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Social Epidemiology

Cancelled

Description:

This one-week course provides students with a systematic and selective overview of conceptual approaches and research findings related to the impact of social context on the health of various populations. Each session highlights a different area of research on the frontier of this emerging field. Among the social processes examined are 1) social inequalities (including social class differences as well as the effects of income inequality per se), 2)social capital and social cohesion, 3) social networks and support, 4) neighborhood characteristics, and 5) racism and discrimination. Emphasis is placed upon extending the causal chain thought to be associated with patterns of acute and chronic disease to include “upstream” factors related to social context. Includes discussion of methods related to the study of social factors across multiple levels; however, this is not intended to be a methods course. The course will be taught as a seminar with limited lecture mater.

Learning Objectives:

Upon successfully completing this course, students will be able to:

1. Define and describe the field of social epidemiology in terms of its history, current status, and future directions
2. Identify and describe four distinct core areas of research within the field
3. Distinguish between leading theories that have guided the field
4. Apply concepts, theories and methods from the field of social epidemiology to a research problem of interest to the student
5. Operate within a seminar course format

Methods of Assessment:

paper

Instructor Consent:

No consent required