Bachelor of Arts in Public Health
General Requirements
Graduating with a BA in Public Health will require meeting the Arts & Sciences requirements as well as the curriculum presented below, consisting of at least 40 credit hours, with a minimum of 22 at the upper division level, passed with a cumulative GPA of 2.00 or higher. Grades of C- or better will be required in all courses a student is using to satisfy the requirements for the major. Additionally, students must meet the requirements for graduation from their other school or college, if doing a double degree. Students should take note of when and if courses have prerequisites that are not part of the Public Health Major.
Student may only use three courses (up to 9 credits) from outside of the 鶹ý campus for the BA degree in Public Health.
The course catalog for the Public Health Major can be found .
Fundamentals of Public Health - Required Courses - 10 Credits
PBHL 2692 (3) Foundations in Public Health*
*Must be taken before GEOG 3692 and IPHY 3490
PBHL/GEOG 3692 (4) Introduction to Global Public Health
PBHL/IPHY 3490 (3) Introduction to Epidemiology
Bioethics - 3 Credits
One of the following:
PHIL 1160 (3) Introduction to Medical Ethics
or PHIL 3160 (3) Bioethics [has prerequisites]
Introduction to Biology Course - 3 Credits
One of the following:
EBIO 1100 (3) Biology and Society
or EBIO 1210 (3) General Biology
or MCDB 1150 (3) Introduction to Cellular and Molecular Biology
Introduction to Statistics Course - 3-4 Credits
One of the following:
*courses with significant prerequisites are listed last
EBIO 1010(3) Introduction to Statistics and Quantitative Thinking for Biologists
or GEOG 3023 (4) Statistics for Geography
or IPHY 3280 (4) Introduction to Data Science and Biostatistics
or PSCI 2075 (3) Quantitative Research Methods
or SOCY 2061 (3) Introduction to Social Statistics
or MATH 2510 (3) Introduction to Statistics [prerequisites include Algebra]
or PSYC 2111 (4) Psychological Science I: Statistics [prerequisites include Algebra]
or STAT 2600 (4) Introduction to Data Science [prerequisites include Calculus]
or ECON 3818 (4) Introduction to Statistics with Computer Applications [prerequisites include Calculus]
or ANTH 4000 (4) Quantitative Methods in Anthropology
or ENVS 2010(4) Introduction to Statistics for Environmental Studies
Capstone Course - 3 Credits
PBHL 4142 (3) Internship Capstone
- This 3-credit capstone internship course provides students with practical experience at an approved public health agency. Intended for seniors or advanced juniors who are interested in getting hands-on experience in public health work. Students must complete at least 160 hours over one semester (16 weeks) in health education, program implementation and/or evaluation.
- Information regarding the Internship capstone can be found here.
or PBHL 4242 (3) Capstone in Public Health: Career Exploration in Public Health
or PBHL 4342 (3) Public Health Capstone: Honors Thesis
- Information regarding the Honors Thesis capstone can be foundhere.
or PBHL/PSYC/GEOG 4542 (3) Public Health Capstone Research Methods: Environmental Interventions to the Mental Health Epidemic
- This course will introduce students to interdisciplinary research methods in public health, with a focus on environmental interventions to address mental health. Robust data shows that spending time in nature can positively impact mental health. This course will teach students about the many phases of the scientific research process through doing; students will work in small groups to do their own research project throughout the semester on a pre-picked topic that can change from year to year.
Elective Courses in the Domains of Public Health - Minimum 18 Credits
Students must complete an additional minimum of 6 courses (4 of which must be at the 3000 or 4000 level). One elective must be from Social and Behavioral Health and one from Environmental Health. The other 4 electives can come from either of those lists or from the list of Other Public Health Courses.
