S15 SWCR 5007 Research Methods with Statistical Applications

Focuses on the basics of social work research including developing a statement of the research problem and a literature review, specifying research questions, identifying the sample and measures, conducting data collection and analysis, and interpreting findings. Attention will be given to understanding the ethical issues and guidelines in human subjects research.

Credit 3 units.

S15 SWCR 5011 Human Behavior

Focuses on understanding, explaining, and predicting human behavior in relation to the social environment by examining human development and lived experiences through theoretical frameworks. The course assesses several influences on life course development and human behavior including: biology, psychology, spirituality, cognition, genetics, family history, community dynamics, societal influences and cultural contexts. The impact of age, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, physical and mental ability, and other identities will be emphasized. The underlying values, strengths, and challenges of different theoretical perspectives will be critiqued based on empirical evidence, cultural relevancy, and practice applicability. Pre/corequisite: S15-5038.

Credit 3 units.

S15 SWCR 5012 Social, Economic & Political Environment

Focuses on the dynamic relationship between individuals and society and explores history, theories, ideologies, and evidence concerning the social, economic and political forces that impact human well-being and the practice of anti-oppressive social work. Pre/corequisites: S15-5007, S15-5015, S15-5038.

Credit 3 units.

S15 SWCR 5015 Social Justice and Human Diversity

Focuses on knowledge and skills for social work practice with economically disadvantaged and oppressed groups, particularly people of color, women, people with disabilities, gay men and lesbians, and other at-risk populations.

Credit 3 units.

S15 SWCR 5038 Social Work Practice with Individuals, Families & Groups

Focuses on the introductory knowledge and skills needed for social work practice with individuals, families, and groups, with an emphasis on the development of helping skills that are relevant to work with diverse populations. Familiarizes students with evidence supported assessment and intervention approaches utilized in social work practice with individuals, families, and groups. Introduces students to the Brown School's FLAIR model of evidence-based practice and how this model supports effective social work practice. Explores and applies the values and ethics that characterize the profession.

Credit 3 units.

S15 SWCR 5039 Social Work Practice with Organizations and Communities

Focuses on the knowledge, skills and values needed for effective social work practice within community settings and organizational structures.? Beginning with a strong foundation of the professional values and guiding principles of practice, students will gain an understanding of the relationship between direct practice and the mezzo and macro interventions that needed to improve client well-being.? Grounded in an equity framework, the course is structured around the Planned Change process to build skills needed to holistically engage, assess, and plan interventions accounting for organizational capacity and community assets and needs.? Emphasis is placed on skill building and problem solving through group work, case studies, relevant social research, and experiential assignments in the community and within the student's practicum site.? Students should expect integration with professional experiences in humans service settings for assignments, therefore, a corequisite is Foundation Practicum.? Prerequisites: S15-5007, S15-5015, and S15-5038. Corequisite: foundation practicum.

Credit 3 units.

S15 SWCR 5040 Social Welfare Policies and Services

Presents a historical view of social work practice and explores historical and contemporary developments in social welfare policies within the U.S. social welfare system. Students gain insights into how political and social conditions, as well as values and ideologies influence the articulation of social problems, the policy development process, and the implementation of social welfare policies. Students also acquire skills to comprehend the impact of these changes in the lives of marginalized populations.

Credit 3 units.

S10 SWCR 6000 MSW Foundation Assessment

Completion of this course is required for students who are enrolled in MSW foundation coursework. All MSW students (regular, advanced standing, part-time, dual and joint degree) are required to participate in all components of the assessment as part of their graduation requirements. The assessment has four components. 1) a comprehensive knowledge assessment 2) a skills practice simulation 3) a portfolio of course assignments and 4) a Field Education assessment of practice behaviors. Each component is assessed at the Foundation and at the Concentration level.

S10 SWCR 7000 MSW Concentration Assessment

Completion of this course is required for students who are enrolled in MSW concentration coursework. All MSW students (regular, advanced standing, part-time, dual and joint degree) are required to participate in all components of the assessment as part of their graduation requirements. The assessment has four components. 1) a comprehensive knowledge assessment 2) a skills practice simulation 3) a portfolio of course assignments and 4) a Field Education assessment of practice behaviors. Each component is assessed at the Foundation and at the Concentration level.

S15 SWCR 7600 BSW Intensive: Bridge to Brown

The course is designed to give BSW graduates a refresher on important concepts from Research Methods; Social Justice and Human Diversity; and Social, Economic and Political Environment as well as to introduce them to the Brown School's FLAIR model of evidence-based practice.

Credit 4 units.

S20 SWHS 1011 Theoretical & Empirical Bases for Practice with Children, Youth & Families

This course exposes students to theoretically based, empirically supported interventions that guide the assessment, treatment planning, intervention selection, implementation, and evaluation of outcomes in social work practice with children, youth and families (CYF). Prerequisites: S15-5011 & S15-5038.

Credit 3 units.

S20 SWHS 1025 Theoretical Approaches to Interpersonal Violence Across the Life Course

This course examines theoretical approaches to understanding interpersonal violence across the life course in the United States. The course uses a multidimensional theoretical approach to explore: the causes of interpersonal violence; the impact of interpersonal violence on the individual (both victim/survivors and perpetrators), families, communities, and society; how theory informs intervention and prevention approaches to interpersonal violence; and evaluation of intervention and prevention approaches. The course will also examine the prevalence of interpersonal violence, risk and resiliency factors, the impact of polyvictimization, the connections between interpersonal violence and suicide, and the intersection of power and oppression in the experiences of interpersonal violence, focusing on marginalized identities. After a review of key theories and perspectives, students will apply theoretical lenses to examine experiences of interpersonal violence across the life course including child abuse, bullying, sexual harassment, sexual violence, intimate partner violence, and elder abuse. Students will also apply theoretical lenses to understand evidence based individual interventions and macro level policies that address interpersonal violence across the life course. Consideration will be given to various trauma and strategies to promote sustainability in the field.

Credit 3 units.

S20 SWHS 2010 Contemporary Perspectives on Aging

Examines the theoretical and service issues connected to the study of the elderly from the multidisciplinary approach of gerontology. Considered are the biological, social, and psychological aspects of aging, and the nature and extent of service delivery systems for the aged and their families. Prerequisites: S15-5011 & S15-5038.

Credit 3 units.

S20 SWHS 3022 Health Behavior and Health Promotion

The purpose of this course is to present fundamentals of social and behavioral science as a framework for using evidence-based approaches in addressing individual, families, and population health issues. Students will learn the role of social determinants of health problems, and theoretical approaches to guide the design and evaluation of health interventions. MSW prerequisites: S15-5011 & S15-5038.

