Health and Human Biology
Source: https://www.brown.edu/undergraduate-programs/health-and-human-biology-ab Parent: https://www.brown.edu/undergraduate-programs
Health and Human Biology is an interdisciplinary concentration that provides a rigorous foundation in the biological sciences with substantive course work in humanities and social sciences within a subfield of Human Health and Disease.
Degree Type
A.B.
department
Biology Undergraduate Education
CIP Code
30.2701ℹ
The Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) was developed by the U.S. Department of Education to categorize educational programs in the U.S. for a variety of reporting purposes. Each program at Brown is assigned a CIP code that best matches its academic curriculum.
Current STEM Eligible CIP Codes
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Health and Human Biology
Health and Human Biology is an interdisciplinary concentration that provides a rigorous foundation in the biological sciences with substantive course work in humanities and social sciences within a subfield of Human Health and Disease.
The program includes: background courses, biology core courses, a set of theme courses, and a Senior Capstone activity. Background courses provide the essential foundations in chemistry, mathematics, methods, and basic biology. These support the Biology core, which is comprised of a flexible menu of intermediate and advanced courses. A required portion of the Biology core is Genetics, a cornerstone of human biology and its interface with other fields. The Biology core underscores the related coursework within the Health and Disease Theme. The Theme courses are social science and humanities courses that form a cohesive, thoughtful grouping. Theme groupings must be approved by the advisor. A required senior capstone course or activity builds on the program's focus.
Student Goals
Students in this concentration will:
- Pursue a multidisciplinary course of study that reveals the diversity of factors that influence human health from a combination of biological, behavioral, social, political, cultural and/or environmental perspectives.
- Acquire foundational knowledge related to the integration of biology, mathematics and chemistry that are essential to understanding fundamental life processes.
- Acquire core concepts of the pillars of biology: genetics and evolution, interactions between organisms, and structure-function relationships.
- Demonstrate how qualitative and quantitative methods are used and interpreted in scholarly work on topics of relevance to Health and Human Biology.
- Propose and pursue a self directed cohesive course of study in one of four thematic areas where Brown has strong scholarship: 1) social determinants of health; 2) mind, brain, behavior; 3) global health; 4) planetary health.
Department Undergraduate Group (DUG)
Student Leaders: Zoe Carter-Konate, Amrik Eadara, Ejemen Idemudia, Ava Sauer, Eric Wang
Graduating Class
| Class Year | Total Students | Honors Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 39 | 14 |
| 2022 | 35 | 7 |
| 2023 | 53 | 10 |
| 2024 | 55 | 9 |
| 2025 | 69 | 11 |
Alumni have entered health careers including medicine, psychology, public health, academia, teaching, and industry.
What are Health and Human Biology concentrators doing…
The Director of Undergraduate Studies is typically the first point of contact for prospective concentrators. Once students have declared, they may be assigned a specific concentration advisor from within the department or program.