Courses

HLTH B115 Introduction to Health Studies

Fall 2025, Spring 2026

The multidisciplinary foundation for the health studies minor. Students will be introduced to theories and methods from the life sciences, social sciences, and humanities and will learn to apply them to problems of health and illness. Topics include epidemiological, public health, and biomedical perspectives on health and disease; social, behavioral, and environmental determinants of health; globalization of health issues; cultural representations of illness; health inequalities, social justice, and health as a human right.

Course does not meet an Approach

Counts Toward: Africana Studies; Health Studies.

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HLTH B275 Global Eugenics

Fall 2025

Eugenics is usually associated with genocidal and discriminatory theories and policies elaborated in the US (before WWII) and in Nazi Germany (1933-1945). This mainstream narrative implies eugenics belongs to the past, even though some controversial writers have recently been trying to rehabilitate eugenic theories. In this seminar, we will take a closer look at the emergence of eugenics in the Western world and reframe the usual narrative by going back - not to Francis Galton's invention of the word (1883) - but to the first treatise of modern eugenics, Vandermonde's Essay on the manner of perfecting the human species (1756). We will also expand the scope of our inquiry by including countries beyond the "usual suspects" (UK, US, and Germany). This reframing will have huge consequences on the way we perceive and interpret the historical significance of eugenics and the current controversy around gene editing.

Inquiry into the Past (IP)

Power, Inequity, and Justice (PIJ)

Counts Toward: French and Francophone Studies; Health Studies.

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HLTH B302 Survey Methods for Health Research

Not offered 2025-26

Surveys are widely used to measure the population prevalence of various health conditions; to better understand the scope and impact of exposure to social and economic stressors on population health; to monitor health-related knowledge, attitudes and practices; and to inform health systems strengthening efforts. Through course material and hands-on experience, students will master the basic elements of survey design, including, operationalizing constructs and formulating research questions, choosing a mode of survey implementation, pretesting the survey instrument, designing a sampling plan, managing field operations, and analyzing and interpreting survey data. Prerequisites: Completion of a 200-level course in the social sciences or permission of the instructor.

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HLTH B303 Topics in Health Studies

Section 001 (Spring 2025): Global Sexual and Reproductive Health

Not offered 2025-26

This is a topics course. Course content varies.

Writing Attentive

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HLTH B398 Senior Seminar Health Studies

Section 001 (Spring 2025): The Immune Self

Required culminating seminar, which integrates the three tracks of the Health Studies minor. Students share and critically assess their own and fellow students' ongoing work to communicate across disciplines and understand the value and interconnectedness of different disciplinary approaches. Students present and defend their semester-long collaborative projects at the end of the course.

Counts Toward: Health Studies.

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HLTH B425 Praxis III - Independent Study

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ANTH B210 Medical Anthropology

Fall 2025

Medical Anthropology is one of the most dynamic subfields in anthropology with relevance for health professionals and researchers interested in the complexity of disease, diagnostic categories, treatment modalities, especially in multicultural contexts. This course examines the relationships between culture, society, disease and illness in light of global, historical, and political and economic forces, in anthropological perspective. It considers a broad range of health-related experiences, discourses, knowledge and practices among different cultures globally and among diverse individuals and groups in different positions of power. We will explore illness experiences, disease etiologies, practices and rituals surrounding healing, patients and social groups, practitioners, biomedicine, traditional medicine and other forms of medical knowledge cross-culturally, epistemologies and practices, and the production of health and medical knowledge in a variety of settings, among other topics. While disease may appear to be a matter of biology, health and illness are culturally constructed and socially conditioned and essential in anthropological approaches to understanding human experiences of affliction and well-being. In this course we will ask: how are ideas of health, illness, and healing intertwined with belief, ideas about culture, concerns of social relations and social organization, and how they influence or are influenced by political and economic relations?

Cross-Cultural Analysis (CC)

Counts Toward: Environmental Studies; Environmental Studies; Health Studies; Health Studies.

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ANTH B357 Narratives of Illness, Healing, and Medicine

Not offered 2025-26

This course will explore the construction of narratives around illness, healing, and medicine cross-culturally and across a variety of media including through graphic novels, video drama series, primary source diaries, audio accounts, and anthropological texts. Illness narratives have figured prominently in the study and practice of medical anthropology, and increasingly in the teaching of medicine. We will ask: What is the role of illness narratives in the healing process for patients, healers, and caregivers in cross-cultural comparison? How can illness narratives destabilize dominant discourses, and provide an avenue of expression for those who are unable to easily speak or be heard, particularly in biomedical contexts? Who gets to speak, in what ways, and who remains unheard? What does it mean to tell a story of illness? What roles do illness stories play in illuminating and complicating understandings of illness, disability, trauma, and caregiving? How do illness narratives relate to suffering, hope, and healing, and how they differ for chronic or terminal illness? What do they tell us about making and remaking the self? Students will have the opportunity to explore frameworks and cross-cultural experiences through media beyond standard text. Prerequisite: ANTH B102 or permission of instructor.

