Cultural Studies

This course examines the sociocultural aspects of aging including role and life transitions, relationships, diversity, and unique views of the aging process among major ethnic groups. The course also explores successful aging, quality of life issues, elder abuse, community resources and continuum of care options for the older adult.

The Academic Travel Abroad is a team-taught, variable-credit course that satisfies 2-3 hours of general education credit. It offers a first-hand introduction to the history, arts, and healthcare systems of other cultures, including at least one hospital tour for students to interact with providers and educators from another system. The course may include more than one culture and may be repeated as different cultures are visited.\ The 10-day travel experience in December is the keystone of INTL202, which consists of the following:\ - Pre-trip evaluation;\ - Pre-trip meetings, monthly lectures (online platform), note-taking, readings, and assessments;\ - Intra-trip note-taking, journaling, breakfast meetings, and reflection;\ - Post-trip submission of course requirements through the spring semester;\ - Post-trip evaluation.

The Academic Travel Abroad is a team-taught, variable-credit course that satisfies 2-3 hours of general education credit. It offers a first-hand introduction to the history, arts, and healthcare systems of other cultures, including at least one hospital tour for students to interact with providers and educators from another system. The course may include more than one culture and may be repeated as different cultures are visited.\ The 10-day travel experience in December is the keystone of INTL202, which consists of the following:\ - Pre-trip evaluation;\ - Pre-trip meetings, monthly lectures (online platform), note-taking, readings, and assessments;\ - Intra-trip note-taking, journaling, breakfast meetings, and reflection;\ - Post-trip submission of course requirements through the spring semester;\ - Post-trip evaluation.

This course centers on an international medical mission trip experience. It offers the opportunity for students to interact with and learn from health care providers working in healthcare systems outside of the United States and to assist in providing care to underserved people. Course work will include preparing for, synthesizing, and reflecting on their experiences in this setting.

This course centers on an international medical mission trip experience. It offers the opportunity for students to interact with and learn from healthcare providers working in healthcare systems outside of the United States and to provide care to underserved people. Course work will include preparing for, synthesizing, and reflecting on their experiences in this setting.

This course aims to explore global health and disease issues with a focus on health concerns shared by societies around the globe. The course is organized around the premise that culture is central to understanding major issues in global health. The social construction of health and illness across cultures using ethnographic case studies representing a wide range of human experience in domestic and international contexts would be examined. Approaches to improving health and affecting change, based on scientific and social knowledge and experience, health systems development, social and political movements and public policy making are presented. Topics include poverty, war, pollution, food security, neglected tropical diseases, religion and health, economic globalization, and public policies in developing and developed countries. Foundational issues of ethics, social justice and human rights are explored.

This course will explore several different religions that impact health care and, ultimately, society. Part of this exploration will include an introspective assessment of one’s own belief system in order to establish mutual respect for others. The course will invite future healthcare workers to critically process how faith and belief influence healing practices.  Pathways for bridging differences between health systems and religious traditions will be developed.

This course provides an introduction to Christian Spirituality and the care of patients of this religious faith. While the Christian family tree is expansive, there are common threads that hold the faith together worldwide. The goal of this course is to understand the larger context of Christianity and spiritual practices with an aim to provide students with a practical understanding of the best care outcomes.

This introductory sign language course is designed to teach healthcare providers how to communicate using sign language. This course is for the person who wants to start at the very beginning and develop basic receptive and expressive language skills to communicate with the Deaf culture. No prior experience is necessary.

This course introduces the student to cultural concepts including the relationship of culture to life style and life decisions. The student will be exposed to what constitutes a culture, and how culture impacts behavior, values and beliefs.

The course provides an introduction to human gender and sexuality. Students will explore the psycho-social and cultural aspects of gender, gender identification, sexuality, and sexual orientations. Throughout the course, students will examine related topics including legal and ethical issues, relationships, inequalities, LGBTQ social movements, and cross-cultural perspectives. Additionally, students will study how gender and sexuality intersect with race, ethnicity, class, religion, region and age.

This course will increase awareness of the challenges and concerns of the delivery of health care among diverse, minority and underserved populations. Students will explore the effects of culture on the perception of health and illness by the affected individuals and by society. Students will also become familiar with how their own perceptions shape the delivery of care. This course will increase awareness of diversity and teach skills for a more personalized and accessible delivery of healthcare. Special focus will be paid to building responsible relationships with patients and other professionals for the sake of patient-centered care that encompasses not only physical but also psycho-social and cultural aspects of health care.

This course lays the language foundation for beginning students who have had little or no Spanish language before. Elemental grammar patterns and vocabulary focused toward a healthcare setting will be the core of this course. Content is aimed at developing oral and written language skills as well as cultural awareness about the Spanish-speaking world and community through the exploration of local and regional language use and social implications.

This course centers on an international medical mission trip experience in a Spanish-speaking country. Students will have the opportunity to enhance their Spanish oral and written proficiency by preparing for, synthesizing, and reflecting on their experiences in this setting, as well as working directly with Spanish-speaking health care providers and the underserved people of the country.

This course is an introduction to the historical background necessary to understand the contemporary Latino population in the United States. It includes an analysis of historical and current social, political, and economic issues, with consideration of influential Latino personalities in present-day American society. The course will also focus on understanding Latino cultural aspects relevant to the healthcare profession.