Credit 3 units.

S20 SWHS 5013 Poverty & Inequality in America

Focuses on the extent and causes of poverty in the United States, the effects of poverty on individuals and families, and the search for solutions. Prerequisite: S15-5012.

Credit 3 units.

S20 SWHS 5017 Management & Leadership of Organizations

Examines organizational behavior and the management of human service organizations. Students study a variety of theories, concepts and functions including organizational structure, organizational culture, human resource and financial management, leadership and strategic planning. The course provides a foundation for all management practice courses. Prerequisite: S15-5012, S15-5039, & foundation practicum.

Credit 3 units.

S20 SWHS 5018 Economic Realities of the American Dream

Exploration of the realities of economic life in the U.S. and how they correspond to the American Dream. Interdisciplinary perspectives from economics, sociology, and other areas of social inquiry. Emphasis on the consistency between empirical data and different concepts of the American Dream. Specific topics to include sources of economic growth and changing living standards, unemployment, impact of globalization on U.S. citizens, economic mobility, poverty and inequality, and social justice. This course may be substituted within the MSW Program Social & Economic Development Concentration curriculum for Economics of Social Welfare, S20-5011. Enrollment from the MSW Program is limited to 10 MSW students. 3 units.
Same as I50 INTER D 5003

Credit 3 units. EN: S

S20 SWHS 5022 Sexual Health Across the Life Course

Using a biopsychosocial perspective, this course will trace sexual development across the life course, examining sexual issues typical in childhood through the ninth decade. Looking at the ways sexuality is used oppressively will be balanced with views of sexuality as a source of empowerment. While rape, sexual assault and coercion, gender stereotyping, homophobia, and transphobia will be addressed, so will sexual sources of pleasure and agency. Students will familiarize themselves with tailoring sexual history taking and interventions to fit clients' identities, strengths, and vulnerabilities. A spectrum of sexualities will be studied, including straight, bi, intersexed, asexual, queer, gay, lesbian, transgendered, and fluid. The course also considers how disability, race, class, ethnicity, and other statuses intersect with sexualities. Theoretical articles, films, short stories, newspaper articles, and explicit material serve as catalysts for learning and classroom discussion. Tools and techniques studied include narrative therapies, motivational interviewing, asset and needs mapping, the sexual genogram, the sexual ecosystem questionnaire, solution focused therapy, coaching, photovoice, intravention work, and critical incident analysis. Students examine how developing skills, knowledge and attitudes needed to discuss and work with sexuality are critical to personal freedom, human rights, social work ethics, and social work practice. This course is designed for the social work professional either preparing for a specialization in sexuality education and/or therapy or wanting to address sexual health issues in other social work specialties.

Credit 3 units.

S20 SWHS 5030 International Social & Economic Development Theory

A comparative study of international social development, including patterns and issues in cross-national collaboration, selected problems in international social development, and a conceptual framework for analyzing social change. Pre/corequisite: S15-5012.

Credit 3 units.

S20 SWHS 5040 Theories of Racial, Social & Economic Justice

Credit 3 units.

S20 SWHS 5079 Community Development and American Cities

The world is becoming increasingly urban. Recently for the first time more than half of the world's population lived in cities. While urbanization has brought great opportunities it also comes with significant challenges. The goal of this course is to introduce and analyze interventions that improve the quality of life of Americans by improving their neighborhoods, and that strengthen neighborhoods as essential components of competitive regional economies. We will focus both on strategies to alleviate urban poverty and on strategies to make urban neighborhoods attractive to large numbers of potential residents of all races and classes. The course will include a rigorous introduction to community development strategies with specific attention to the role of community organizations, the need for strengthening key service areas such as schools and safety, and the importance of density and place-making. While the focus of the course will be on St. Louis and other older industrial cities, the lessons learned are applicable to all cities throughout the world. In addition to St. Louis, we will also spend concentrated time on New York City as an example of a fast-growth, strong market city. Course pedagogy will emphasize intense interaction between students and between the students and instructor, using lectures, small group discussions and active debates. Class assignments will include the requirement to write five short (3-4 page) papers over the course of the semester. All papers will be based on class reading. For MSW Program SED Concentration students, this course fulfills the SED Theories, Problems, and Issues requirement. For MSW Policy Specialization students, this course fulfills the elective requirement. For Master of Architecture students, this course fulfills the Urban Issues elective requirement. For Master of Urban Design students, this course fulfills the MUD Track elective requirement. MSW Pre/corequisite: S15-5012.

Credit 3 units. Arch: GAMUD, GAUI, UI Art: CPSC

S20 SWHS 5081 Contemporary Theories and Issues in Behavioral Health

This course examines a range of theories and contemporary issues in mental health that relate to social work practice in mental health. Prerequisites: S15 5011 and S15 5038.

Credit 3 units.

S20 SWHS 5089 Human Service Organizations: Theory, Concepts, Issues

This course has controlled registration for all students. Priority is given based on degree requirements. All students who wish to enroll in this course should add themselves to the waitlist. This course provides the theoretical and conceptual underpinnings of the concentration. It will examine the landscape and current state of the organizational system to achieve social impact, including strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats as well as the manner in which legal, social, economic and cultural forces shape organizational behavior. It will introduce the meaning, scope and rationale of the four interlinked concentration foci (leadership, management, innovation and entrepreneurship) and introduce key theories, concepts and frameworks that inform the entire curriculum, in particular organizational and leadership ambidexterity.

Credit 3 units.

S20 SWHS 5751 Indigenous Knowledge, Values and Cultures

Surveys several major themes in the history and modern evolution of American Indian societies, cultures, values, and laws. Examines indigenous societies and cultures before the arrival of Europeans. Explores the history of American Indians and Indian nations in the US and their treatment by the US. Examines modern Indian governments, and legal systems, and the status of Indian nations as sovereign political entities within the US. Prerequisite: S15-5012.

Credit 3 units.

S50 SWSA 5011 Economics of Social Welfare

Examines the economic aspects of social welfare policy, problems, and programs. Micro and macro economic theories are applied to understanding the behavior of individuals and the government in the context of social welfare. Prerequisites: S15-5012 & S15-5040. Previously S20-5011.

Credit 3 units.

S50 SWSA 5019 Leading & Managing Employees, Volunteers & Teams

This course will examine paid and volunteer personnel at the micro level including concepts of motivation, engagement, morale, satisfaction and the impact of organizational level factors such as structure, culture and compensation strategy on performance. Students will develop knowledge of key legal issues, best practices and skills in each aspect of the human resource management cycle from job design to supervision and performance evaluation. Students will develop knowledge, self-knowledge and skills necessary to effectively lead and manage individuals, groups and teams, including skills in decision-making, conflict resolution and meeting management (formerly Managing People). Prerequisite: S15-5038.

