Health Sciences

People eat in order to survive. Eating patterns also tell a story of personal preferences, socio-economic status, and cultural or ethnic background. In this class, students will gain insight into the historical background of several culinary traditions in Germany, their role in modern-day multi-ethnic German society, and contemporary issues related to food consumption and sustainability in food supply. Topics such as obesity, eating disorders, food allergies, food regulation, and the rise of the "gluten-free" trend place the themes in a public health framework.

This course examines how infectious agents interact with human hosts at the molecular, cellular, individual patient and community levels to cause diseases and how the hosts attempt to combat these infections. 

This course explores the impact of demographics, infrastructure, political and public will, global economic conditions, and geopolitical circumstances on healthcare systems. Topics include evidence-based health policy research and the need to carefully assess healthcare delivery systems in individual countries to identify initiatives, patterns, and mechanisms that have most likely contributed to successful reforms and sustainable financing arrangements. Students examine comparisons among European Union and other actors with special reference to the debate on health care in the United States. Students learn about, assess and understand these unique interests, needs, and historical experiences that shape current health care at the national level. Visits to private and public health institutions in all student locations are included and compared for a multinational/multicultural understanding.

This course examines the techniques and uses of epidemiology in preventing poor health, health planning and evaluation.

This course examines historical changes and the role of health and disease in the contemporary world. Topics include: health and disease in the Middle Ages and Renaissance-- modern medicine in context; scientific knowledge of disease; from public hygiene to social medicine; official medicine and folk medicine; prevention of disease; institutions; other medicines; current challenges.

The course covers the fundamental principles of medical imaging, including the basics of the 4 major medical imaging methods: Ultrasound, X-Ray CT, PET, and MRI. The focus is on MRI and how it is used to capture the anatomy and function of the human brain. The course also provides hands-on experience with acquiring brain images using a 3T MRI scanner. Students learn how to process and characterize MRI images from healthy volunteers. Functional MRI (fMRI) data is used to learn the basics of statistical analysis used in neuroscience research. Students have the opportunity to interact with the MRI team and also with clinicians and neuroscientists who use the MRI for research.

This course introduces students, without a background in sport psychology, to the basic concepts needed to understand sport psychology and its application. Topics include Psychological Skills Training, Peak Performance, Performance Profiling, Goal Setting, Performance Review, Motivation, Psychophysiology, Relaxation, Activation, Imagery, Self‐Talk, Concentration, Team Building, and, Competition Routines. The course requires students to take prerequisites.

This course offers an overview of relevant public health approaches to promotion of optimal health and well-being at the population level, particularly for high-risk and vulnerable sub-groups. The course addresses appropriate frameworks for planning nutritional health promotion programs and provides an overview of different policies and programs in play for the development, implementation and evaluation of public health initiatives in the area of nutrition and diets. The complexity and needs to include environmental, sustainable, and behavioral factors in the planning and conduction of interventions in public health nutrition are addressed. The course uses a problem-based learning approach with engaging real-world examples on the approach in developing nutrient supplementation programs, nutrient profile and health claim regulations, school feeding interventions and meal-on-wheels-programs, development and implementation of meaningful healthy and sustainable dietary guidelines, and evaluation and integration of such programs at national and international level.