Students will learn about the human body in its social, cultural and political contexts. The framing is sociological rather than biomedical, attentive to cultural meanings, institutional practices, politics and social problems. The course explicitly discusses bodies in relation to race, class, gender, sexuality, ability, age, health, geography and citizenship status, carefully examining how social differences come to appear natural. Analyzing clinics, prisons, border zones, virtual realities and more, students develop a conceptual toolkit to analyze how society "gets under the skin", producing differential exposure to premature death.

This course covers major diseases (cancer, diabetes, heart disease, infectious diseases), the physical changes that inflict morbidity and mortality, the design constraints for treatment, and emerging technologies that take into account these physical hurdles. Taking the perspective of the design constraints on the system (that is, the mass transport and biophysical limitations of the human body), we will survey recent innovations from the fields of drug delivery, gene therapy, tissue engineering, and nanotechnology.

This course looks at the formation of a techne ("art" or "science") of medicine in fifth-century BCE Greece and debates about the theory and practice of healthcare in Greco-Roman antiquity. We look at early Greek medicine in relationship to established medical traditions in Egypt and Mesopotamia; medical discourses of human nature, gender, race, and the body; debates about the ethics of medical research; the relationship of the body to the mind; and the nature of "Greek" medicine as it travels to Alexandria, Rome and Baghdad. Readings drawn from primary sources as well as contemporary texts in medical humanities and bioethics.

In this studio course open to all, we'll dive into experiences in which body and language meet. We'll think about these from aesthetic, cultural, political, medical, personal, and philosophical perspectives. We'll explore language from, in, around, and about (our) bodies. We'll question hierarchies between body and language, use embodied approaches to examine pressing issues of our time. We'll play with the physicality of voice and the material qualities of words and sentences. We'lll find literary structures in movement. We'll move and create together with tools from dance, theater, visual art, improvisation, writing, and somatic practices.

Health economics is a growing field of applied microeconomics and is an important aspect of public policy. This course explores the health care sector and health policy issues from an economic perspective. Microeconomics tools will be used to analyze the functioning of different pieces of the health care system. Topics will range from fundamental subjects, such as the demand for health, to more recent developments, such as mental health, child health and risky health behaviors. This course teaches an economic approach to studying the various policies that affect health and health behaviors.

An introduction to the biology of viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, worms, arthropods, and parasitic plants. The major emphasis will be on the parasites of animals and plants, with further study of the epidemiology of infectious diseases in human populations. Studies of AIDS, anthrax, and worms, and their role in human history will be complemented by ecological and evolutionary studies of fig wasps, measles, myxomatosis, and communities of parasitic helminths. The course combines lectures with daily field laboratories to explore the dynamics and abundance of parasite in a variety of host species in the Mpala Research Centre in Kenya.

This required course for GHP students explores how we study the distribution and determinants of disease, introducing methods for measuring health status, disease occurrence, the association between risk factors and health outcomes, probing evidence for causality, and characterizing how ecology and evolution shapes human health. Emphasis on: study design and sampling, bias and confounding, the generalizability of research, identifying causality, infectious disease dynamics, global health, and one health.

Human reproduction is often taken for granted as a merely biological phenomenon, yet reproduction is laden with cultural meaning and import for individuals and for society as a whole. Despite its significance, reproduction is rarely addressed in the Princeton curriculum. This new lecture course explores human reproduction from a sociological perspective. It also seeks to introduce students to some of the basic modes of thinking in both sociology and gender and sexuality studies.

This course explores how new developments in science, medicine, and technology shaped European cultures during three crucial centuries, from 1400-1700. During this period, knowledge of nature was transformed by a host of factors, from the rediscovery of ancient texts to the invention of new technologies and encounters with new lands and peoples. Political upheaval, religious Reformation, and the expansion of global commerce and colonization also affected how science was carried out, and by whom. From medicine and mechanics to alchemy and magic, this course examines the interplay between natural knowledge and human society.

This course explores the history, culture, and language of the Deaf in the United States. The first part of the course focuses on the history of Deaf people in the United States. The second part discusses various aspects of Deaf culture: language, literature, art, politics, etc. The third part critically examines different issues facing Deaf people here in the United States and around the world. These issues include audism, linguicism, ableism, intersectionality, disability rights, bioethics, and education. No American Sign Language knowledge required.

The current environment in the US for the use and abuse of foods and drugs will be examined from a scientific fact-based perspective. Historical, economic, marketing, political, and public health drivers will be considered. Specific topics include government dietary recommendations (food politics), dietary supplements (from Vitamins to herbal extracts), pharmacology and ethical drug development (sulfa drugs, NSAIDS, etc), addiction and substance abuse (alcohol, nicotine, stimulants, opioids, etc), Alzheimer's disease and the problem of long-term care in an aging population, and Psychedelic drug use and abuse (psilocybin, mescaline, LSD, etc).

We will explore the molecular events leading to the onset and progression of human cancer. We will review the central genetic and biochemical elements that make up the cell cycle, followed by a survey of the signal transduction pathways and checkpoints that regulate it. We will discuss oncogenes, tumor suppressor and mutator genes that act in these pathways and review the role of viral oncogenes and their action on cells. We will investigate the role of cancer stem cells and the interaction between tumor and the host environment. We will explore specific clinical case studies in light of the molecular events underlying different cancers.

This course will consider the principles, development, outcomes and future directions of therapeutic applications of biotechnology, with particular emphasis on the interplay between basic research and clinical experience. Topics to be discussed include production of hormones and other protein drugs, nucleic acid drugs and vaccines, gene therapy and gene editing, and molecular diagnostics. Reading will largely be from the primary literature.

The objectives of this course are to understand the bio-psycho-social/processes that influence health-related behaviors, health and wellness, and health-care delivery. Topics to be examined are the psycho-physiological and socio-cultural bases of health and illness; pain; adaptation to chronic illness; stress; personality and illness; death, dying, and grief; substance use; obesity and nutrition; health promoting behaviors; patient adherence; physician-patient communication; and health care utilization.

We suffer. Sometimes more, sometimes less - but we all suffer, and often profoundly. What is it about the human condition that seems to make suffering inevitable? What can we do to deal with it? One approach is to try to change the external conditions causing the trouble. A very different approach sees the most important change as being within ourselves. Can we eliminate - or at least assuage - our suffering by changing the way we direct our attention (Netflix...), by changing the way we experience (drugs...), or by changing our manner of desiring (spiritual practices...)? We will approach these questions practically and theoretically.

The course examines broad scientific, social, political, and philosophical problems raised at the intersection of genetics and public policy, including the echo of eugenics in gene therapy and gene enhancement; the ways in which genetic disease plays out in different cultural settings and shape conceptions of the self and race; genetic applications and practices in the criminal justice system; genetically modified agricultural products; commercial genetic testing; the patenting of genes; pandemic preparedness and response; and policies regulating genetic research that is deemed to be potentially dangerous.

The Affordable Care Act, enacted in 2010, was the defining (and polarizing) initiative of the Obama era, with provisions to expand health insurance coverage, control health care costs, and improve the healthcare delivery system. This course will focus on the history of health reform, as well as the implementation challenges since its enactment. We will examine the federal regulatory process, the role that states are playing in implementation, legal challenges to the statute, and Congressional oversight. We will also investigate the role of federalism in health care policy and the future of health care reform.