Colloquia, Interdepartmental Seminars, and Professional School Offerings

CNNS UN3900 INDENPDENT RSCH NUCLEAR NONPROLIFERATION. 1.00-4.00 points.

Prerequisites: The written permission of the faculty member is required. Points: 1-4 The opportunity to conduct an independent research project in nuclear nonproliferation studies is open to all majors. A product and detailed report is presented by the student when the project is completed. Section 1: Emlyn Hughes Section 2: Ivana N. Hughes Section 3: Monica Rouco-Molina

INSM UN3920 NOBILITY/CIVILITY: EAST/WEST I. 4.00 points.

CC/GS/SEAS: Partial Fulfillment of Global Core Requirement

Prerequisites: one semester of Contemporary Civilization or Literature Humanities, or an equivalent course, and the instructor's permission.
This interdisciplinary colloquium is designed to provide a comparative examination of core human concerns and values across cultures from the ancient to early modern period. This is a discussion-driven course that depends on a close reading of several key literary, philosophical, political, and religious texts from Asia, Africa, and Europe. Prerequisites: one semester of Contemporary Civilization or Literature Humanities, or an equivalent course. A team-taught multicultural, interdisciplinary course examining traditions of leadership and citizenship as they appear in the key texts of early Indian, Islamic, Far Eastern, and Western civilizations. One goal is to identify and examine common human values and issues evident in these texts while also recognizing key cultural differences

INSM UN3921 Nobility and Civility II. 4 points.

CC/GS/SEAS: Partial Fulfillment of Global Core Requirement

Prerequisites: one semester of Contemporary Civilization or Literature Humanities, or an equivalent course, and the instructor's permission.

A team-taught multicultural, interdisciplinary course examining traditions of leadership and citizenship as they appear in the key texts of early Indian, Islamic, Far Eastern, and Western civilizations. One goal is to identify and examine common human values and issues evident in these texts while also recognizing key cultural differences

INSM W3950 Friendship in Asian and Western Civilization. 4 points.

CC/GS/SEAS: Partial Fulfillment of Global Core Requirement
Enrollment limited to 22.

The colloquium studies ideals and practices of friendship in East Asia and the West. How have two great civilizations understood exemplary friendship in changing historical settings? Literary, historical, and social science approaches. Students are expected to participate actively and to write a substantial paper, working closely with one or both instructors. 

INSM C3940 Science Across Cultures. 4 points.

CC/GS/SEAS: Partial Fulfillment of Global Core Requirement
Enrollment limited. Open to seniors and some qualified juniors. Priority given to seniors.Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

Development of scientific thought from various cultures and from antiquity till the time of the European Renaissance. Provides examples of the process by which scientific thinking has developed and illustrates that, although science may not have always developed in a linear fashion, the problems science was called upon to solve exhibited a continuity that crossed cultural, linguistic, and religious borders. 

FSEB UN1020 Food and the Body. 3 points.

CC/GS: Partial Fulfillment of Science Requirement

This course will use an evolutionary perspective to focus on what humans need to eat for survival and health. We will examine how and why sufficient and optimal diets can be obtained through a range of dietary patterns, and how those patterns were rooted in different geographic and cultural regions. We will also compare current patterns with those of humans from 200,000, 12,000 and 100 years ago, and where it is instructive, we will compare the food intake and food system of other animals. Throughout the course, the environmental impact of a given dietary pattern will be considered, and where possible, the economic determinants of individual food intake will be reviewed. We will incorporate a lifespan perspective throughout the course.

FSPH UN1100 FOOD, PUBLIC HEALTH ＆ PUBLIC POLICY. 3.00 points.

CC/GS: Partial Fulfillment of Science Requirement

The course will provide an introduction to the science, policy, politics, and economics related to food as a critical element of public health. The course will have a primary focus on the US, but will include a global perspective. Students will learn and apply the fundamentals of public health scientific research methods and theoretical approaches to assessing the food landscape though a public health lens. In addition, the course will cover how nutrition – at first glance a matter of individual choice – is determined by an interconnected system of socio-economic-environmental influences, and is influenced by a multitude of stakeholders engaged in policymaking processes. The course will be structured into four “themes”: 1) Why food is a public health priority, 2) Evidence, causal inference and measurement and its role in understanding and designing public health research on food, 3) The food environment, and 4) Change agents and levers: individuals, policy, and politics in food and public health. The course will use a systems thinking approach and systems thinking tools to examine and understand the interconnectedness of the social, economic, environmental, political and economic influences and consequences that affect food and public health. This course partially fulfills the Science Requirement as a science course for non-science majors

CGTH UN3401 Seminar in Global Thought: Inquiries into an Interconnected World. 4 points.

This course on global thought will consider the ways in which we think about, debate, and give meaning to the interconnected world in which we live.  In thematically focused collaborative teams, students will examine how the flows of people, things and ideas across national borders both connect our world and create uneven consequences within and among communities.   We will locate ourselves in these processes, suggesting we need go no further than our closets, tables, and street corners to consider the meanings of globalization and our roles in the world today. This course has been approved to partially satisfy the Global Core requirement.

CGTH UN3402 YOUTH-INTERCONNECTED WRLD. 4.00 points.

