Health and Society

The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the major social variables—social class, race, gender, poverty, income distribution, social networks/support, community cohesion, the work and neighborhood environment—that affect population health. The course covers the theoretical underpinnings of each construct (e.g. "race" as a social category), and surveys the empirical research linking each to population health status. Methods are introduced to operationalize each construct for the purposes of empirical application in epidemiologic research. Before your course starts, try the new edX Demo where you can explore the fun, interactive learning environment and virtual labs. Learn more. HarvardX pursues the science of learning. By registering as an online learner in an HX course, you will also participate in research about learning. Read our research statement to learn more.