Course Syllabus
Below is a syllabus template that includes WSU's required syllabus elements. Please complete all items highlighted in yellow.
Emerging Issues in Public Health
Prefix and Number CBH/PUBHLTH
Semester and Year [tbd]
Number of Credit Hours 2
Prerequisites None
Course Details
Day and Time: [tbd]
Meeting Location: [tbd]
Instructor Contact Information
Instructor Name: Ekaterina Burduli, PhD
Instructor Contact Information: HERB 454; eburduli@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 2-credit course explores contemporary and emerging issues in behavioral health from a public health perspective. Designed to reflect the rapidly evolving landscape of addiction science, mental health, prevention, policy, and treatment, the course engages students in timely and critical discussions on current topics in behavioral health through faculty-led discussions, guest speakers, case studies, and student-led presentations. Topics may vary by semester and are selected to reflect recent research, shifts in public policy, innovations in treatment, and ongoing public health challenges.
Course Materials
Books: Articles provided by instructor
Other Materials: None
Fees: None
|
Course Learning Outcomes (students will be able to:) |
Activities Supporting the Learning Outcomes | Assessment of the Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|
|
Describe current and emerging substance use trends and their public health implications. |
Weeks 1-16 |
Reflections, discussions |
|
Critically analyze prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and integrated care approaches for substance use, with attention to their effectiveness and equity impacts, including for individuals with co-occurring disorders. |
Weeks 1-16 |
Reflections, discussions, student led presentations |
|
Engage collaboratively with peers and experts to explore the complexity of behavioral health systems. |
Weeks 1-16 |
Reflections, discussions, and student led presentations |
|
Synthesize evidence and perspectives into written and oral presentations that reflect advanced public health reasoning. |
Weeks 4-16 |
Final paper and student led presentations |
|
Week |
Topic |
Guest/Activity |
Readings (customizable) |
Assignment |
|
1 |
Course Introduction & Public Health Frameworks |
Faculty-led overview |
Instructor provided reading |
|
|
2 |
Emerging Drug Trends: Fentanyl, Xylazine, & Novel Psychoactives |
Toxicologist / Emergency physician |
Instructor provided reading |
Reflection #1 – Identify a pressing emerging issue |
|
3 |
Psychedelics: From Illicit to Therapeutic |
Researcher or provider on psychedelic-assisted therapy |
Instructor provided reading |
Reflection #2 |
|
r |
Student led topic |
Student led presentation |
Student-provided reading |
Reflection #3 – Respond to a peer’s presentation |
|
5 |
Innovations in Treatment: Mobile MOUD & Telehealth |
MOUD provider/program director |
Instructor provided reading |
Reflection #4 |
|
6 |
Peer Recovery & Harm Reduction Services |
Peer recovery coach / harm reduction advocate |
Instructor provided reading |
— |
|
7 |
Substance Use in Justice-Involved Populations |
Justic/Court advocate |
Instructor provided reading |
Reflection #5 |
|
8 |
Co-Occurring Disorders & Integrated Care |
Behavioral health clinician |
Instructor provided reading |
— |
|
9 |
Mid-Semester Student Presentations |
Student-led presentations |
Student provided reading |
Reflection #6 – Respond to a peer’s presentation |
|
10 |
Overdose Surveillance & Public Health Response |
Epidemiologist / State DOH |
Instructor provided reading |
— |
|
11 |
Media, Culture, and Technology: Social Media & Normalization |
Media studies scholar |
Instructor provided reading |
Reflection #7 |
|
12 |
Racialized Drug Policy & Decriminalization Debates |
Drug policy advocate |
Instructor provided reading |
— |
|
13 |
Ethics & Public Health: Autonomy vs. Collective Good |
Bioethicist |
Instructor provided reading |
Reflection #8 |
|
14 |
Global Perspectives on Emerging Substance Use |
International collaborator |
Instructor provided reading |
— |
|
15 |
Systems & Policy Summary |
Faculty-led synthesis session |
Instructor provided reading |
|
|
16 |
Final Week |
|
Final Paper 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Reflections (6 x 10 points each) | 60 | 30% |
| Seminar Presentation | 50 | 25% |
| Final Paper | 50 | 25% |
| Attendance and Participation | 40 | 20% |
| Grade | Percent | Grade | Percent |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 90-100% | ||
| B | 80-89% | ||
| C | 70-79% | ||
| D | 60-69% | ||
| F | 0-59% | ||
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.
***Deadlines for reflections 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. Remember, you have the option to skip/miss 2 reflections out of the 8, since only 6 will be counted.***
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.