Public Health and Cultural Anthropology, BA (Boston)

The combined Bachelor of Arts in Public Health and Cultural Anthropology integrates concepts and theories from cultural anthropology with public health concepts to approach complex health inequities. Students have an opportunity to gain foundational anthropological knowledge and skills and apply theory to public health approaches for addressing poor health outcomes. Students explore how culture and social structures affect health promotion strategies and outcomes. This combined major will appeal to students who want to pursue graduate study and research in anthropology, public health, public policy and administration, and education.  

Complete all courses listed below unless otherwise indicated. Also complete any corequisite labs, recitations, clinicals, or tools courses where specified and complete any additional courses needed beyond specific college and major requirements to satisfy graduation credit requirements.

Universitywide Requirements

All undergraduate students are required to complete the Universitywide Requirements.

BA Language Requirements

All BA students are required to complete the BA degree language requirements, for a total of 12 semester hours of language study or demonstrated equivalent proficiency, as described in Additional Requirements for BA students. Successful demonstration of proficiency does not reduce total minimum semester hours of study required to earn the BA degree.

NUpath Requirements

All undergraduate students are required to complete the NUpath Requirements.

Public Health Requirements

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Public Health Core
PHTH 1260	The American Healthcare System	4
or PHTH 1261	Comparative Healthcare Systems
PHTH 2210	Foundations of Biostatistics	4
PHTH 2300	Communication Skills for the Health Professions	4
or PHTH 2301	Communication Skills for the Health Professions—Global
PHTH 2350	Community and Public Health	4
or PHTH 2351	Community and Public Health - Global
PHTH 2515	Healthcare Policy and Administration	4
PHTH 4120	Global Perspectives on Discrimination and Health	4
PHTH 4202	Principles of Epidemiology in Medicine and Public Health	4
PHTH 4540	Health Education and Program Planning	4

Science Requirement

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Biology
Complete one of the following options:		8–10
Option 1
BIOL 1141	Microbes and Society
or BIOL 1143	Biology and Society
BIOL 1147	The Human Organism
Option 2
BIOL 1111 and BIOL 1112	General Biology 1 and Lab for BIOL 1111
BIOL 1113 and BIOL 1114	General Biology 2 and Lab for BIOL 1113
Psychology
PSYC 1101	Foundations of Psychology	4

Public Health Social Science Requirement

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Introductory Course
Complete one of the following:		4
COMM 1225	Communication Theory
ECON 1115 and ECON 1125	Principles of Macroeconomics and Recitation for ECON 1115
ECON 1116 and ECON 1126	Principles of Microeconomics and Recitation for ECON 1116
ENGL 1300	Introduction to Health and Humanities
HUSV 1101	Social Change and Human Services
INTL 1101	Globalization and International Affairs
PHIL 1101	Introduction to Philosophy
POLS 1160	International Relations
Upper-Level Course
Complete one of the following (categories provided for reference):		3–4
Society and Behavior
COMM 3201	Health Communication
COMM 4102	Health Communication Campaigns
CRIM 3040	Psychology of Crime
HLTH 5280	The (in)Visibility of (dis)Ability in Society
PHTH 5222	Health Advocacy
PSYC 3402	Social Psychology
PSYC 3404	Developmental Psychology
PSYC 3450	Learning and Motivation
Globalization and Global Health
AFCS 3424	Epidemiology of Pandemic Diseases and Health Disparities in the African Diaspora
ECON 3404	International Food Policy
INTL 3200	Cities in a Global Context
or INTL 3201	Cities in a Global Context (Abroad)
INTL 3400	International Conflict and Negotiation
POLS 3487	Politics of Developing Nations
Environmental Health and Climate Change
COMM 3500	Environmental Issues, Communication, and the Media
ECON 3423	Environmental Economics
INTL/PPUA 5100	Climate and Development
PPUA 5238	Climate Change and Global Urbanization
Law, Policy, and Human Rights
ECON 3424	Law and Economics
PHIL 5001	Global Justice
PHIL 5002	Ethics and Public Policy
POLS 3307	Public Policy and Administration
Healthcare Administration and Management
ECON 3413	Health Economics and Healthcare Policy
MGMT 3340	Healthcare Management, Innovation, and Design
ORGB 3201	Organizational Behavior
PHTH 4511	Healthcare Management
PHTH 5232	Evaluating Healthcare Quality
PHTH 5234	Economic Perspectives on Health Policy

Cultural Anthropology Requirements

Required Cultural Anthropology Courses

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
ANTH 1101	Peoples and Cultures	4
ANTH 2305	Global Markets and Local Culture	4
ANTH 3410	Ethnographic Field Experience	4
ANTH 3421	Foundations of Anthropological Theory	4

Area Courses

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Complete two area courses in the range from ANTH 4101-ANTH 4520 not used to satisfy other requirements; one study abroad course may be substituted as an area studies course with prior permission from the department; additional area courses taken may count as anthropology electives.		8

Cultural Anthropology Electives

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Complete three additional courses between ANTH 2000-4999 not used to satisfy other requirements.		12

