HMP 626: Race, Ethnicity, Culture, and Health Policy

This course will critically examine aspects of health and health policy from the state and federal perspective, along the axes of race, ethnicity, culture, and place. Though the class is taught primarily from a U.S. - based perspective, we will cover some topics from an international lens in order to both explore domestic policy within a global context and to consider the international implications of policies and the structures that they create.

Through an interdisciplinary and in-depth engagement with case studies, theoretical tools, anthropological, and public health literature, we will explore social constructions of health, reproductive justice, the social determinants of health and health disparities; environmental inequalities; development and the governance of disease; and the role of states and social movements in the development of health policy. Incorporating text, media, and guest lectures into our course material, we will question the normative values assigned to concepts of race, culture, and disease, which subsequently shape the social beliefs that influence health status and the production of policy.

Students are expected to develop valuable skills that will assist in future participation in research and policy processes. This course is writing intensive and will culminate in a grant proposal and mini-colloquia.

Course Topics & Readings

January 5: Introduction
January 12: Framings and Foundations
January 19: Conceptualizing Health Inequalities
January 26: Culture and Citizenship
February 2: Affordable Care Act at the Intersections
February 9: Universal Health Care Models
February 16: Immigration and Health Policy
February 23: Management Issues for Diversity and Inclusion
March 2: NO CLASS (Spring Break)
March 9: Housing and Health
March 16: Reproductive Justice
March 23: Activism and Health
March 30: Violence and Public Health Policy
April 6: Getting Local--Turning the Lens on Michigan
April 13: Reflections

Additional Resources

Grant Resources