Special Topics in Public Health: U.S. History & Policy

Syllabus– HSSP 135A – Spring 2015

Instructor: Sarah Elisabeth Curi, JD, MPH

Email: Phone: 781-736-3654

Office Hours: By appointment Office: Rabb 250

Class Meetings: Mondays and Wednesdays from 6:30 to 7:50 p.m. Classroom: Schwartz Hall 103

Students are expected to attend each class and to arrive on time.

Requirements & Grading:

1. / Class Participation. The course is organized to be discussion-based and highly interactive. A central course requirement is for you to come to each class having read the assigned materials and being prepared to thoughtfully discuss them. Your questions, as well as your insights, will be valuable learning tools for students and the instructor alike! Not actively and thoughtfully participating in class discussions will adversely impact your grade. If you have concerns or questions about this requirement, contact me to discuss. / Worth 15% of your course grade.
2. / Papers. There are three clear, concise, analytical papers, each tied very closely to the course materials. Each paper should be 2-3 pages single-spaced, in Times New Roman 12 pt. font, with1 inch margins.
Late papers will not be accepted. If an extenuating circumstance arises and you think you might not be able to meet a deadline, it is your responsibility to contact me ahead of time to discuss possible alternatives.
You must properly cite your sources, including any primary or secondary sources as well as individuals.[1] / Worth 50% of your course grade.
3. / Final Exam. A 3-hour final exam will be given during Exam Week. The exam - which will include matching, short answers, true-false, and short essays - will be cumulative, covering the entire course. / Worth 35% of your course grade.
Readings: Our text book is Introduction to Public Health by Mary-Jane Schneider - 4th edition from 2013, ISBN13: 978-1449688875. Additional course materials are listed in the Syllabus. Supplemental course readings may also be distributed.
All readings should be completed before the class session for which they are assigned. You are expected to read and come to each class prepared to thoughtfully discuss all the course materials. /

Course Objectives: The goal ofSpecial Topics in Public Health: U.S. History & Policy is for students to:

-  Explore key topics in public health in the United States, with a focus on law and policy

-  Hone analytical skills as well as construct persuasive oral and written arguments

-  Gain knowledge the decision making processes used for public health policy and reform

-  Think critically about the future of public health in a resource-constrained world

Important Notes: If you are a student with a documented disability on record at Brandeis and wish to have a reasonable accommodation made for you in this class, please see me immediately.

You are expected to be honest in all your academic work. The University policy on academic honesty is section 4 of the Rights and Responsibilities handbook which is available at http://www.brandeis.edu/studentaffairs/srcs/rr/. Instances of alleged dishonesty will be forwarded to the Office of Campus Life for possible referral to the Student Judicial System. Potential sanctions include failure in the course and suspension from the University.

General Course Policies:

·  You are expected to attend each class and arrive on time. If you need to miss class (e.g., for an interview, for an illness), please email me ahead of time. It is your responsibility to find out what you missed in class.

·  You may use computers/tablets during class, preferably for note taking.

·  If you wish to invite family and/or friends to a class, please ask me in advance.

·  You may not record any portion of class without my permission. To do so is illegal in Massachusetts.

Should any problem arise during the semester, such as illness or family emergency, notify me immediately.
If you have any questions about my expectations, please ask.

Course Overview: Special Topics in Public Health: U.S. History & Policy is designed to a) introduce students to the complex history of public health efforts in the United States by exploring key topics, b) provide students with an overview of major ethical and legal concepts and their impact on public health practice, and c) challenge students to consider the future of public health.

Public health is the interdisciplinary science and art of protecting and improving the health of communities through education, promotion of healthy lifestyles, and the prevention of disease and injury. Ethical, legal, and social considerations are integral to public health policy. Law is a tool to achieving our public health goals. A central question is how does and how should the law balance each individual’s right to self-determination and our government’s responsibility to act for the greater good?