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ANTH B364 Anthropology of Global Public Health

Not offered 2025-26

This course will use an anthropological lens to explore the field of contemporary global public health. Through readings and ethnographic case studies in cultural anthropology, medical anthropology, applied and critical anthropology, and related social sciences, the class will examine the participants and institutions that make up the production of global health, as well as the knowledge, and value production that have shaped agendas, policies and practices in global health, both historically and in the contemporary. The course will also explore anthropology's relationship to and perspectives on the history of global health. We will examine how local communities, local knowledge and political forces intersect with, shape, and are shaped by global initiatives to impact diseases, treatments, and health care delivery. As well, what the effects are on individuals, families and children, communities, urban and rural areas, and nations. Among other topics, the course will explore health disparities, epidemics/pandemics, global mental health, climate change and infectious diseases, chronic illness, violence, and diseases such as polio, HIV/AIDS, Covid-19, Tuberculosis, etc. Prerequisite(s): ANTH B102/H103 recommended; sophomore standing or higher

Course does not meet an Approach

Counts Toward: Child and Family Studies; Environmental Studies; Growth and Structure of Cities; Health Studies.

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BIOL B201 Genetics

Fall 2025

This course focuses on the principles of genetics, including classical genetics, population genetics and molecular genetics. Topics to be covered include the genetic and molecular nature of mutations and phenotypes, genetic mapping and gene identification, chromosome abnormalities, developmental genetics, genome editing and epigenetics. Examples of genetic analyses are drawn from a variety of organisms including Drosophila, C. elegans, mice and humans. Lecture three hours a week. Prerequisite: BIOL B110 and CHEM B104.

Quantitative Readiness Required (QR)

Scientific Investigation (SI)

Counts Toward: Biochemistry & Molecular Bio; Biochemistry Molecular Biology; Biochemistry Molecular Biology; Health Studies; Health Studies.

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BIOL B215 Biostatistics with R

Fall 2025

An introductory course in statistical analysis focusing on biological data. This course is structured to develop students' understanding of statistics and probability and when to apply different quantitative methods. The lab component focuses on how to implement those methods using the R statistics environment. Topics include summary statistics, distributions, randomization, replication, and probability. The course is geared around problem sets, lab reports, and interactive learning. No prior experience with programming is required. Suggested Preparation: BIOL B110 or B111 is highly recommended. Students who have taken PSYC B205/H200 or SOCL B265 are not eligible to take this course.

Quantitative Methods (QM)

Quantitative Readiness Required (QR)

Scientific Investigation (SI)

Counts Toward: Biochemistry & Molecular Bio; Biochemistry Molecular Biology; Biochemistry Molecular Biology; Data Science; Health Studies; Health Studies.

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BIOL B216 Genomics

Not offered 2025-26

An introduction to the study of genomes and genomic data. This course will examine the history of this exciting field, the types of biological questions that can be answered using large biological data sets and complete genome sequences as well as the techniques and technologies that make such studies possible. Topics include genome organization and evolution, comparative genomics, and analysis of transcriptomes, with a focus on animal genomics and humans in particular. Prerequisite: One semester of BIOL 110. BIOL 201 highly recommended.

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BIOL B255 Microbiology

Not offered 2025-26

Invisible to the naked eye, microbes occupy every niche on the planet. This course will examine how microbes have become successful colonizers; review aspects of interactions between microbes, humans and the environment; and explore practical uses of microbes in industry, medicine and environmental management. The course will combine lecture, discussion of primary literature and student presentations. Three hours of lecture and three hours of laboratory per week. Prerequisites: BIOL 110 and CHEM B104.

Writing Attentive

Scientific Investigation (SI)

Counts Toward: Biochemistry & Molecular Bio; Biochemistry Molecular Biology; Biochemistry Molecular Biology; Environmental Studies; Health Studies; Health Studies.