Credit 3 units.

S50 SWSA 5030 Financial Management

This course provides an understanding of accounting (non-profit and for-profit), financial reporting, budgeting processes and financial management. Students will learn to read and interpret financial reports, to prepare and manage line, functional and program budgets, and to conduct assessments of financial health. Students will learn best practices regarding financial controls, cash management, risk management, auditing, and the roles of key financial players. Students will become familiar with financial management tools (formerly Budgeting & Financial Management). Prerequisite: S15-5038.

Credit 3 units.

S50 SWSA 5033 Special Topics: Brown Consulting

This is an integrative experience for qualified MSW Management Specialization students and others with permission of the instructor. Working as a consulting team with group and individual assignments, students perform a broad and detailed leadership, management and organizational assessment of a local St. Louis human service organization; and present recommendations for change or improvement to the client's governing board. This course fulfills three credits in Leadership/Management. Prerequisite: Approval by the instructor.

Credit 3 units.

S50 SWSA 5050 Evaluation of Programs And Services

Examines issues and methods for evaluation of programs and services in both organizational and community contexts. Strengths and weaknesses of various evaluative models are discussed. Prerequisites: S15-5005 & S15-5040. Corequisite: Concentration Practicum. Corequisites with S50-5069:Developing Programs in Health and Social Services or S50-5077:Human Services: Design & Evaluation for Impact is NOT recommended due to extensive applied learning assignments in each course. Approval for concurrent enrollment must be sought from the instructors of both courses prior to enrollment.

Credit 3 units.

S50 SWSA 5052 Leadership & Governance

Examines theories, processes, practices and attributes of organizational leadership (both position based and informal) as well as governance and the role of the board in the non-profit organization. Students will examine their own personal leadership style and strengthen their ability to lead. This course fulfills three credits in Leadership/Management. Prerequisite: S15-5038.

Credit 3 units.

S50 SWSA 5057 Leadership & Management of Human Service Organizations

This course has controlled registration for all students. Priority is given based on degree requirements. All students who wish to enroll in this course should add themselves to the waitlist. Building on the required theory and practice courses, this course will explore a series of functions and processes central to the management and leadership of human service organizations, especially nonprofits. Content will cover organizational strategy and strategic planning, organizational capacity and strategic management, change management, board governance and board-staff relations, policy practice and external relations, ethics, and key issues facing the sector. Prerequisite: S15 5038.

Credit 3 units.

S50 SWSA 5060 Social Entrepreneurship

Social entrepreneurs use innovative, market-based tools and responses to solve social and environmental problems. This interdisciplinary class attracts students from all disciplines to develop an entrepreneurial mindset and skill set to apply to local and global issues. Through readings, lectures, local and international guest speakers, case studies, classroom debates, and lean startup and business model canvas techniques, students will gain meaningful insight into how to create and capture social value. Students will develop the skills to develop and pitch a social venture that fits their passions and interests in the Olin Big Idea Bounce Pitch competition that brings students together across campuses to share their ideas and compete for prize money. In addition, students will explore the role entrepreneurship and social impact investing play in the social and economic development of healthy communities both nationally and internationally.

Credit 3 units. EN: S

S50 SWSA 5061 Business Planning for New Enterprises-The Hatchery

Student teams pursue their own business idea or support outside entrepreneurs by researching, writing, and pitching business plans for new commercial or social ventures. Enrolled students can recruit a team to work on their own business idea, or can join a team working on another's idea. Outside entrepreneurs and scientific researchers wishing to recruit student teams must apply in advance to be considered for student selection. Most of the work is done outside the classroom with the support of mentors, advisors and the instructor. Classes are held once per week for the first half of the semester. Workshops and rehearsals are required in the second part of the term. Students make final presentations to a panel of outside judges including venture capitalists, angel investors, entrepreneurs and people involved with early stage ventures. Recommended prerequisites: Introduction to Entrepreneurship (MGT 521), or Social Entrepreneurship (MGT 500T), or Entrepreneurial Engineering (EECE 480).
Same as B63 MGT 524

Credit 3 units.

S50 SWSA 5063 Social Innovation

Social innovation focuses attention on the ideas and solutions that create social value - as well as the processes through which people generate and capture them. . This year's theme is: Community Wealth Building: co-operatives, collective entrepreneurship, worker owned businesses and trusts. Community wealth building is a bottom-up approach to economic development based on greater democratic ownership, participation, and control that we can begin to develop and scale. The goal is to create a democratic economy and displace the extractive economy. We will review the latest literature and policy documents then meet with practitioners and communities driving this work forward across our St. Louis region. We will learn and apply innovation methods like design thinking, google sprints and asset mapping. Graduate students from across campus (MSW, MPH, MBA, MSP, and more) will work together as teams to develop a pitch or policy brief applying community wealth building and shared prosperity approaches to the Greater St. Louis area.

Credit 3 units.

S50 SWSA 5064 Gender, Physical Activity & Urban Development in Berlin, Germany

Berlin, the site of the first gender and sexualities studies institute and current center of debates about migration and the development of active healthy cities will be the setting of our seminar. We will explore of strategies for social work and public health workers to respond to changing understandings of gender and embodiment and their relation to moving through and in Berlin. We will prepare in St Louis for a series of visits in Berlin with professionals developing and delivering programs for transgendered youth and adults, sex workers, sexual health clinics, sports clubs working in the inner city, services to mothers and children, services for refugee and migrant women and programs for a variety of queer youth. We will meet with policy makers in this space to explore how German law makers and lobbyists approach some of the structural challenges and the funding mechanisms. In addition to larger agencies we will meet with startups and activist groups in this space. We will stay in a social innovation hostel - Regenbogenfabrik - a formerly squatted community kindergarden, cinema, woodworking space and communal bicycle repair shop in the center of Kreuzberg. We will work together with staff from Camp Group charitable LLC who have created and lead projects like respect.org, boxgirls.org, girlsinthelead.org and camp-group.org.

Credit 3 units.

S50 SWSA 5069 Developing Programs In Health and Social Service Settings

Permission of instructor is required. This course will focus on the knowledge, skills and tools necessary to develop client-need driven programs within a broad array of health and social service agency settings. Includes applied learning experiences. Prerequisite: S15-5015 & S15-5038. Corequisite: Concentration Practicum. Corequisite with S50-5050 Evaluation of Programs & Services or S50-5077: Human Services: Design & Evaluation for Impact is NOT recommended due to extensive applied learning assignments in each course. Approval for concurrent enrollment must be sought from instructors of both courses prior to enrollment.

