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Program Description
The highly selective, demanding undergraduate majors in Global Public Health (GPH) allow CAS students to choose a course of study that is a combination of public health and an academic discipline housed in the College (GPH is not a stand-alone major) while providing them with instructors and courses drawn from the entire university. This unique structure responds to the ever-increasing demand for interdisciplinary public health practitioners both in the United States and abroad. The coursework is integrated with experiential learning and study away requirements to ensure that students are broadly trained and uniquely prepared for a variety of careers.
The majors’ global public health courses are offered by the NYU School of Global Public Health (708 Broadway, 11th Floor; 212-992-6741; https://publichealth.nyu.edu/). GPH delivers truly interdisciplinary public health education at the undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral level. It builds on the global reach of NYU’s unique Global Network University, draws strength from the entrepreneurial spirit of NYU’s many talented faculty and students, and serves as a conduit for groundbreaking research and education that advances and promotes equitable health for all.
This major provides interdisciplinary training that embraces the natural convergence of society, culture, and health and draws on the Department of Anthropology’s strength in bridging the social sciences, natural sciences, and humanities. The joint major in Global Public Health and Anthropology prepares students to analyze various cultural traditions through the lens of health; to examine complex relationships within economic, political, cultural, physical, and biological environments; and to apply anthropological approaches to public health problems. The joint major is designed to prepare students for multidisciplinary careers in a variety of settings and/or for advanced academic training in public health, anthropology, or other related fields.
Honors Program in Anthropology and Global Public Health Joint Major
A degree in the Anthropology and Global Public Health joint major may be awarded with honors to selected students who apply for admission to the honors program through the Department of Anthropology's director of undergraduate studies during their junior year. Honors candidates are expected to meet all the requirements for the major and maintain a minimum GPA of 3.65, both overall and in the major.
Honors students must complete a total of 60 credits, which include:
- Global Public Health Core: 6 courses (24 credits)
- Anthropology Core: 3 courses (12 credits)
- Anthropology Electives: 3 courses (12 credits), including at least one graduate-level course
- The graduate-level course may count as an anthropology elective
- Combined Major Electives: 3 courses (12 credits), which must include:
- Two semesters of independent study in fall and spring (2 credits each), supporting honors thesis research. Together, they count as one combined major elective
- The two-semester honors seminar sequence (ANTH-UA 901 in fall and ANTH-UA 902 in spring, 2 credits each), which together count as one combined major elective
In addition to coursework, students must complete a senior honors thesis based on original research, developed under the supervision of a faculty adviser. The thesis is completed as part of the honors seminar and independent study sequence.
To apply for honors, students must complete and receive approval on the Petition to Enroll in Honors Program form, which is available on the Department of Anthropology's website. Additionally, students must submit and receive approval on the Petition to Enroll in an Independent Study form to register for independent study credits with their faculty thesis adviser.
Admissions
New York University's Office of Undergraduate Admissions supports the application process for all undergraduate programs at NYU. For additional information about undergraduate admissions, including application requirements, see How to Apply.
Program Requirements
Students in this combined major must consult with the director of undergraduate studies or other departmental adviser in anthropology to work out a course plan, especially as this major requires students to study away for one semester. The major requirements of fifteen 4-credit courses (60 credits) must be completed with a grade of C or higher (courses graded Pass/Fail will not count).