Supporting Course Requirements

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Introduction to College
Complete one of the following:		1
ANTH 1000	Anthropology at Northeastern
HSCI 1000	College: An Introduction
Writing Courses
ENGW 1111	First-Year Writing	4
Advanced Writing in the Disciplines
Complete one of the following:		4
ENGW 3306	Advanced Writing in the Health Professions
ENGW 3308	Advanced Writing in the Social Sciences

Integrative Course

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
ANTH 3441	Medical Anthropology	4

Capstone

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Complete one of the following:		3-4
ANTH 4600	Senior Seminar
or ANTH 4100	Making Anthropology Public
HINF 5301	Evaluating Health Technologies
HSCI 4720	Health Science Capstone—Service 1
HSCI 4730	Health Science Capstone—Research 1
HSCI 4740	Health Science Capstone Seminar
HSCI 4970 and HSCI 4971	Junior/Senior Honors Project 1 and Junior/Senior Honors Project 2 2
PHTH 4515	Critical Issues in Health and Public Health Policy
PHTH 4602	Private Guns, Public Health
PHTH 4616	Addressing Rural Health Inequities
PHTH 4717	Advancing Health Justice Through the Law
PHTH 5214	Environmental Health
PHTH 5230	Global Health
PHTH 5236	Food, Nutrition, and Health
PHTH 5603	Qualitative Methods

¹

Must complete Health Science Capstone Introduction (HSCI 4700) (0 SH) as pre-requisite.

²

Junior/Senior Honors Project 1 (HSCI 4970) will count as 4 semester hours of general electives.

Co-op

A co-op is not required; however, students may choose to complete one or two six-month co-op experiences during their course of study. Students must consult their advisor regarding the prerequisite course for co-op.

Public Health Major Requirement

A grade of C or higher is required for the Public Health Core, Science Requirement, Public Health Social Science Requirement, and HSCI and PHTH Capstone courses. Students who take College: An Introduction (HSCI 1000) and Professional Development for Bouvé Co-op (HSCI 2000) must achieve a C or higher.

Public Health and Cultural Anthropology Major Credit Requirement

Minimum of 95 semester hours required

Program Requirement

128 total semester hours required

Sample Plans of Study

Four Years/ Two Co-ops in Spring/Summer First Half—Bouvé Students 

Year 1
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours	Summer 1	Hours	Summer 2	Hours
ENGW 1111	4	ANTH 1101	4	ANTH elective	4	General Elective	4
HSCI 1000	1	PSYC 1101	4	PHTH 2350	4	General Elective	4
PHTH 1260	4	BIOL course	4-5
BIOL course	4-5	Elementary language course	4
Introductory language course	4
	17-18		16-17		8		8
Year 2
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours	Summer 1	Hours	Summer 2	Hours
HSCI 2000 (*)	1	Co-op	0	Co-op	0	PH Social science course (introductory)	4
ANTH 2305	4					PHTH 2515	4
PHTH 2210	4
Intermediate language course	4
PHTH 2300	4
	17		0		0		8
Year 3
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours	Summer 1	Hours	Summer 2	Hours
ANTH 3410	4	Co-op	0	Co-op	0	ENGW 3306	4
ANTH 3421	4					PHTH 4202	4
ANTH 3441	4
ANTH area course	4
	16		0		0		8
Year 4
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours
Capstone course	3-4	ANTH elective	4
ANTH area course	4	PH Social science course (upper)	3-4
PHTH 4120	4	PHTH 4540	4
ANTH elective	4	General elective	4
	15-16		15-16
Total Hours: 128-132

Four Years/Two Co-ops in Summer Second Half/Fall—CSSH Students

Year 1
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours	Summer 1	Hours	Summer 2	Hours
ANTH 1000	1	ANTH 1101	4	ANTH elective	4	General Elective	4
PHTH 1260	4	ENGW 1111	4	PHTH 2350	4	General Elective	4
PSYC 1101	4	BIOL course	4-5
BIOL course	4-5	Elementary language course	4
Introductory language course	4
	17-18		16-17		8		8
Year 2
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours	Summer 1	Hours	Summer 2	Hours
ANTH elective	4	ANTH 2305	4	PH Social science course (introductory)	4	Co-op	0
ANTH area course	4	PHTH 2210	4	General elective	4
PHTH 2300	4	ANTH elective	4
Intermediate language course	4	EESH 2000 (*)	1
		PHTH 2515	4
	16		17		8		0
Year 3
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours	Summer 1	Hours	Summer 2	Hours
Co-op	0	ANTH 3410	4	PHTH 4120	4	Co-op	0
		ANTH 3421	4	PHTH 4540	4
		ANTH 3441	4
		ENGW 3308	4
	0		16		8		0
Year 4
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours
Co-op	0	ANTH area course	4
		Capstone Course	3-4
		PH Social science course (upper)	3-4
		PHTH 4202	4
	0		14-16
Total Hours: 128-132

*

Students that choose to complete at least one co-op experience must complete either Professional Development for Bouvé Co-op (HSCI 2000) or Professional Development for Co-op (EESH 2000) (based on home college) prior to co-op.