Major & Minor
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Medicine, Health, and Society Major
The major in medicine, health, and society investigates the cultural, economic, demographic, and biological factors that impact health. Drawing on courses in the medical sciences, humanities, and social sciences, this innovative interdisciplinary field of study transcends the traditional biomedical approach to understanding health and illness.
Requirements
MHS majors craft a plan of study that includes core MHS classes, electives that meets their particular interests, and an area of concentration. It requires 36 credit hours of course work, distributed as detailed below. See the Major and Advising FAQ for additional information.
- FOUNDATIONS OF MHS (3 credit hours)
MHS 2010 Foundations of MHS
or one of the following taken before fall 2025: MHS 1920, MHS 1930, MHS 1940, MHS 1950, MHS 1960, MHS 2110, MHS 2800, MHS 3890 COVID & Society, ANTH 2342.
- CONCENTRATION (12 credit hours)
Four courses in one of the concentrations areas below:
- Health in global context: health across national and cultural contexts, global health and social medicine, history and politics of global health inequalities, health effects of global change and crisis.
- Health policy and economics: economic, legal, and political dimensions of health.
- Health behaviors and health sciences: biological and social foundations of health.
- Inequality, intersectionality, and health justice: how diverse structures of inequality intersect and shape health, health and movements for social justice, health in the context of race, gender, sexuality, class, disability, and citizenship.
- Health in the arts and humanities: Critical perspectives on health discourse, philosophy and ethics of health, literature and the arts on practices of medicine, health and healing.
- Specialized health studies: propose a set of four courses (12 credit hours) that form a coherent program of study related to critical health studies and receive approval from the director of undergraduate studies.
Lists of approved courses for respective concentrations can be found in the MHS Catalogue and MHS Courselist.
- ELECTIVES (21 credit hours)
Seven courses chosen from the MHS Catalogue and MHS Courselist. All MHS and MHS-approved courses may count as electives (except MHS 3830/3831; 3880/3881; and 4998/4999).
Up to 12 hours of the following may be counted for the major:
- BSCI 1510-1511
- BSCI 2101 (formery MHS 3101)
- BSCI 2520
- BSCI 3101 (formerly MHS 3102)
- BSCI 3234 (formerly MHS 1500)
- CHEM 2221-2222 or 2211-2212
- MHS 1600
Your grade in all of these courses will count toward your MHS GPA.
- ADVANCED HOURS IN MHS
Two courses (6 credit hours) used to satisfy the Concentration or Elective requirements must be MHS-numbered courses at the 2000 level or above.
Refer to the MHS Catalogue and MHS Courselist for up-to-date course offerings.
Minor in Medicine, Health, and Society
The minor in medicine, health, and society is an excellent addition to any student considering a career in health care, government, biological science, and related fields. Gaining an understanding of the social foundations of health through the MHS minor, students get an in-depth education on health care, health policy, economics, racial, gender and disability disparities, and other related perspectives to help them achieve their long-term career goals.
Requirements
The minor requires 18 credit hours of coursework, distributed as follows.
- FOUNDATIONS OF MHS (3 credit hours)
MHS 2010 Foundations of MHS
or one of the following taken before fall 2025: MHS 1920, MHS 1930, MHS 1940, MHS 1950, MHS 1960, MHS 2110, MHS 2800, MHS 3890 COVID & Society, ANTH 2342.
- CONCENTRATION (9 credit hours)
Three courses in one of the concentrations areas below:
- Health in global context: health across national and cultural contexts, global health and social medicine, history and politics of global health inequalities, health effects of global change and crisis.
- Health policy and economics: economic, legal, and political dimensions of health.
- Health behaviors and health sciences: biological and social foundations of health.
- Inequality, intersectionality, and health justice: how diverse structures of inequality intersect and shape health, health and movements for social justice, health in the context of race, gender, sexuality, class, disability, and citizenship.
- Health in the arts and humanities: Critical perspectives on health discourse, philosophy and ethics of health, literature and the arts on practices of medicine, health and healing.
Lists of approved courses for respective concentrations can be found in the MHS Catalogue and MHS Courselist.
- ELECTIVES (6 credit hours)
chosen from the MHS Catalogue and MHS Courselist. All MHS and MHS-approved courses may count as electives (except MHS 3830/3831; 3880/3881; and 4998/4999).
- ADVANCED HOURS IN MHS
One course (3 credit hours) used to satisfy the Concentration or Elective requirements must be MHS-numbered courses at the 2000 level or above.
Refer to the MHS Catalogue and MHS Courselist for up-to-date course offerings.
Declaring a Major or Minor
Students may declare a major or minor in MHS, after completing their first year, using this link. Please consult the student user guide. Once your major is approved, you will be assigned an MHS adviser who can help you plan your course schedule.