Credit 3 units.

S50 SWSA 5070 Revenue Development & Communication

This course will explore and develop skills in the full range of revenue development strategies, from fees-for-service models to fthose fully funded by government or philanthropy. Students will understand the strengths, weaknesses, and implications of varied revenue streams and how to assess the market feasibility of any particular revenue strategy. Students will develop skills in grant writing, individual solicitation, and the development of effective case statements and presentations. The course will also explore how the public relations, marketing, and branding functions support revenue development. Prerequisite: S15 5038.

Credit 3 units.

S50 SWSA 5072 Special Topics in Mental & Behavioral Healthcare

The purpose of this course is to provide an opportunity for students interested in mental health services to integrate theory, policies, and practices in an applied setting. This course will range from helping community partners understand a problem to creating a strategy of implementation practice. The course utilizes a community-engaged applied learning model and allows for the students to ground their learning of the Brown School's FLAIR process. Additionally, concepts from implementation practice will be highlighted throughout this course. Prerequisite: S15-5039 & permission of instructor.

Credit 3 units.

S50 SWSA 5077 Human Services: Design & Evaluation for Impact

In this course, students will gain understanding, knowledge, and skills in ambidextrous modes of program design, implementation, and evaluation to lead and sustain high-performing human service organizations-be they nonprofit, for-profit, government, or hybrid organizations-dedicated to addressing some of the most challenging problems facing the world today. This requires applying a variety of processes, tools, and techniques such as a) Identifying underlying needs and conditions in the community through quantitative and qualitative data collection; b) designing an organization's mission, theory of change, and strategy in order to deliver social results; c) determining and implementing key core processes and performance management systems for learning and quality improvement at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels; and d) developing performance measurement systems for the evaluation of outcomes and practice effectiveness, impact reporting, and external accountability to diverse stakeholders. Pre-requisite: S20.5089, Human Service Organizations: Theory, Concepts, Issues. Co-requisite: Concentration practicum. Corequisites with S50-5069:Developing Programs in Health and Social Services or S50-5050: Evaluation of Programs & Services is NOT recommended due to extensive applied learning assignments in each course. Approval for concurrent enrollment must be sought from the instructors of both courses prior to enrollment.

Credit 3 units.

S50 SWSA 5380 Health Impact Assessment in Australia

Health Impact Assessment is an emerging policy evaluation practice that aims to inform policy decisions in many sectors in order to promote the conditions required for optimal health. The goal of this course is to expose students to the rationale, practice and potential of Health Impact Assessment (HIA) with a focus on its application to policy making in Australia over winter break. HIA encompasses diverse methods, tools, and processes by which the potential health impacts of policies, plans, programs, and projects and policies may be evaluated. In this course, students consider the reasons for doing HIA, review a range of HIA case studies and analytic methods, and consider the potential of HIA as well as the needs and challenges for practice development. As a class project, students will gain hands on experience in conducting an original HIA as they work with international partners to critically evaluate a specific policy, project, or plan, identifying health benefits and consequences, potential approaches to quantify or qualify how the project may change health determinants, and recommendations for alternatives or improvements.
Same as S55 MPH 5380

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5000 Research Methods

Focuses on evaluation at a variety of levels (individual, group, organization, community). Includes problem assessment, specification and monitoring of interventions, validation of measurement methods, and analysis and presentation of data. Corequisite: S55-5003.

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5001 Health Behavior and Health Promotion

The purpose of this course is to present fundamentals of social and behavioral science as a framework for using evidence-based approaches in addressing individual, families, and population health issues. Students will learn the role of social determinants of health problems, and theoretical approaches to guide the design and evaluation of health interventions. MSW prerequisites: S15-5011 & S15-5038.
Same as S20 SWHS 3022

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5002 Epidemiology

The purpose of this course is to present fundamentals of Epidemiology as a framework for using evidence-based approaches in addressing population health issues. Students will learn the role of epidemiological approaches for describing and quantifying health problems, and methodological approaches for assessing risk factors and disease etiology.

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5003 Biostatistics

This course provides an introduction to quantitative data analysis as it is applied in public health. Biostatistics is one of the core disciplines of public health; but it also provides a set of analytic tools which are used across all the other core and associated public health disciplines. This course will teach students how to think about data clearly; how to describe important characteristics of public health data; how to design, implement, and interpret basic statistical analyses which are appropriate for the research question and the characteristics of the data; and how to communicate analysis results effectively.

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5004 Health Administration and Policy

This course provides an overview of the structure and functions of the U.S. Health Care System, the relationship between the health care delivery system and public health, and an overview of the health care policy process in the United States. The existing and evolving financing, organizational structures, and delivery systems are described along with alternatives that have been discussed and developed domestically and internationally. The course also introduces key concepts in health care management. Finally, the course provides students with the tools necessary to evaluate and analyze health policy and health care systems in the U.S. MSW Prerequisite: S15-5040. Same as S55-5004.
Same as S40 SWSP 5742

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5005 Environmental Health

This course presents a broad survey of the major environmental health issues facing contemporary society in first and third world countries. The course provides an overview of the interaction of the physical, psychological, and social environments of individuals in which they work and live. The course presents ecological concerns along with factors related to personal and community health.

Credit 3 units. EN: S

S55 MPH 5010 Cross-Cutting Themes in Public Health

The purpose of this course is to introduce public health students to the crucial and timely cross-cutting themes in public health. The course will cover a range of topics, including: the role of transdisciplinary science and collaboration in the development, implementation and translation of science to the population at large; evidence-based approaches to decision making in contemporary public health practice; methods for dissemination and implementation of public health to policy and practice; the importance of health disparities to the study of public health, and the role of ethics in the profession of public health.

Credit 1 unit.

S55 MPH 5011 Epidemiology Methods

This course extends the concepts and methods of epidemiology from S55-5002, providing an in-depth exploration of concepts and skills in epidemiologic research, including analytic reasoning and study design, execution, data analysis and interpretation. Prerequisite: S55-5002 and S55-5003 or equivalent.

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5041 Skill Lab: Grantwriting: Foundation Grants

This course will provide the knowledge and specific skills to prepare a foundation grant proposal. It will examine how grantmakers operate, trends in foundation giving, the different types of foundations, how to research their interests and priorities, basic writing skills, how to build a working relationship with a foundation, elements of a strong grant proposal and customizing a grant proposal to various types of foundations.
Same as S81 SKILL 5041

Credit 1 unit.

