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Message from the Director

Welcome to the website for the major in Health, Society, and Populations (HSP), an exciting health-focused undergraduate major housed in the College of Arts & Sciences.

The HSP major provides a unique program of study that focuses on structural and social determinants of health and illness. Students in the HSP program develop and hone their ability to think critically about how things like race, sexuality, gender, economic status, and political processes shape which individuals and groups are more or less likely to live a healthy life, and have access to health-preserving resources. HSP majors will also learn qualitative and quantitative research methods necessary to work in social and biological sciences, public health, medicine, and other health-related fields. These include health counseling with community-based organizations, public policy, health marketing and communications, and professional program design and research analysis. HSP majors will also be prepared to enter graduate school in the social sciences as well as some professional health fields.

Students who major in HSP will have the opportunity to take courses from faculty who teach and conduct research in the social and biological sciences, humanities, and mathematics, as well as across the university. Our liberal arts curriculum on health provides the flexibility necessary to pursue individual interests while establishing a solid foundation for professional development in one of the fastest-growing fields in the United States and globally.

If you are interested in learning more about the HSP major, please contact me. I also invite you to review the information provided on different pages of our web site. Thank you for visiting!

Robyn Brown, Director and Associate Professor of Sociology