Public Health

This interdisciplinary program will provide students the knowledge and skills needed to contribute to local, state, national, and global public health initiatives in a wide variety of settings. The Public Health program adheres to Council on Education for Public Health standards and is firmly rooted in the scientific exploration of public health. The program combines academic offerings from courses in the areas of English, economics, chemistry, environmental studies, health, political science, philosophy, psychology and sociology.

The COVID-19 pandemic raised awareness of public health methods and practices. Prevention efforts including isolation and quarantine expectations, social distancing and masking, and contact tracing effectively slowed the spread of a uniquely contagious pathogen. Protection efforts such as the science behind the development of vaccines, health policies that provided legal authority for the widespread distribution of vaccines worldwide, and the coordination of mass vaccination campaigns are all examples of how Public Health works across many fields of study to ensure the health of populations.  These are just some of the ways your training can make a difference in the lives around you.