Health Sciences

This course provides knowledge of cross-cutting global health issues from diverse national and international perspectives (e.g. philanthropists, WHO, WHA, etc.), and ways of working together to improve global health. In addition to lecture, the course pedagogy includes analysis of case studies, discussion, and debates.

In Part I of this course, students are introduced to studying in an academic environment, the Problem Based Learning (PBL) system, the library, and the structure and content of the European Public Health program. Students examine the many dimensions and complexity of the concept of health, reflect on how health has been defined within various traditions over time, and elaborate on concepts of "public" and "European." In Part II, students examine determinants of health at various levels with the most influential models. The topic of health inequalities is introduced.  Part III focuses on the European Union by addressing issues such as the history of the EU, the main economic purpose of the EU, the EU treaties and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU, the EU institutions, and the decision-making processes on EU level. The course ends with a reflection on several ethical issues and dilemmas at play when thinking about public health in Europe. 

This skills course teaches students how to conduct the semi-structured clinical interview for the DSM-5 (SCID I) and Axis II (SCID II) diagnoses. Students learn to carry out the interview and to interpret the outcomes, to establish differential diagnoses, and to summarize findings in a written report. Special emphasis lies on comparing the patient's answer to a question and the clinical judgement of stating whether certain behavioral criterion is met or not. Note that this training is not restricted to anxiety psychopathology, but to psychopathology in general.

Covid-19 is an infectious disease caused by a type of virus, manifesting itself in individual human beings; but the covid-19 pandemic is not just a health issue, but a social and economic phenomenon. This course explores the economics and politics of the covid-19 pandemic and the policy response (health-related, economic and social) in the UK and other countries. It does not cover specific medical or scientific aspects of covid-19 as a disease, but beyond that discusses a wide range of topics relating both to the direct and indirect impacts of the pandemic. There is a particular focus on how and why policy decisions were taken; and on the longer-term implications. 

This course provides an interdisciplinary approach to ethical and legal issues stemming from recent advances in biomedical practices. Topics discussed include: fundamental principles of bioethics; the environment, animal welfare; informed consent, organ transplants, clinical trials; assisted reproduction, abortion, euthanasia; genetic advancements, intervention, and genetically modified organisms. *NOTE: Course is the same as PHIL/HLTHS 104, but taught in Spanish.

This is a special topics course in the that presents various topic on environmental occupational health. The course presents the methodology in the field of occupational and environmental health through the research work presented by each lecturer.

This course reviews the interrelationships among hormones, the brain, and behavior. Basic endocrine (hormone) system physiology is introduced and the different approaches that researchers take to address questions of hormone-behavior relationships are discussed. The focus is on three large classes of hormones: stress (cortisol), social (oxytocin, vasopressin), and sex hormones (testosterone, estradiol, progesterone). Those hormones are linked to normal behavioral processes such as memory and social behavior as well as to psychiatric conditions such as depression/anxiety and autism spectrum disorder. At the end of this course, students have developed an understanding of a selection of topics related to behavioral neuroendocrinology.

This course examines health, lifestyle, and medicine from cultural analytical and ethnographic perspectives.  The course covers current societal issues relating to illness, diagnosis and well-being in contemporary and historical societies. Students discuss these issues in relation to different cases such as the meeting between doctor and patient, living with chronic disease, controversial biotechnological diagnoses and treatments, and discourses on risk and responsibility. The course is based on current research in ethnology, medical anthropology, and cultural studies, including questions about the body, illness experiences, disability, ethics, and the new health economy. Lectures, seminars, and group exercises cover the theoretical understanding of how aspects of identity, class, gender, ethnicity, and age intervene in medical treatments and lifestyle patterns.