Course Syllabus
Below is a syllabus template that includes WSU's required syllabus elements. Please complete all items highlighted in yellow.
Health and Place
Prefix and Number CBH/PubHlth 411
Semester and Year [tbd]
Number of Credit Hours 3
Prerequisites None
Course Details
Day and Time: [tbd]
Meeting Location: [tbd]
Instructor Contact Information
Instructor Name: Elizabeth Wood, PhD
Anna Hing, PhD, MPH
Instructor Contact Information:
liz.wood@wsu.edu
Anna.hing@wsu.edu
Instructor Office Hours: [click here for best practices] [tbd]
TA Name: [tbd]
TA Contact Information: [office location, phone, email]: [tbd]
TA Office Hours: [click here for best practices] [tbd]
Course Description
This course examines how place shapes health from the micro level to the macro level. We will begin by exploring the concept of neighborhood and built environment as a social determinant of health, from air quality and walkability to neighborhood cohesion and green spaces. Next, we will explore how changes in place can lead to changes in health, discussing the health consequences of housing instability, eviction, and homelessness. We will also explore how changing place affects the health of refugees, asylum-seekers, immigrants, and migratory laborers. We will examine places where unique approaches have emerged to meet unique population needs: occupational health, school health, tribal health, rural and frontier health, and health in the criminal justice system. Students will also unpack how a community’s health can be affected both positively and negatively by policies related to place. We will explore how historical policies like redlining created geographical patterns that are still reflected in the health of communities today. We will also discuss how local, state, and federal government uses policies about place when responding to issues like affordable housing shortages and the opioid epidemic. Finally, we will explore how public health can promote environmental justice in a changing world.
Course Materials
Books: TBD
Other Materials: Supplemental articles provided by instructors
Fees: None
|
Course Learning Outcomes (students will be able to:) |
Activities Supporting the Learning Outcomes | Assessment of the Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|
|
Describe how features of the built environment (air quality, walkability, housing quality) affect health. |
Weeks 1-5 |
In-class discussion, short reflection paper |
|
Compare and contrast health risks faced by populations experiencing housing instability, migration, or forced displacement. |
Weeks 6-11 |
In-class discussion, Midterm exam, short essays, Case study write-up |
|
Identify structural barriers and facilitators of health in specific contexts (rural/frontier communities, carceral systems, tribal health systems). |
Weeks 12-13 |
Case study write-up, presentation |
|
Critically assess the effects of policies such as redlining, zoning, and housing subsidies on community health and equity. |
Weeks 14-16 |
Presentation, Policy analysis assignment |
|
Interpret and communicate case examples of environmental justice issues, including climate-related disasters, using public health frameworks. |
Weeks 14-16 |
Policy analysis assignment |
|
Propose place-based strategies to improve health equity in a community of interest. |
Weeks 14-16 |
Final Project assignment |
|
Week |
Topic |
Subtopics / Focus |
Assignments / Due Dates |
|
1 |
Introduction to Health & Place |
Course overview; neighborhood & built environment; Healthy People 2030 goals |
– |
|
2 |
Housing & Health |
Housing quality; WASH; indoor environmental risks (mold, radon, asbestos, lead) |
Reflection #1 assigned |
|
3 |
Built Environment & Movement |
Walkability; transportation; green space; car dependence |
– |
|
4 |
Neighborhood Inequality & Safety |
Food deserts/mirages; socioeconomic disadvantage; policing & safety perceptions |
– |
|
5 |
Social Cohesion & Belonging |
Community engagement; loneliness; neighborhood cohesion; third spaces |
Reflection #1 due |
|
6 |
Housing Instability & Cost Burden |
Housing insecurity; eviction; foreclosure; stress and health tradeoffs |
– |
|
7 |
Homelessness & Health |
Health risks of unhoused populations; transitional housing; anti-homeless architecture |
Reflection #2 due |
|
8 |
Migration & Health I: Refugees & Asylum Seekers |
Case studies; resettlement barriers; long-term health outcomes |
Midterm Exam |
|
9 |
Migration & Health II: Immigrants & Migrant Laborers |
Immigrant health paradox; barriers to care; migrant/farmworker health |
– |
|
10 |
Criminal Justice & Health |
Health of incarcerated populations; justice system interventions; community impacts |
– |
|
11 |
Rural & Frontier Health |
Workforce shortages; critical access hospitals; rural health risks |
Group Presentation |
|
12 |
Policy & Place I: Historical Foundations |
Redlining; segregation; gentrification; Alien Land Laws |
– |
|
13 |
Policy & Place II: Housing Policy Today |
Section 8; subsidized housing; zoning; affordable housing |
Policy Brief Due |
|
14 |
Substance Use, Place & Policy |
Safe injection/overdose prevention sites; stigma zoning; harm reduction |
Reflection #3 due |
|
15 |
Environmental Justice I: Disasters & Hazards |
Environmental disasters; Hanford downwinders; preparedness & equity |
– |
|
16 |
Environmental Justice II: Climate Change & Health Equity |
Climate impacts; air/water quality; climate justice; wrap-up |
Final Project Due |
Expectations for Student Effort
For every hour of in-class instruction, or equivalent online instruction, students should expect at least 2-3 hours of outside class course preparation in the form of reading, course assignments, and review of previous materials.
