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Gender and Health

A gender perspective on women's and men's health throughout the life course is emerging as an exciting area of public health, domestically and globally. Gender, or the social construction of masculine and feminine identities rather than the mere biological division into male and female sexes, is increasingly recognized as a major determinant of health and well-being for both men and women around the globe.

Through multiple courses focusing particularly on women's health throughout the life course, students in this area of focus will gain considerable exposure to issues of gender and health, including the best available research strategies to study women's and men's lives and the health education approaches best suited to dealing with women's health needs. Together, the courses in this area of focus provide students with an excellent foundation in reproductive and maternal and child health, including several courses that are devoted to the issues related to women, fertility timing, and contraception.

Additional courses focus on the most pressing global health issues facing women today, including HIV/AIDS, maternal mortality, and infertility, which are undergirded by poverty, patriarchy, and racism. The intersections of race, class, gender, and health are highlighted in several courses, including two devoted entirely to reading feminist ethnographies of health written primarily by medical anthropologists.

Faculty teaching these courses maintain interdisciplinary connections to several other units across campus, including Population Studies, Women's Studies, Anthropology, and Social Work. Students can also take advantage of courses offered through the School of Public Health's Reproductive and Women's Health Interdepartmental Concentration, as well as the Program in Women's Studies Interdisciplinary Certificate Program.

Students who complete this concentration will have job opportunities in organizations devoted to women's and men's health and advocacy, both domestically and abroad.

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