S55 MPH 5042 Skill Lab: Grantwriting: Government Grants

This course will provide the knowledge and specific skills to research and prepare a grant proposal to a local, state or federal government funder. It will examine the different types of government funders, how to research their interests and priorities, basic writing skills, how to build a working relationship with funder staff, elements of a strong grant proposal and customizing a grant proposal to various types of government funders.
Same as S81 SKILL 5042

Credit 1 unit.

S55 MPH 5050 TPS: Community Based System Dynamics

This course introduces students to community based system dynamics (CBSD) as an approach for engaging communities, organizations, and trans-disciplinary teams to understand and represent complex social, health, and policy problems through the diagramming conventions of system dynamics. The course introduces students to the background and theoretical foundations of community based system dynamics; qualitative causal mapping; the practice of group model building for working with organizations, communities, and teams through structured small group exercises or "scripts"; tools for designing, facilitating, and evaluating CBSD interventions; and techniques for managing group dynamics involving power, interpersonal conflicts, and working with marginalized stakeholders. Learning is structured around problem-based and experiential approaches, including simulated group model building exercises, facilitation practice, case study activities, and guest presentations by CBSD practitioners working in the field. Students will apply their knowledge and skills in a community-based group project to design a CBSD intervention with a community project sponsor. The course draws on methods being developed and used by the Brown School's Social System Design Lab and explores current CBSD applications in both domestic and international settings. Prerequisites: MSW S15-5007; MPH S55 5000
Same as S65 SWCD 5050

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5060 Social Entrepreneurship

Social entrepreneurs use innovative, market-based tools and responses to solve social and environmental problems. This interdisciplinary class attracts students from all disciplines to develop an entrepreneurial mindset and skill set to apply to local and global issues. Through readings, lectures, local and international guest speakers, case studies, classroom debates, and lean startup and business model canvas techniques, students will gain meaningful insight into how to create and capture social value. Students will develop the skills to develop and pitch a social venture that fits their passions and interests in the Olin Big Idea Bounce Pitch competition that brings students together across campuses to share their ideas and compete for prize money. In addition, students will explore the role entrepreneurship and social impact investing play in the social and economic development of healthy communities both nationally and internationally.
Same as S50 SWSA 5060

Credit 3 units. EN: S

S55 MPH 5063 Social Innovation

Social innovation focuses attention on the ideas and solutions that create social value - as well as the processes through which people generate and capture them. . This year's theme is: Community Wealth Building: co-operatives, collective entrepreneurship, worker owned businesses and trusts. Community wealth building is a bottom-up approach to economic development based on greater democratic ownership, participation, and control that we can begin to develop and scale. The goal is to create a democratic economy and displace the extractive economy. We will review the latest literature and policy documents then meet with practitioners and communities driving this work forward across our St. Louis region. We will learn and apply innovation methods like design thinking, google sprints and asset mapping. Graduate students from across campus (MSW, MPH, MBA, MSP, and more) will work together as teams to develop a pitch or policy brief applying community wealth building and shared prosperity approaches to the Greater St. Louis area.
Same as S50 SWSA 5063

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5082 Foundations of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) For The Applied Social Sciences

This course will familiarize students with the basic knowledge of geographic information systems (GIS) and their application to social work practice and research. The course is organized around three primary areas: 1) conceptual; 2) technical; and 3) data management. A conceptual overview of GIS is presented to provide students with foundational knowledge about the theory, purpose, function, and applicability of GIS in practice and research settings. Students will develop critical thinking skills necessary to devise research questions appropriate for a GIS, to develop a GIS, interpret the findings, and to evaluate the spatial relationships between variables.
Same as S65 SWCD 5082

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5102 Global Health

This course provides an overview of issues in international health, with a particular emphasis on those affecting health in low-income countries. It will cover the infectious diseases of malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, acute respiratory infections, diarrheal diseases, and neglected tropical diseases (e.g. helminth infection). Chronic diseases and risk factors will also be addressed. An overview of the biology, epidemiology, and intervention evidence base will be covered, drawing from the Disease Control Priorities Project.

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5107 Policy, Politics & Power in Global Health

The course will introduce students to the role of power and politics in global health and provide them with analytical tools to critically examine this field. It will review key debates, issues, concepts, theories and case studies linked to current major health and development issues, highlighting their relationship to health. It is based on a multidisciplinary approach to analysis of these issues.

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5108 Applied Qualitative and Participatory Methods

This course is designed to familiarize students with the perspectives, methods, and techniques of qualitative and participatory research. The course covers both the theoretical foundations of qualitative inquiry and a variety of methods of data collection. The class will use examples from and discuss how these methods are used in global research. Student fieldwork projects, which are carried out concurrently with classroom lectures and activities, are a central part of the course. Prospective students should note that this course requires significant time spent outside of class arranging interviews and then collecting, transcribing and summarizing data. This course enrollment is reserved for six PhD students, four MSW students, and four MPH students.

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5117 Translating Epidemiology Into Policy

Policy has a well-documented, powerful and sustained effect on public health indicators. This course covers the epidemiologic basis for health policy, types of policy evidence, policy theories, study designs for understanding the effects of policy, methods of policy communication, and current controversies. Course content will be covered through readings, individual and group exercises, case studies, lectures, and discussions. Prerequisite: S55-5002, Foundations of Public Health: Epidemiology

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5120 Health Economics

In this course, students will learn how to apply economic tools to the study of health and medical care issues. The course will examine the special features of medical care markets, the demand for health and medical care services, the economic explanations for the behavior of medical care providers (i.e., physicians and hospitals), the functioning of insurance markets, cost and comparative effectiveness, the economics of public health, and technology diffusion. Also examined will be the role of, and economic justification for, government involvement in the medical care system. The tools developed in the course will be used in discussions of current policy topics such as health reform, insurance reform, incentives for health behavior, rationing, and price regulation.

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5121 Quantitative Methods for Health Policy Analysis

This course will introduce students to additional methods and topics in economic evaluation of health (health care and public health) and health services research (HSR). Students will learn the differences, strengths, and weaknesses of different approaches at a "user" level. Students will produce a project in which they focus on either the economic evaluation or HSR side to evaluate public health policies or problems. Prerequisite: Health Economics (S55-5120) or permission of instructor.

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5122 Health, Politics, and Policy

Health, Politics, and Policy: This course focuses on how public policies are actually made in the United States, and, in particular, health policies. The course is designed to introduce students to the literature, concepts, theories, and politics of the policy process and methods for analyzing this process. The emphasis in the readings will be on different concepts for studying the policy process and analyses. This course will focus on concepts related to policy processes including policymaking and politics.

