Geography of Health

The geography of health is a thriving area of study that considers the impact of natural, built, and social environments on human health. This course introduces students to three geographical contributions to health studies. First, it emphasizes the importance of ecological approaches to health, which consider interactions between humans and their environments, including topics such as how climate change might influence disease distributions, and how the built environment can influence patterns of physical activity. A second focus is social theory, exploring how aspects such as race, socioeconomic status, and identity play a critical role in influencing human health. A third section of the course considers how spatial methods (cartography, GIS, and spacial statistics) can help answer health-related questions.