This course is designed to
introduce students to the study of factors that influence the health of
populations. This course will focus on how to interpret common measures of
population health, such as life expectancy at birth and measures of morbidity
and disability. The course will look at the population health will be
considered from a comparative and historical perspective. We will study the
principal factors driving the massive health improvements of the past century,
as well as some of the obstacles that have recently emerged. We will also
discuss social relationships and health and the ways in which we affect each
other’s health