Today, threats of bio-terrorism after 9/11 and recent infectious disease outbreaks are two concerns which have fueled a renewed interest and a growing recognition that public health issues are inseparable from issues of human rights and social justice, and problems of cultural and behavioral change on a local, national, and global scale. How we got here matters. An understanding of history sensitizes us to the interplay of these varied social, political, and economic forces that influence our laws and ethical perspective then, and now. Accordingly, we will explore key historical topics including the Colonial America’s and the early Republic’s efforts to manage epidemics (such as the yellow fever epidemic) and improve sanitation, the 19th social reformers who came together to fight problems related to urbanization, industrialization, and large-scale immigration, and the late 20th century activism relating to HIV/AIDs. We will trace how, overtime, the field of public health has evolved in response to social, cultural, and institutional changes. We will also investigate how the increasing focus on individual health promotion and disease prevention intersects with social movements concerned with issues of race, gender, sexuality, and medical authority.

Together we will analyze how and when the law can be used to implement health policies and programs and consider the ethical implications around these ideas. Additionally, this course will cover the ethics of health promotion and disease prevention and the allocation of limited resources.

Routinely in public health, an array of scientific considerations blend with political and ethical conflicts, and questions of individual rights versus the common good as well as issues of coercion and justice. Competing multi-cultural values can add layers of complexity. Public health concerns often pose ethical “dilemmas” rather than black and white moral questions about which well-informed persons of good will can reasonably disagree.

No Pre-Requisites: There are no pre-requisites for this course. The interdisciplinary nature of this course will enable students to build on prior studies across a range of fields, including HSSP, Politics, History, Sociology, Philosophy, Business, SJSP, and Legal Studies.

Grades: Grades are earned, not given.
A = 95: excellent / of the highest quality
B = 85: superior / above average
C = 75: satisfactory / fulfill the requirements
D = 65: needs improvement
F = 55 or less: failure / A+ / 98.6
A+/A / 96.9
A / 95.2
a/a- / 93.5
A- / 91.8
A-/b+ / 90.1
B+ / 88.4
B+/B / 86.7
B / 85.1
B-/B / 83.4
B- / 81.7
B-/C+ / 80.0
/ C+ / 78.3
C+/C / 76.7
C / 75.0
C/C- / 73.3
C- / 71.7
C-/D+ / 70.0
D+ / 68.3
D+/D / 66.7
D / 65.0
D/D- / 63.3
D- / 61.7
F or less / 55.0

My Background Interests: I am a practicing health care attorney with over 20 years of experience in the health care sector. I've worked for several hospitals, provider groups, and researchers in the Boston area. I work “in-house” – meaning that my only client is the corporation that I work for. I don’t ever go to court. Instead, I aim for “preventative lawyering” - I’m essentially a business lawyer with a specialty in health care. My expertise includes a range of business and health law matters with a focus on regulatory compliance, risk management, health care and public health policy, ethics, and patient rights.

I have taught at Brandeis since 2007. My Brandeis courses are:

-  LGLS 114A - American Healthcare: Law & Policy

-  LGLS 131B - Patient Autonomy: Law, Medicine & Ethics

-  HSSP 135A- Special Topics in Public Health: U.S. History & Policy

-  Justice Brandeis Semester: Health, Law & Justice – co-taught with Alice Noble, JD, MPH

At Brandeis, I also serve as the Undergraduate Advising Head (UAH) for HSSP and on the Board of Pre-Medical Advisors as well as participate in the PossePlus Retreat. In 2012 and 2013, I taught Health Care Ethics at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences (now MCPHS).

I am a graduate of Wellesley College, Boston College Law School, and the Harvard School of Public Health. At Wellesley, I was a History and Psychology double major. I rowed port. I was born in California, raised in rural Connecticut, and now live in Watertown, MA. I enjoy in-line skating, mentoring, and exploring with my husband and our two shelter-rescue dogs – Minnie Cooper Cora.

Additional Notes

Computer Technology: Computers are great when they work, but problems can lead to heartbreak/anxiety when they don't. Do frequently back-up copies of your work, double check that important emails go through, and make sure you give yourself extra time - just in case. I mention this because, last semester, in just one week, I received reports of:

1.  a lost flash drive containing the only copy of several years of work; fortunately, it was found several days later.

2.  a failed hard drive containing several years of work - and the only copy of paper; the work, sadly, was not recoverable.

3.  an email program that failed to send a paper.

4.  a computer that crashed and needed to be restarted just before the paper was due.