Course List
| Course |
Title |
Credits |
| 4 |
| EXPOS-UA 1 | Writing as Inquiry | 4 |
| 1 | 16 |
| 4 |
| 4 |
| 4 |
| 4 |
| 4 |
| UGPH-GU 10 | Health and Society in a Global Context (no prerequisites) 2 | 4 |
| UGPH-GU 20 | Biostatistics for Public Health 3 | 4 |
| UGPH-GU 30 | Epidemiology for Global Health | 4 |
| UGPH-GU 40 | Health Policy in a Global World | 4 |
| UGPH-GU 50 | Environmental Health in a Global World | 4 |
| UGPH-GU 60 | Undergraduate Experiential Learning in Global Public Health | 4 |
| ANTH-UA 1 | Introduction to Cultural Anthropology 4 | 4 |
| ANTH-UA 107 | Medical Anthropology (Formerly ANTH-UA 35) | 4 |
| ANTH-UA 108 | Global Biocultures: Anthropological Perspectives on Public Health (Formerly ANTH-UA 36) | 4 |
| 12 |
| Introduction to Biological Anthropology 6 | |
| Language, Power, Identity (Formerly ANTH-UA 16) | |
| Evolution and Human Variation (Formerly ANTH-UA 51) | |
| Evolutionary Medicine (Formerly ANTH-UA 55) | |
| Emerging Diseases (Formerly ANTH-UA 80) | |
| Anthropology of Gender and Sexuality (Formerly ANTH-UA 112) | |
| Disability Worlds: Anthropological Perspectives (Formerly ANTH-UA 113) | |
| Race and Caste (Formerly ANTH-UA 323) | |
| Introduction to Forensic Anthropology | |
| Human Rights & Culture (Formerly ANTH-UA 331) | |
| The Social Life of Food (Formerly ANTH-UA 410) | |
| 7 | 12 |
| 24 |
| Total Credits | 128 |
Study Away
All majors must also study away for one semester. Programs of study are planned with the director of undergraduate studies in the chosen CAS department. The e-mail address for general inquiries from CAS students is cas.gph@nyu.edu.
Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of program requirements, students are expected to be able to:
- Understand anthropology's goals and methods of study as a discipline.
- Understand how sociocultural and biological anthropologists approach the study of public health and disease.
- Demonstrate effective written and oral communication skills.
- Conduct independent research by combining the methods of anthropology with those used in public health.
- Recognize key historical milestones in the development and evolution of the field of public health with examples from both the US and international contexts.
- Describe and assess the biological, social, environmental, and structural determinants of health by applying interdisciplinary approaches and methodologies.
- Explain key data analytic techniques and epidemiologic concepts for measuring disease occurrence and frequency and how the information obtained from these measures is used to assess the health of populations.
- Apply public health promotion and prevention concepts to engage in collaborative and culturally relevant public health activities.
- Connect public health concepts to disciplinary practice in the field.
Policies
Program Policies
General Policies Applying to the Combined Global Public Health Majors
CAS students are allowed to count 16 credits from the other schools of the University toward the baccalaureate degree. Four of the six core UGPH-GU courses required for the combined GPH majors are treated as liberal arts courses and therefore do not count against the 16-credit allowance: UGPH-GU 10, 20, 30, and 50. (These four courses are exempt from the 16-credit rule both for declared GPH majors and also for CAS students who simply take one or more of them as electives.) The two required GPH core courses UGPH-GU 40 and 60 are not exempt from the 16-credit rule, and together use up 8 credits of each student's 16-credit allowance. Any other UGPH-GU courses besides 10, 20, 30, and 50 will also count against the 16 credits.
Students may request additional non-CAS, non-liberal arts credits beyond the 16-credit limit through the College Advising Center, 25 West 4th Street, 5th floor; 212-998-8130.
No UGPH-GU courses can count toward the 64 credits that internal or external transfer students are required to complete in CAS (-UA) courses.
Students must earn a C or better in all courses for their combined major and maintain a 2.0 major GPA. Courses graded Pass/Fail cannot be counted toward the major.
The GPH tracks with Anthropology, History, and Sociology all satisfy the College Core Curriculum requirement in Societies and the Social Sciences. However, the two GPH concentrations in science do not satisfy this requirement. None of the UGPH-GU courses can exempt students from any part of the Core's Foundations of Contemporary Culture.
Transfer Student Policies Applying to the Combined Global Public Health Majors
Transfer students to CAS must complete at least half of their entire combined GPH major at NYU, with at least half of the CAS coursework required for the major completed at NYU. In addition, GPH stipulates that transfer credit cannot be used for more than one of the six core GPH requirements (the other five must always be completed at NYU). The internship course (UGPH-GU 60) can never be satisfied with transfer credit.
Applicants to schools of the health professions who are pursuing one of the science GPH majors must complete at least five of the required prehealth science courses at NYU in order to be eligible for a committee interview and letter from the CAS Preprofessional Advising Center.
Some transfer students may therefore be required to complete more than half of their GPH major at NYU to satisfy these policies, regardless of transfer coursework presented.
NYU Policies
University-wide policies can be found on the New York University Policy pages.
College of Arts and Science Policies
A full list of relevant academic policies can be found on the CAS Academic Policies page.