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BIOL B271 Developmental Biology

Not offered 2025-26

An introduction to embryology and the concepts of developmental biology. Concepts are illustrated by analyzing the experimental observations that support them. Topics include gametogenesis and fertilization, morphogenesis, cell fate specification and differentiation, pattern formation, regulation of gene expression, neural development, and developmental plasticity. The laboratory focuses on observations and experiments on living embryos. Lecture three hours, laboratory three scheduled hours a week; some weeks require additional hours outside of the regularly scheduled lab. Prerequisite: one semester of BIOL 110-111 or permission of instructor.

Writing Attentive

Scientific Investigation (SI)

Counts Toward: Biochemistry & Molecular Bio; Biochemistry Molecular Biology; Biochemistry Molecular Biology; Health Studies; Health Studies.

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BIOL B318 Sex in Modern Healthcare

Fall 2025

A primary goal of this course is to explore the spectrum of biological sex, a concept that is usually described as entirely binary, but is highly variable with as many as 1% of individuals born with differences in sex development. We will also study topics specific to people with uteruses including menstruation, pregnancy, and menopause to gain a more comprehensive understanding of these physiological processes. In addition, this course will engage with societal issues affecting patients who identify as women including access to reproductive and gender affirming healthcare, and the of historical understudying of female physiology. Prerequisite: BIOL 110 and any 200-level biology course

Power, Inequity, and Justice (PIJ)

Counts Toward: Health Studies.

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CHEM B242 Biological Chemistry

Fall 2025

The structure, chemistry and function of amino acids, proteins, lipids, polysaccharides and nucleic acids; enzyme kinetics; metabolic relationships of carbohydrates, lipids and amino acids, and the control of various pathways. Lecture three hours a week. Prerequisite: CHEM B212 or CHEM H222.

Course does not meet an Approach

Counts Toward: Biochemistry & Molecular Bio; Biochemistry Molecular Biology; Biochemistry Molecular Biology; Health Studies; Health Studies.

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ECON B214 Public Finance

Fall 2025

Analysis of government's role in resource allocation, emphasizing effects of tax and expenditure programs on income distribution and economic efficiency. Topics include sources of inefficiency in markets and possible government responses; federal budget composition; social insurance and antipoverty programs; U.S. tax structure and incidence. Prerequisites: ECON B105.

Counts Toward: Growth and Structure of Cities; Health Studies; Health Studies.

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ECON B217 Health Economics

Fall 2025

Economic analysis of the health sector. The demand for health care (demand curve for health care and health as human capital); the supply of health care (models of hospital and physician behavior); socioeconomic disparity in health; the demand for health insurance (the role of uncertainty, adverse selection, and moral hazard); health care systems in the U.S. and around the world. Prerequisite: ECON B105.

Course does not meet an Approach

Counts Toward: Health Studies.

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ENGL B243 Disease and Discourse

Not offered 2025-26

When did "consumption" become "tuberculosis"? What does it mean when someone calls COVID-19 the "China Virus?" As human beings are confronted with novel contagions, we are also forced to grapple with the psychological and cultural impact that these illnesses have on our societies; the words we use to describe these diseases matter. In this course, we will examine literature produced during significant historical epidemics, including: divine punishment and early Christian views of leprosy; apocalypticism and the Black Death; the moralization of the AIDS crisis, and the "unprecedented times" of COVID. Readings will include such texts as Bocaccio's Decameron, Defoe's The Journal of a Plague Year, Mary Shelley's The Last Man, and Tony Kushner's Angels in America. Guided by work by critics like Susan Sontag (Illness as Metaphor) and contemporary scholarship in disability studies, trauma theory, and narrative medicine, we will take an interdisciplinary approach to textual production and genre, putting medical, religious, literary, and historical texts in conversation in order to better understand their reciprocal influences. Along the way, we will consider: How does language affect our perception of diseases and those who contract them?

Critical Interpretation (CI)

Counts Toward: Health Studies.

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HIST B250 Media and Medicine in Modern America:

Not offered 2025-26

Have you ever turned to TikTok for health advice? Are you a fan of medical dramas like Grey's Anatomy? This course explores of the co-development and evolution of modern medicine and the media in the United States, from the late nineteenth century through the present day. Students will delve into a wide range of media formats, including advertising, newspapers, radio, film, television, and the Internet, to analyze the media's long-standing influence on perceptions and practices of medicine. Special attention will be paid to the shifting cultural authority of medicine, as well as the stakes of communicating health information and implications for public health.

Inquiry into the Past (IP)

Counts Toward: Health Studies; Political Science.