CC/GS/SEAS: Partial Fulfillment of Global Core Requirement

What does it mean to be 20 years old in our rapidly changing, interconnected world? There are more youth (aged 15-25) in the world today than at any other time in history, with the majority living in the developing world. They approach adulthood as the world confronts seismic shifts in the geopolitical order, in the nature and future of work, and in the ways we connect with each other, express identity, engage politically, and create communities of meaning. What unique challenges and opportunities confront young people after decades of neoliberal globalization? What issues are most pressing in developing nations experiencing a “youth bulge” and how do they compare to developed nations with rapidly aging populations? How do young people envision their futures and the future of the world they are inheriting? This course will examine recent scholarship while engaging the young people in the class to define the agenda and questions of the course, and to conduct their own research. This course is part of the Global Core curriculum. “Global 20” complements a new research project of the Committee on Global Thought, “Youth in a Changing World,” which investigates from the perspective of diverse participants and of young people themselves, the most pressing issues confronting young people in the changing world today. The course will serve as an undergraduate “lab” for the project, and among other involvements, students in the course will help conceive, plan, and take part in a NYC-wide “Youth Think-In” sponsored by the CGT during the Spring 2018 semester. Within the course, students will become “regional experts” and examine the primary themes of the class through the prism of specific areas or nations of their choosing. A final class project includes a “design session” that will consider how universities might better train and empower youth to confront the challenges and embrace the opportunities of our interconnected world of the 21stcentury

JOUR UN3100 Journalism and Public Life. 3 points.

An introduction to the conventions, traditions, values, assumptions, and arguments that have shaped the institution of journalism and its central role in public life. Through close readings/viewings of current and classic works of journalism as well as secondary sources, we explore some of the Big Questions: What is journalism for? What is its role in public life, and how has that changed over time? Is objectivity dead--or should it be? How have new technologies affected our expectations? Is sensationalism bad for you? What is the future of journalism? The focus is on the American experience from the colonial era to the present day, though we will also draw comparisons with international developments.

PUBH UN3100 FUNDAMENTALS OF GLOBAL HEALTH. 3.00 points.

Many of the greatest challenges in public health are global. This course uses a multidisciplinary approach to discuss the major underlying determinants of poor health and the relationship between health and political, social and economic development. Drawing upon the sciences, social sciences, and humanities, students will be introduced to the evolution of modern approaches to the setting of global health priorities, the functions and roles of health systems, an overview of current global health practices, and the major institutional players in global health. The first unit of the class will focus on establishing the foundations for a public health approach to understanding the challenges of global health. This will involve exploration of the factors shaping the global distribution of disease and their connection with issues of social, economic, and political development, as reflected in the Millennium Development Goals. The second unit will explore in further detail a number of major health priorities. A significant goal of the class will be to identify common sources of vulnerability and challenge across health risks, and the consequent need for a systemic approach to their being addressed. The third and final unit builds upon this analysis to demonstrate the multi-disciplinary, multi-level approach required to effectively address global health priorities, and the political and organizational cooperation required to achieve this. The class concludes with an analysis of the major challenges and threats to global coordination regarding such threats as pandemic influenza and emerging health threats related to climate change. Offered in the spring

PUBH UN3200 INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC HEALTH. 3.00 points.

An introduction to and overview of public health. Through a series of sessions with leading public health experts, this course views the multifaceted nature of public health through a prismic lens addressing key concepts, approaches, and issues of historical and contemporary import: What is public health and how has public health evolved over time? What are the core methods of public health? What are the approaches to understanding and addressing both infectious and chronic, non-communicable diseases? What role do micro- and macro-level determinants (i.e. biology and social context) play in public health? What are the global trends in population health? How does the individual life course bear on population health? How do systems, policy, and population health mutually shape each other? How are public health programs designed and evaluated? What are the limits of public health?

PUBH UN3400 Data Science and Health Equity in New York City. 3.00 points.

This course, which has no pre-requisites, teaches students about data science and public health. Students will create and answer public health research questions related to health equity in NYC. The course will use publicly available NYC health data to learn the seven steps of data science: 1) writing a research question; 2) obtaining data to address the question; 3) data cleaning; 4) data exploration; (5) analysis; 6) replication and validity evaluation; and (7) presentation and summary. The course will introduce students to R

PUBH GU4100 (Y)OUR LONGER LIFE. 3.00 points.

People are living 30 years longer than we did 100 years ago. We have created a whole new stage of life. How do we prepare to benefit from our longer lives? What can you do in your own life? This course explores the personal, population, community, and societal dimensions of our now-longer lives, of aging itself, and the role of health and societal design in the experience of aging. The course examines the meaning of aging and the attendant expectations, myths, fears, and realities. The course examines an aging society as a public health success, the potential for building health futures, the health plan you want to be healthy in old age, and the potential for longer lives and how we unlock it. It addresses the roles public health currently plays and can play in shaping a society for an aging population. The course explores how a public health system—indeed, a society—optimized for an aging population stands to benefit all. The course also examines the physical, cognitive, and psychological aspects of aging, the exposures across our lives that affect these, the attributes and challenges of aging, keys to successful aging, and aging around the globe. The culminating project will design elements of our society that are needed to support the opportunity of having longer lives. This course comprises lectures, class discussions, individual assignments, in-class case activities, and a group project in which students shall take an active role. You will be responsible for regular preparatory assignments, writing assignments, one group project, and attending course sessions. Please note: GSAS students must receive permission from their department before registering for this course

PUBH GU4200 Environment, Health, and Justice: Concepts and Practice. 3.00 points.

Please note: this class was designed as part of the Special Concentration in Public Health. It is open to undergraduates, as well as students in Public Health, and will be taught on the Morningside campus. This course introduces key concepts on environmental health sciences and environmental justice and their application to address environmental health disparities affecting communities in New York City, across the United States and globally. The course will present theory and methods needed to characterize, understand and intervene on environmental health problems with a focus on methods that are particularly appropriate for environmental justice research and interventions. We will describe environmental health disciplines such as exposure sciences, environmental epidemiology, environmental biosciences and toxicology, as well as methods to assess expected environmental health impacts