Grading [add more lines if necessary]
| Type of Assignment (tests, papers, etc) | Points | Percent of Overall Grade |
|---|---|---|
|
Class Participation & Engagement |
30 |
10% |
|
Reflection Papers (3 total) |
45 |
15% (5% each) |
|
Midterm Exam |
60 |
20% |
|
Group Presentation |
45 |
15% |
|
Policy Analysis Brief |
45 |
15% |
|
Final Project: Place-Based Health Equity Proposal |
75 |
25% |
| Grade | Percent | Grade | Percent |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 95-100% | C | 73-75% |
| A- | 90-94% | C- | 70-72% |
| B+ | 86-89% | D+ | 66-69% |
| B | 83-85% | D | 60-65% |
| B- | 80-82% | F | 0-59% |
| C+ | 76-79% |
Standard rounding procedures will be applied to the percentages in order to calculate grades
Attendance and Make-Up Policy
Class periods will be highly interactive. Students will be expected to be prepared with a positive, respectful attitude and willingness to cooperate and communicate with all members of the class. They will be expected to come prepared having read and completed any assignments. I encourage you to make a transformation in the way you use this information to make you a better practitioner. Don’t stay stagnant in your practice; don’t be afraid to try new things. Learning is best facilitated through challenges and practice. Therefore, participation in discussions and group work will make up a portion of the final evaluation score. Students are expected to be present and on time to all class sessions. If students will not be able to attend class, they must contact me prior to that session, or the absence will be entered as unexcused. A deduction of points for each unexcused absence will be taken from the total points at the end of the semester.
Make-Up Exam Policies: Don’t miss the scheduled exam. Make-up exams will be given for reasonable absences which include participation in school sponsored events (e.g., conferences, clinical experience), illness, family emergencies, etc. To notify me of absence please contact me prior to the scheduled exam.
***Deadlines for assignments and exams are typically set at 11:59 p.m. on Friday evenings, However, I know life happens and sometimes you need a bit of extra time, so I will leave the submission links open until 11:59 p.m. on Sunday nights. Anything that is submitted after the official deadline but before the link closes will be a late submission and will be accepted but have 20% deducted from the grade. You don’t have to request permission or provide an excuse to use this late submission option while the Canvas link is still open. If you need more time after the Canvas link has closed on Sunday night, please reach out and let me know so we can figure something out. ***
Academic Integrity Statement
You are responsible for reading WSU's Academic Integrity Policy, which is based on Washington State law. If you cheat in your work in this class you will:
-[All members of the university community share responsibility for maintaining and promoting the principles of integrity in all activities, including academic integrity and honest scholarship. Students are responsible for understanding the full Academic Integrity statement found online at vpue.wsu.edu/policies/statements/#academic-integrity. Students who violate WSU’s Academic Integrity Policy (identified in Washington Administrative Code (WAC) 504-26-010(3) and -404) will receive an F as a final grade in this course, will not have the option to withdraw from the course pending an appeal, and will be reported to the Office of Student Conduct. If you have any questions about what is and is not allowed in the course, you should ask course instructors.
Presenting the information, ideas, or phrasing of another person as your own work without proper acknowledgment of the source. Our policy makes no distinction between intentional and unintentional plagiarism. In my experience, most students commit "academic integrity violations" for one of two reasons - either they genuinely do not understand how to correctly cite and quote other people's writing, or they have run out of time on an assignment. Both are wholly avoidable, and I would love to help you avoid them! If you in the first category and are not entirely sure about where research stops and plagiarism starts, there are good resources at UCLALinks to an external site., OnlineColleges.net,Links to an external site. and at WSU's Community Standards CenterLinks to an external site. I am also happy to answer questions about this if you need clarification. If you are in the second category and have fallen behind or got swamped with work, please just reach out and ask for an extension, which I am essentially always happy to grant. The deadlines for assignments are because I need to break assessments up so that they can occur close to when the content was taught and so that my grading load is distributed somewhat evenly throughout the semester. Having a student take an extra week or two here and there is not a big deal at all.
Consequences of plagiarism or other academic integrity violations may include penalties such as losing all points on the assignment or being reported to the Community Conduct Center. Dealing with these violations is no fun for me and no fun for the student, so let's just steer clear and spend our time together teaching and learning instead.]
-Be reported to the Center for Community Standards
-Have the right to appeal my decision
-Not be able to drop the course of withdraw from the course until the appeals process is finished
If you have any questions about what you can and cannot do in this course, ask me.
If you want to ask for a change in my decision about academic integrity, use the form at the Center for Community Standards website. You must submit this request within 21 calendar days of the decision.