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HIST B274 topics in Modern US History

Section 001 (Fall 2024): History of Reproductive Health

Not offered 2025-26

This is a topics course in 20th century America social history. Topics vary by half semester

Critical Interpretation (CI)

Inquiry into the Past (IP)

Counts Toward: Gender Sexuality Studies; Health Studies; Political Science.

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HIST B325 Topics in Social History

Not offered 2025-26

This a topics course that explores various themes in American social history. Course content varies. Course may be repeated.

Counts Toward: Gender Sexuality Studies; Growth and Structure of Cities; Health Studies; Political Science.

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HIST B337 Topics in African History

Section 001 (Spring 2025): Cities, Epidemics, Pandemics
Section 001 (Fall 2025): History of Global Health in Africa
Section 001 (Spring 2026): Cities, Epidemics, Pandemics

Fall 2025, Spring 2026

This is a topics course. Topics vary.

Current topic description: The course will focus on the issues of public health history, social and cultural history of disease as well as the issues of the history of medicine.  We will examine the histories of global initiatives to control disease in Africa from an interdisciplinary perspective (history, and social and biomedical sciences), using case studies from across the continent.  These initiatives involve the relationship between states, NGOs, universities, pharmaceutical companies, food industry, and other nonstate actors. We will explore various themes, such as the indigenous theories of disease and therapies; disease, imperialism and medicine; medical pluralism in contemporary Africa; the emerging diseases, medical education, women in medicine, and differential access to health care.  We will also explore the questions regarding the sources of African history and their quality.

Current topic description: In recent decades, the world has experienced an increasing threat for public health from the emerging infectious diseases that have provoked epidemics and pandemics.  The course will focus on the impact of epidemics and pandemics on cities in Africa.  We will discuss the issues of public health history, social and cultural history of disease as well as the issues of the history of medicine.  We will examine the histories of global initiatives to control disease in Africa from an interdisciplinary perspective (history, and social and biomedical sciences), using case studies from across the continent.  We will explore various themes, such as the anxiety and panic caused by the disease outbreaks; the state, medical, and popular responses; the politics of disease control; the conflicts of interests between the interests of commerce, public health and civil liberties; and the health disparities within cities.  We will focus on the colonial and postcolonial cities in Africa.  We will also explore the questions regarding the sources of African history and their quality.

Counts Toward: Africana Studies; Gender Sexuality Studies; Health Studies; Health Studies; International Studies; International Studies.

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ITAL B303 Boccaccio, the Plague, and Epidemic illness: Literature and Medicine

Not offered 2025-26

What are the responses to human suffering during outbreaks of epidemic illness? How can literature be a valuable tool for plague prevention in time of pestilence? This class explores crucial questions on how narrative works in medical contexts, with a focus on the Decameron and the black plague of 1348. Giovanni Boccaccio is the first writer to unite the literary topos of narration during a life-threatening situation with an historical epidemic context in Medieval Italy. How does he tell his stories in time of illness and death? How do writers and other storytellers respond to dominant versions of health and medicine? Taught in Italian.

Counts Toward: Health Studies; Health Studies.

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ITAL B326 Love, Magic, and Medicine: Poetical-Philosophical Bonds

Not offered 2025-26

The course investigates how the concepts of love, magic, and medicine emerged and developed throughout early modernity and beyond. In exploring the fields of Philosophy, Medicine, and Magic, global thinkers, poets, and artists drew not only from classical sources, but were also deeply influenced by a wide range of models, such as fictional ancient sources, Islamic philosophy, and the Jewish Kabbalah. In this interesting syncretism, love was considered as an inspiration experienced by the entire universe, and magical practice was understood as a philosophy in action, which had the power to establish a bond of a loving nature between the different realms of reality. Magicians were therefore conceived as wise philosophers capable of joining this network of correspondences and controlling them (art)ificially. As a result, the figures of poets and artists interestingly merged into those of magicians of physicians, and poetry was conceived both as a magic able to arouse mental images stronger than real visions, and as a medicine able to exert a mental and physiological agency on the body. The course will approach these themes through a multi-disciplinary and trans-historical approach, which will include in the discussion a wide variety of figures, such as global early modern and modern philosophers, physicians, poets, artists, and composers.All readings and class discussion will be in English. Students will have an additional hour of class for Italian credit.

Course does not meet an Approach

Counts Toward: Classical Culture and Society; Classical Languages; Classical Studies; Health Studies; Health Studies; History; History of Art; M Eastern/C Asian/N African St; Middel Eastern Central Asian; Philosophy.