Elective Courses by Category
| Class | Summer 2026 | Fall 2026 | Spring 2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| ANTH2600 (3) Plagues and the Human Response from Past to Present | No | Yes | No |
| ANTH 4605 (3) Anthropology of Neuroscience | No | No | Yes |
| ANTH 4610 (3) Medical Anthropology | No | Yes | No |
| ANTH 4645 (3) Stress: From Old Bones to Molecules | No | No | No |
| ANTH 4655 (3) Human Health and Disease in the Past: Paleopathology & Paleoepidemiology | No | No | No |
PBHL 4000 (3) Special Topics in Public Health (Public Health Communication) | No | No | Yes |
| PSCI3216 (3) Politics of Social Policy | No | No | No |
| PSYC 4021 (3) Psychology and Neuroscience of Exercise | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| PSYC 4606 (3) Advanced Topics in Social Psychology (select topics) | No | No | No |
| SOCY 1022 (3) Ethics and Social Issues in U.S. Health and Medicine | No | Yes | Yes |
| SOCY2034 (3) Drugs in United States Society | Yes | Yes | No |
| SOCY 3032 (3) Social Epidemiology | No | No | No |
| SOCY 3045 (3) Sociology of Death and Dying | No | No | No |
| SOCY 3052 (3) Medical Sociology | No | Yes | Yes |
| SOCY 4052 (3) Social Inequalities in Health | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| SOCY 4062 (3) Suffering and Care in Society | No | Yes | No |
| WGST 2850 (3) Sex, Religion, and Politics in US Healthcare | No | No | Yes |
| Class | Summer 2025 | Fall 2026 | Spring 2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| EBIO 3400 (4) Microbiology | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| EBIO 3630 (4) Parasitology | No | No | Yes |
| ENVS 3525 (3) Intermediate Environmental Problem Analysis: Topical Cornerstones: Health and the Built Environment | No | No | No |
| ENVS 4800 (3) Capstone: Critical Thinking in Environmental Studies: Water Quality and Health Risks | No | No | No |
| GEOG 2552(3) Healthy Places, Toxic Spaces: Geographies of Wellbeing Risk, and Care | No | No | No |
| GEOG 4602 (3) Global Perspectives on Urban Resilience and Sustainability Planning | No | ||
| GEOG 4692 (3) Climate Change and Health | No | No | Yes |
| GEOG 4792 (3) Human Health and the Environment | Yes | No | |
| GEOG 4772 (3) The Geography of Food and Agriculture | No | Yes | No |
| GEOG 4852 (3) Health and Medical Geography | No | No | No |
| GEOG 3782 (3) Environmentalism, Race, and Justice | No | No | No |
| OR ENVS 3034 (3) Foundations of Environmental Justice | No | Yes | Yes |
| OR HONR 4075 (3) Environmental Justice | No | Yes | No |
| OR PHIL 2140 (3) Environmental Justice | No | No | Yes |
| SOCY 4007 (3) Global Human Ecology | No | No | No |
| Class | Summer 2026 | Fall 2026 | Spring 2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| GEOG 4693 (3) GIS and Public Health | Yes | No | |
| HIST 2830 (3) Disease and Public Health in Global History | No | Yes | Yes |
| HUMN 3200 (3): Fictions of Illness: Modern Medicine and the Literary Imagination | No | Yes | No |
| IPHY 2420 (3): Introduction to Nutrition | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| IPHY 3590 (3) Health and Function over the Adult Lifespan | No | No | No |
| IPHY 4040 (3) History of Medicine | Yes | No | No |
| IPHY 4041 (3) Global Health and Disease | Yes | No | No |
| IPHY 4780 (3) Sleep, Circadian Rhythms, and Health | No | No | No |
| MCDB 3160 (3) Infectious Disease | No | No | No |
| MCDB 4150 (3) Biology of Aging and Longevity | No | No | No |
| NRSC 4062 (3) The Neurobiology of Stress | No | Yes | No |
| PBHL 3000(3) Special Topics in Public Health (Intro to U.S. Health Policy) | Yes | ||
| PBHL 3850(3) Research Methods in Public Health | Yes | ||
| PBHL 4100(3) Special Topics in Public Health (Infectious Disease Case Studies) | Yes | ||
| PBHL 4000 (3) Special Topics in Public Health (Population Health) | No | No | No |
| PBHL 4000 (3) Special Topics in Public Health (Drug Use and Public Health) | Yes | No | |
| PSYC 2012 (3) Biological Psychology | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| PSYC 4541 (3) Special Topics in Psychology - Social Science: Prevent Mental/Beh Disorders | No | No | No |
| SLHS 1010 (3) Disabilities in Contemporary American Society | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| SLHS 3014 (3) Hearing Loss Epidemiology | No | No | No |
| SOCY 2031 (3) Social Problems | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| SOCY 4117 (3) Food and Society | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| SPAN 3080 (3) Spanish for Health Professions | No | Yes | No |
| WGST/JWST 4200 (3) Religion and Reproductive Politics in the United States | Yes | No | Yes |
| WRTG 3020 (3) Topics in Writing: Medical Discourse and the Body | Yes | Yes | No |
| Class | Summer 2026 | Fall 2026 | Spring 2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| ANTH 4060 (3) Nutrition and Anthropology | No | Yes | Yes |
| ECON 4646 (3) Topics in Health Economics | No | No | Yes |
| IPHY 3400 (3) Nutrition for IPHY Majors | No | No | No |
| IPHY 3440 (3) Clinical Nutrition | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| IPHY 4420 (3) Nutrition and Human Performance | Yes | No | No |
| NRSC 4420 (3) Genetics of Brain and Behavior | No | No | Yes |