Interdisciplinary Concentration in Health Communication
Health communication is an area of theory, research
and practice related to understanding and influencing the interdependence
of communication and health-related beliefs, behaviors and outcomes.
Health communication combines both scholarship and practice.
It embraces not only traditional scholarship, emphasizing theory
and data collection; it also includes the use of research for
broad "therapeutic" goals, using knowledge about message formation
and communication to alleviate suffering or reduce risky behavior.
Messages functioning to influence health may not
be intended to do so (e.g., popular culture messages may outweigh
messages designed for "planned" health communication). A popular
culture that imbeds demeaning "messages" regarding the treatment
of women may influence far more viewers than deliberately designed
messages or Public Service Announcements "planned" to increase
respect for women's rights or the dignity of women. Health communication
acknowledges the influence of both planned and popularly imbedded
healthy or unhealthy messages.
Humans are actors, not just acted upon; influencers,
not just "targets." A health communication perspective acknowledges
that humans are not simply "receptacles," available to receive
"hypodermic needles" of information "injected" directly into
human cognition and motivation. Rather, members of particular
audiences or audience segments employ media for specific "uses
and gratifications." Some use media primarily for news, others
for entertainment, still others for learning about new experiences
and places.
In addition, audience members in turn have choices
about whether to discuss what they access with others. A health
communication perspective views audience members not simply
as "targets" of information, but rather as "communicators" as
well, part of a potential chain of "influencers." Humans act
on meanings (interpretations), not just observed "content."
A "fear" appeal may lead to cynicism and relinquishing hope,
a conviction that little can be done to reduce risk. But it
may also be "interpreted" not as inevitable victimization but
rather as a "danger" that can be addressed and reduced through
reasonable precautions. Effective health communication takes
into account variations not only in message content, but also
in the confidence and skill levels of audiences exposed to that
content. Varied audience education levels may also lead to different
interpretations of consequences of healthy behavior.
Faculty Sponsor
John C. Pollock (Communication Studies)
Curriculum
Core Course
Required: Select one course
- COM 403/Social Marketing: Public* Communication Campaigns
- COM 310/Theories of Persuasion*
Arts and Humanities
Two courses freely
selected
English
- JPW 370/Topics in Journalism: The Business of Science*
- LIT 313/Gay and Lesbian Literature*
- LIT 315/Men and Masculinity: Literary Perspectives*
Women's and Gender Studies
- WGS 210/Women and Health: Power, Politics and Change*
- WGS 220/Gender and Popular Culture*
- WGS 250/Politics of Sexuality*
- WGS 320/Men and Masculinities*
- WGS 341/Gay and Lesbian Literature*
Philosophy
- PHL 335/Bioethics (Prerequisite: One course each in
philosophy and biology, or permission of instructor)
Mathematics and Natural Science
One course from each of the categories listed below
Quantitative Reasoning
- Any course in Statistics approved for Liberal Learning.
Biology
- Any Laboratory course in Biology approved for Liberal
Learning.
Social Sciences
Two
courses freely selected
Communication Studies
- COM 310/Theories in Persuasion*
- COM 403/Social Marketing: Public Communication Campaigns*
- COM 390/Communication Research Methods*
Psychology
- PSY 212 Biopsychology
- PSY 340/Health Psychology (Prerequisite: PSY 101)
- PSY 338/Sport & Exercise Psychology (Prerequisite:
PSY 101)
- PSY 342/Clinical Pharmacology (Prerequisites: PSY 101)
- PSY 343/
Behavioral Pharmacology of Drugs of Abuse (Prerequisites: PSY 101, PSY 212)
Sociology
- SOC 345/
SOC 345/Inequality, Pollution and the Environment*
- SOC 370/Culture, Health & Illness (Prerequisite:
SOC 101 or HON 216)
- SOC 372/Introduction to Comparative Public Health (Prerequisite:
SOC 101 or HON 216)
History
- HIS 395/History of Western Sexuality*
- HIS 396/A Gendered History of Food*
- HIS 397/Gay and Lesbian History*
Comments on Required and Recommended
Courses
- This concentration requires a minimum of seven different
courses. Although some courses may be listed in more than
one department or program, no course is to "count" more than
once. Six courses distributed among the three sectors of Arts
& Humanities, Math & Science, and Social Sciences.
- Students who follow the recommended distribution of courses
(two in Arts and Humanities; two in Quantitative Reasoning
and Science; two in History and Social; plus one core course)
will complete their breadth distribution in Liberal Learning.
- Students who choose not to follow the recommended distribution,
may in consultation with faculty sponsors, choose to take
a maximum of four courses from the same broad sector.
However, they will have to complete their breadth distribution
by taking additional courses for distribution outside this
interdisciplinary concentration (which in some cases may be
taken as part of the major requirements).
* Courses marked with an asterisk (*) have no prerequisites.
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