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PSYC B209 Clinical Psychology

Fall 2025

This course examines the experience, origins and consequences of psychological difficulties and problems. Among the questions we will explore are: What do we mean by abnormal behavior or psychopathology? What are the strengths and limitations of the ways in which psychopathology is assessed and classified? What are the major forms of psychopathology? How do psychologists study and treat psychopathology? How is psychopathology experienced by individuals? What causes psychological difficulties and what are their consequences? How do we integrate social, biological and psychological perspectives on the causes of psychopathology? Do psychological treatments (therapies) work? How do we study the effectiveness of psychology treatments? Prerequisite: Introductory Psychology (PSYC B105 or H100). Please note that this course was previously known as "Abnormal Psychology" and has now been renamed "Clinical Psychology" and can not be repeated for credit.

Course does not meet an Approach

Power, Inequity, and Justice (PIJ)

Counts Toward: Child and Family Studies; Health Studies; Health Studies.

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PSYC B231 Health Psychology

Fall 2025

This course will provide an overview of the field of health psychology using lecture, exams, videos, assignments, and an article critique. We will examine the current definition of health psychology, as well as the theories and research behind many areas in health psychology (both historical and contemporary). The course will focus on specific health and social psychological theories, empirical research, and applying the theory and research to real world situations. Prerequisite: Introductory Psychology (PSYC B105) or Foundations of Psychology (PSYC H100). Students may take either this course or HLTH/PSYC H245 not both.

Course does not meet an Approach

Counts Toward: Health Studies; Health Studies; Museum Studies.

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PSYC B331 Health Behavior and Context

Fall 2025

This seminar will be devoted to a discussion of theory and research in health psychology. We will investigate both historical and contemporary perspectives on the psychology of wellness and illness. We will begin with a consideration of how psychosocial forces influence health cognitions, behaviors, and physiological processes. The second half of the course will focus on contextual factors, interventions, and emerging topics in research. We will debate the question of whether/how psychological forces influence health outcomes. Prerequisite: PSYC B105 and PSYC B231 or PSYC B208, or by permission of the instructor.

Counts Toward: Health Studies; Health Studies.

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PSYC B344 Early Childhood Experiences & Mental Health

Not offered 2025-26

Development represents a unique period during which the brain shows enhanced plasticity, the important ability to adapt and change in response to experiences. During development, the brain may be especially vulnerable to the impacts of harmful experiences (e.g., neglect or exposure to toxins) and also especially responsive to the effects of positive factors (e.g., community resilience or clinical interventions). This seminar will explore how childhood experiences "get under the skin," shaping neurobiological systems and exerting lasting effects on mental health and well-being. We will examine theoretical models of how early experiences shape development, considering the proposed mechanisms by which different features of childhood environments could shape psychological risk and resilience. We will evaluate the scientific evidence for these models and then apply this knowledge to consider what strategies for intervention-- at the level of the child, family, and society-- could help reduce psychopathology and promote well-being. There is no textbook required for this course. We will read, critically evaluate, and discuss empirical journal articles and explore the implications of this scientific literature for public policy. Prerequisites: PSYC B209 or PSYC B206 or PSYC B218 or permission from instructor; PSYC B205 highly recommended

Counts Toward: Child and Family Studies; Health Studies; Neuroscience.

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RUSS B220 Chornobyl

Not offered 2025-26

This course introduces students to the Chornobyl nuclear disaster, its consequences, and its representations across a range of cultures and media through a comparative lens and as a global phenomenon. Culture meets ecology, science, history, and politics. Students will contribute to a digital exhibition and physical installation. Taught in translation. No knowledge of Russian required.

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SOCL B220 Medicine, the Body and Society

Spring 2026

An introduction to the sociology of health and illness with a particular focus on the sociology of the body. Topics include: cross-cultural perceptions of the body and disease; the definition of "legitimate" medical knowledge and practice; social determinants of health and access to healthcare; management of healthcare costs.

Counts Toward: Health Studies.

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SOCL B265 Quantitative Methods

Fall 2025

An introduction to the conduct of empirical, especially quantitative, social science inquiry. In consultation with the instructor, students may select research problems to which they apply the research procedures and statistical techniques introduced during the course. Using SPSS, a statistical computer package, students learn techniques such as cross-tabular analysis, ANOVA, and multiple regression. Required of Bryn Mawr Sociology majors and minors. Non-sociology majors and minors with permission of instructor.

Quantitative Methods (QM)

Quantitative Readiness Required (QR)

Counts Toward: Data Science; Health Studies.

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