplinary, including public health and medicine, social sciences, history, and literature.

Course Activities: Includes a student final project.

Course Note: Minimum enrollment of 5 students; no auditors 

WGH304 [Fall 2] Issues in Mental Health: Independent Study.

Dr. B. Gottlieb

1.25 Credits

Field Placement. Two sessions with mentor

This independent study course is offered to students who are enrolled in WGH210, Fall 2. The course will supplement the themes and topics of WGH210, including illness constructs, trauma, embodiment, pain and eating disorders, with a mentored field and service learning experience. Students will be required to provide 20 hours of service to one of several local sties selected for their relevance to course themes (for example, a shelter, a psychiatric in-patient unit, a school-based clinic), maintain a strutured portfolio of reflections and commentary based on field experiences and readings, and attend 2 mentoring sessions. 

Course activities: Field placement, preparation of final portfolio. 

Course note: Students MUST be concurrently enrolled in WGH210. Maximum enrollment 5 students. Pass/fail only.