Email Etiquette: How to E-mail Your Professor - http://web.wellesley.edu/SocialComputing/Netiquette/netiquetteprofessor.html

Some Basics on Citations: I have noticed that many Brandeis students seem very inexperienced with when to use citations, such as footnotes - There are many great resources on style - depending on which format you need to use (for the purpose of my class - an informal style is fine, provided I readily identify the source). If you are not well-versed in properly citing – practice. Here is some very basic information.

GOOD STUFF TO KNOW ABOUT FOOTNOTES

WHEN to footnote

Directquotations.Anytime you use somebody else's words [whether written or oral], you must put them inquotationmarksandfootnote your source.A longquoteof several lines should be indented and single-spaced.That takes the place ofquotationmarks, but you still have to footnote your source.

Paraphrase.When you put somebody else's ideas into your own words, you don't use quotation marks, but you still must footnote your source.Otherwise, you are stealing his ideas and claiming them as your own.That's cheating.

Facts.It is very much to your advantage to bring in the experts to back up what you say, and prove that you are not making this stuff up.The ideas should be yours, but your supporting facts should be traceable to an expert in the field.

Illustrations, charts, etc.If it didn't come out of your clever little brain, you must acknowledge your source.

Informational [or explanatory] footnote.This is to slip in extra tidbits of information that don't quite belong in the main flow of your argument….[2]

Monday / Wednesday
1.  / January 12
Class 1: Welcome & Introduction
What is Health? What is Public Health? / January 14
Class 2: Why History Matters
1.  TEXT - Chapter 1: Public Health, Science, Politics, and Prevention
2.  TEXT – Chapter 2: Why Is Public Health Controversial
3.  Scally G, Womack J. The importance of the past in public health.J Epidemiol Community Health, 2004;58:751–5 http://jech.bmj.com/content/58/9/751.full.pdf+html
2.  / January 19
-  No Class – MLK Day / January 21
Class 3: The Role of Law & Government
1.  Law, Government and Public Health – Chapter 4 - http://samples.jbpub.com/9781449600228/00228_CH04_077_104.pdf
2.  Review slide deck - United States Public Health 101, CDC, Nov. 2013, http://www.cdc.gov/stltpublichealth/docs/usph101.pdf
3.  Thomas R. Frieden, M.D., M.P.H., Government's Role in Protecting Health and Safety, N Engl J Med 2013; 368:1857-1859, May 16, 2013, http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1303819
4.  The Soda Ban Decision: What It Really Means, Huffington Post, 6/27/2014, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sara-haviva-mark/the-soda-ban-court-decision_b_5537010.html
3.  / January 26
Class 4: CANCELLED – Severe Weather / January 28
Class 5: CANCELLED – Severe Weather
4.  / February 2
Class 6: CANCELLED – Severe Weather
/ February 4
Class 7: Social & Behavioral Factors
1.  TEXT – Chapter 13: Do People Choose Their Own Health?
2.  TEXT - Chapter 14: How Psychosocial Factors Affect Health Behavior
3.  How Does Where We Live, Work, Learn and Play Affect Our Health?, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, September 2011 - http://www.rwjf.org/content/dam/farm/reports/issue_briefs/2011/rwjf71339
4.  Happiness & health – Harvard H.T. Chan School of Public Health – Winter 2011 http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/magazine/happiness-stress-heart-disease/
5.  / February 9
Class 8: The Cholera Years: Part I
1.  The Mayo Clinic guide to Cholera: http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/cholera/basics/definition/con-20031469
2.  Rosenberg, Charles, The Cholera Years: The United States in 1832, 1849, and 1866, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL, http://web.stanford.edu/dept/HPS/154/May13RosenbergP1to98.pdf
o  Introduction, pp. 1-9
o  Part I – 1832
I. The Epidemic: 1832 – pp. 13-39
II: God’s Justice? – skim pp. 40-54 to get a sense of the impact of religious attitudes at the time
3.  Look at this Interactive Map of NY City in 1832 http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~20006~510002:Map-of-the-City-and-County-of-New-Y / February 11
Class 9: The Cholera Years: Part II
1.  The Cholera Years: Part I - 1832 cont. http://web.stanford.edu/dept/HPS/154/May13RosenbergP1to98.pdf