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5123 The Role of Insurance in Public Health

The Public Health System focuses on the access and delivery for all Americans, with a special focus on the uninsured, those living in poverty and located in rural areas. Managed Care is playing an ever-increasing role in government sponsored healthcare including Medicaid, Medicare and Exchanges. Because populations historically taken care of by the public health system have a disproportionate burden of chronic disease and costly health conditions, managed care companies have taken innovative steps to control costs. Not only is it important for students to understand the basics of health insurance, but also the tools that payers use to manage and control costs including case management, utilization review, and formulary structure. Additionally understanding technology infrastructure, coordinated primary care delivery models and value-based contracting is essential to any leader in the public health space. Communicating these concepts to community partners, patients and the media is also a critical skill set.

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5129 TPS: Public Health in St. Louis

This course provides critical knowledge and skills relevant to understanding the importance of context in public health practice. Seminal reports exhort the St. Louis community to consider the intersection of social, economic, and political structures and their impact on public health. "Forward Through Ferguson: A Path Toward Racial Equity" was written in response to the social and political unrest in the region after an unarmed black teenager was shot and killed, and it identifies the correlations between race and access to health and quality life. The "For the Sake of All" report outlines the connections between the social determinants of health and the unequal distribution of health in the St. Louis region. This course will use community-engaged teaching to explore these issues. Students will work alongside public health practitioners and community members to think together around strategies to move these recommendations forward.

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5132 TPS: Global Mental Health

This course aims to provide participants with an in-depth understanding of the current debates that are shaping Global Mental Health (GMH) in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs). It examines the history of GMH, its key principles, policies and practices alongside the challenges inherent to their implementation in some of the most challenging contexts. Using practical examples of GMH interventions in the area of stigma, depression, trauma and the mental health of marginalized populations, students will be encouraged to critically engage with concepts relevant to, social work, public health, sociology and anthropology so as to reflect on the design, applicability and relevance of such interventions. Furthermore, the course will examine several key issues inherent to the field, such as the cultural validity of modern psychiatric diagnosis, as well as its research methods and assessment techniques. Guest speakers will include individuals working on the forefront of GMH application. The course is designed to compel future social workers to "think globally" but "act locally" when debating and addressing mental health issues in an international context.
Same as S30 SWDP 6215

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5133 Fundamentals of Mental Health for Public Health

This course will provide an overview of the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness and other behavioral disorders for students who intend to work in the field of public mental health in a nonclinical capacity. Discussions of diagnosis will outline the main clinical and public health features of each category of mental illness, including clinical presentation, the course and prognosis of illness, and basic epidemiology. Discussions of available treatments will provide theoretical and practical examples of common medical and individual/group psychosocial interventions. The last hour of each class will take the format of a class discussion focusing on a critical examination of historical and contemporary issues pertaining to public mental health.

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5137 TPS: Protection of Women and Children in Humanitarian Response

It is currently estimated that one out of every 113 people is seeking asylum, internally displaced or a refugee; this is a level of global risk for which there is no known precedent. Conflict, climate change, drought and other natural disasters have resulted in the highest levels of displacement ever recorded, affecting more than 65.3 million people. Conflict and natural disasters destroy communities; wreak havoc on food, sanitation, security and supply chains; and propel survivors into fragile refugee camps and crowded urban areas. Increasingly, humanitarian responders are also asked to promote health systems development in fragile states and post-conflict scenarios. There is a critical need for technically competent public health professionals who understand the global dynamics of acute and complex emergencies, including the continuum from prevention and risk reduction to emergency response and the transition to development. This course explores operational ways of addressing protection concerns for women and children in natural disasters and war. It examines protection from both a reduction of physical risk and a promotion of developmental well-being perspectives. Students will develop a practical understanding of effective interventions for preventing and responding to specific protection concerns, including child-family separations; child recruitment and use as armed combatants; sexual violence and abuse; and psychosocial well-being. Students will explore systemic approaches to promoting a "protective environment" for women and children in emergencies and post-conflict/reintegration transitions. Students will review strategies for incorporating critical elements of protection into broader humanitarian response operations; coordination among humanitarian agencies; evidence-based programming; community participation; and advocacy and policy change.

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5138 Public Mental Health

This course will provide an overview of public mental health: the application of public health methods to the prevention and control of mental illness and substance use disorders and the promotion of mental well-being in populations. Although the course will focus primarily on the United States, public mental health will be also examined from a global perspective. Topics covered will include the distribution and determinants of mental and behavioral health problems, the prevention of mental and behavioral health problems and the promotion of mental well-being, and mental and behavioral health policy and services.

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5139 Applied Machine Learning Using Health Data

This course teaches popular machine learning (ML) models using Python and their applications on health data. The topics include (1) Python programming basics (e.g., coding with Python, Python modules such as NumPy, Pandas, Matplotlib, and Scikit-learn); (2) Classification ML models; (3) Regression ML models; (4) ML model training and validation; (5) Support vector machines and decision trees; (6) Ensemble methods; (7) Dimensionality reduction; and (8) Unsupervised learning techniques. Students who complete this course will: (1) Understand the algorithms for ML models widely adopted in health sciences; (2) Proficiently apply ML models to analyze health data; and (3) Appraise the relative strengths and weaknesses of alternative ML models in the contexts of real-world problem-solving. Weekly assignment helps students deepen their understanding of critical concepts and sharpen their model building and problem-solving skills using health datasets. Students who complete this course will have a solid foundation to pursue more advanced artificial intelligence (AI) topics, including deep learning. A prerequisite for this course is an introductory course on statistics or biostatistics. No prior exposure to Python programming is needed.

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5141 Skill Lab: Performance Management and CQI

This course will provide skills in selecting and applying widely used tools and best practices to yield effective and efficient organizational performance and continuous learning and quality improvement. These skills are applicable to diverse functions and settings areas such as intake and case management, clinic operations and volunteer management.
Same as S81 SKILL 5141

Credit 1 unit.

S55 MPH 5142 Skill Lab: Program and Project Management

This course focuses on key program and project management competencies and principles that are critical to executing successful projects. Students will learn about planning, scheduling, organizing, and controlling projects and will apply these concepts using case studies and small group projects.
Same as S81 SKILL 5142

Credit 1 unit.

S55 MPH 5143 Skill Lab: Volunteer Management

This course will provide skills in recruiting and retaining volunteers for a wide variety of organizational roles. It will provide training on the basic tasks of the Volunteer Manager, and volunteer supervision within a cycle of management from job design to evaluation.
Same as S81 SKILL 5143

Credit 1 unit.

