GEOG 256 - Medical Geography: The Geography of Health and Health Care

This course examines the geographical dimensions of health and disease, including global and domestic public health issues. Key approaches and themes include the human ecology approach to health; epidemiological mapping and spatial analysis; environmental health, including the environmental causes of cancer; the relationship among demographic change, economic development, and population health; the political economy of non-communicable health problems, such as lead poisoning and the “obesity epidemic”; the spatial diffusion of infectious diseases; the disease ecology approach to infectious and vector-borne diseases, e.g. malaria, West Nile virus, and Lyme disease; and the challenges of “global health” in the 21st century, with special emphasis on “emerging infectious diseases,” such as HIV/AIDS, SARS, and Avian influenza. Spring semester. (4 Credits)