S55 MPH 5144 Skill Lab: Fundraising Design and Management

This course will provide skills in developing and implementing a strategic fundraising program, including setting goals, choosing fundraising techniques, interfacing with staff and volunteers, data management and evaluating results.
Same as S81 SKILL 5144

Credit 1 unit.

S55 MPH 5145 Skill Lab: Budget Management

This course will provide skills in budgeting, budget management and reporting, using commonly available software. It will include both line item and program budgeting models, and the basics of grant reporting. It will connect budgeting to the overall process of financial management.
Same as S81 SKILL 5145

Credit 1 unit.

S55 MPH 5147 Skill Lab: Effective Meeting Management and Group Facilitation

For organizations and communities, meetings large and small are a way of life. Making these meetings as productive, effective and efficient as possible increases organizational productivity, improves decision making and enhances community development. This course provides the basic theories and techniques for meeting planning and implementation and facilitation practice. The skills and practice methods are applicable in multiple settings and relevant to management and organizing arenas used in stakeholder input, community organizing, strategic planning, project evaluation, staff retreats and policy development.
Same as S81 SKILL 5147

Credit 1 unit.

S55 MPH 5150 Diverse Issues in Maternal Health & Reproduction

The impetus for the course will focus on critical aspects of maternal health and reproductive justice as an ongoing and ever evolving social movement that aligns with advocacy and activism. At this time, key components of the course will: Describe the foundation of preconception, perinatal, and postpartum health and detail health disparities across these areas in the U.S. (i.e., mortality & morbidity, infant health, midwifery care, doula practice, impact of birth environments-hospital, home, prisons, etc.) Chronicle historically significant events associated with maternal health and reproductive justice (i.e., the 19th century Women's Rights Convention, emergence of gynecological practices, the 1913 women's suffrage march, the 2017 women's march, the abortion law timeline and the Dobbs decision, etc.) Critique theoretical & guiding frameworks for positioning maternal health and reproductive justice advocacy, activism, education, research & practice (i.e., the reproductive justice framework, feminism, intersectionality, queer consciousness, womanism, Black feminism, etc.) Examine environmental justice as a proponent to sustained maternal health and reproductive justice Discuss the global mobilization of women across the world-particularly underrepresented and marginalized populations that experience negative maternal health outcomes Explore the role of male and paternal allies as advocates for reproductive justice and improved maternal health Conceptualize the way forward through implications for improved social work and public health practice, policy, and research across these areas.
Same as S30 SWDP 5150

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5177 Skill Lab: Strategic Planning and Execution

This course will help students gain knowledge and basic skills in strategic planning and execution. The course will include an examination of models of strategic planning; assessing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. developing a vision, goals, and strategies for mission achievement and then translates them into action plans, dashboards, staff and board responsibilities.
Same as S81 SKILL 5177

Credit 1 unit.

S55 MPH 5230 Applied Linear Modeling

This course focuses on statistical modeling and analysis methods relevant to epidemiological and clinical research, as well as applied research in behavioral, social, and health sciences. A general linear models approach is taken to data analysis strategies using linear, logistic, and poisson regression, as well as ANOVA methods for repeated measures. Prerequisite: S55-5003.

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5231 Advanced Applied Linear Modeling

In this course, we will learn to apply Advanced Statistical Modeling techniques including Multiple and Logistic Regression, GLM, MANOVA, ANCOVA and other techniques to the field of Public Health broadly defined. Through readings, lectures, discussions, and hands on work, we will learn to use and critically think about techniques as well as be aware of limitations when dealing with real world problems. This class is directed towards epidemiology and biostatistics students in the MPH program who need to use statistical methods to answer substantive questions of interest. The course will focus on problem solving and decision-making skills to choose a statistical approach appropriate to the research question, understand the limitations of that approach given your data, interpreting your results correctly, and reaching sound conclusions about the substantive question at hand.

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5240 Planning, Implementation, & Evaluation Evidence-Based Programs & Interventions

This course focuses on program evaluation, outcomes research, cost effectiveness research, methods for executing and evaluating health education intervention plans, quantitative and qualitative methods and their application to public health practice. Prerequisite: S55-5000

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5245 Advanced Data Analysis

Students will be provided with an introduction to theory and analytical techniques commonly employed in the practice of public health through mini-lectures and a hands-on experiential learning approach. Students will work in teams to develop and conduct a project, choosing from real-world public health datasets. Mini-lectures will address theory as well as practical tools and in class exercises will be focused on application of the theories and tools. Homework will be assigned that provides students with further opportunity to gain competency in strategies that can be employed to analyze public health data. The course will also provide students with the opportunity to develop skills in data visualization strategies, conducting reproducible research, presenting projects, and effectively responding to constructive critiques. Prerequisites: S55-5002, S55-5003, S55-5230, basic competency in R, or motivation to learn R or by instructor permission. Priority is given to MPH: Epi/Bio Specializers.

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5254 Using Administrative Data for Health Services Research

The objective of this advanced graduate course is to prepare students to understand and use large administrative healthcare databases to perform epidemiologic / health services research. Lectures will cover the translation of clinical care into healthcare utilization data, review various types of national and state administrative databases, describe methods for administrative database research, and emphasize key issues related to data security and confidentiality. We will consider the strengths and limitations of observational studies using large databases to augment evidence from randomized clinical trials. Students will get hands-on experience with administrative data via programming with R statistical software. Students will develop and present to the class a research proposal in their own area of interest using administrative data. Students will further gain experience with healthcare database research by reviewing journal articles weekly.
Same as M19 PHS 5254

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5255 Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

A systematic review attempts to identify, appraise and synthesize all of the empirical evidence that meets prespecified eligibility criteria to answer a given research question. A meta-analysis refers to the statistical methods used for contrasting and combining results from different studies in the hope of identifying patterns, sources of disagreement, and/or other interesting relationships that may come to light in the context of multiple studies. There are three learning objectives for this course: (1) to deepen the student's understanding of the key concepts and essential methods of a systematic review and meta-analysis through lectures and reading assignments; (2) to help students master the basic skills needed to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis through hands-on exercises and projects; and (3) to help students complete a publication-quality systematic review or meta-analysis of their own choice as the final project of this course. Prerequisite for MPH students: S55-5240; permission from instructor for PhD students.

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5260 TPS: Health & Place: Spatial Thinking & Applied Methods

Along with person and time, place is one of the three key characteristics via which public health researchers and practitioners describe health and disease patterns in populations. Health and social disparities can be the result of geographic location and/or of the social, cultural, economic, or political contexts of this location. In this course, students will learn to use and integrate spatial thinking as well as ecologic, quantitative, and social approaches to frame and tackle public health problems. Throughout the course, health geography and spatial epidemiology will be used as conceptual and methodologic frameworks for understanding health and place relations. In addition to covering the use of key spatial concepts, students will acquire basic hands-on experience with a range of applied analytic tools. Prerequisites: S55 5002 and S55 5003. Pre- or Corequisite: S55 5230. Prior experience with GIS preferred.

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5305 TPS: Chronic Disease: Obesity Prevention and Public Health Policy

Students will be exposed to a wide range of perspectives from diverse disciplines about the various causes and potential solutions to key public health issues in the United States. Students will work in groups to integrate these transdisciplinary perspectives into a richer understanding of public health problems and propose new solutions that draw upon the contributions of at least three different disciplines.

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5321 TPS: Global Nutrition and the Environment: Foods Systems in a Changing World

This transdisciplinary problem-solving course explores the complexity and reciprocity of human nutrition and a changing environment. Globally, food systems contribute over 30% of greenhouse gas emissions, 70% of freshwater retrievals, and 40% of land use, yet enormous inequities persist in terms of access to high quality foods, malnutrition prevalence, and the impacts of climate change on food security. This course provides foundational knowledge in public health nutrition from cells to society and the skills necessary to critically analyze sustainability issues related to food systems. We then cover novel as well as evidence-based solutions to achieving sustainable, healthy, and equitable food systems. Learning labs (dietary assessment, anthropometric measures, etc.), field trips (WashU edible plant tour, community gardens, etc.) and guest lectures from leaders in the field are integral to course learning.

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5322 TPS: Interrogating Health, Race & Inequalities

Interrogating Health, Race, and Inequalities is intended for graduate students in the School of Social Work and in Arts & Sciences as well as advanced undergraduates in Arts & Sciences who have previous coursework in medical anthropology, public health, or urban policy. The fundamental goal of the course is to demonstrate that health is not merely a medical or biological phenomenon but more importantly the product of social, economic, political, and environmental factors. To meet this goal the course is designed to examine the intersection of race/ethnicity and health from multiple analytic approaches and methodologies. Course readings will draw from the fields of public health, anthropology, history, and policy analysis. Teaching activities include lectures, group projects and presentations, videos, and discussions led by the course instructors. These in-class activities will be supplemented with field trips and field-based projects. By the end of the course it is expected that students will have a strong understanding of race as a historically produced social construct as well as how race interacts with other axes of diversity and social determinants to produce particular health outcomes. Students will gain an understanding of the health disparity literature and a solid understanding of multiple and intersecting causes of these disparities.
Same as I50 INTER D 4001

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5323 TPS: Climate Change and Public Health

This course will explore the real and potential impacts a changing climate will have on public health. The course explores methods for understanding and studying these effects as well as the role of public health (as a discipline) in planning for and mitigating potential effects. Topics covered will include, but are not limited to: theoretical underpinnings of climate change, changing patterns in infectious disease and vectors, exposure to temperature extremes, emergency response (e.g. more extreme weather events), public policy, and more.

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5325 TPS: Child Maltreatment Prevention

The purpose of this course is for students to develop an understanding of transdisciplinary perspectives and apply systematic problem solving approaches to the prevention of child maltreatment. Answers to complex questions about child maltreatment requires a transdisciplinary problem-solving approach with public health, social work, and medical practitioners analyzing perspectives from diverse fields, and coming together to integrate knowledge across these disciplines.

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5335 TPS: From the Inside-Out: Public Health & The Built Environment

The built environment has contributed to and advanced public health and safety since the era of 2200 BCE when Hammurabi, the founder of the Babylonian Empire, proclaimed the 'Code of Hammurabi.' This code called for construction of 'firm houses' that would not collapse on their owners and for the imposition of severe penalties on constructors whose buildings collapsed. The same basis of care and prudent practice is in force today in building design, construction, environmental engineering, and community and urban design in order to protect public health and safety and the natural environment. This Transdisciplinary Problem Solving course will discuss issues in the US and within a global context of housing, healthy communities, sustainable design, environmental quality, and occupational health and safety. Students will prepare a health impact assessment (HIA) for a selected building or community development site. Prerequisite or corequisite for MPH Program Students: S55-5005 or permission of instructor.

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5337 TPS: Protection and Well-being of Displaced Children (Colombia)

Students must apply via sa.wustl.edu by October 18 and be selected for the course in order to participate. The course fee for the global courses is $1000, which covers airfare, accommodations, in-country travel and some meals. Colombia's decades of conflict have led to one of the world's largest contexts of internal displacement in known history. UNHCR (2018) figures show that Colombia is currently home to 5,761,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs). The government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) signed a peace agreement in 2016; however, violence persists between remaining armed groups. Further, due to the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela, 1.2 million Venezuelan migrants and refugees have recently crossed the border into Colombia. Although the government of Colombia has extended extraordinary support to Venezuelans, conditions remain dire for many. This course is grounded in the Global Classroom concept of "distributed learning" that mobilizes the power of a diverse set of learners to collectively explore the multifaceted challenges associated with organized efforts to protect children and promote their well-being in humanitarian settings. It will emphasize global standards and best practices; the value of local, culturally grounded voices/experiences; collaborative workspaces and dialogues; and locally informed investigations and assignments. The course format will include classroom lectures, discussion seminars, site visits, and data collection in Colombia. The field-based portion will take place in June 2020 over approximately 10 days in collaboration with the School of Government at Universitas Los Andes. There will also be a two to three-day site visit outside of Bogota, likely to Cucuta, a refugee-receiving area.

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5351 TPS: Poverty, Law, And The Health of Communities

In today's legal system, many low-income citizens are often fined or jailed simply for being poor. A disproportionate number are also people of color. They are arrested for minor traffic violations, or stopped- and- frisked based on how they are walking, or where they are resting, sitting or sleeping. If they can't pay exorbitant amounts for tickets or citations, they are often jailed, sometimes for weeks at a time. Ultimately, their physical and mental health is negatively impacted, causing them to experience unfavorable health disparities, as compared to high-income individuals. This course will help students understand these disparities from a transdisciplinary perspective, combining legal, public health, medical, and social problem solving skills and analytic methods. Students who anticipate working with individuals or communities in poverty will benefit from the course's framework that considers the impact of criminalization and mental scarcity on both health behavior and access to care. As part of their course work, students will do one short-term research assignment with a local community agency to determine whether low-income individuals have suffered health impacts as a result of their interactions with law enforcement.

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5355 TPS: Popular Culture and Public Health

This course will use popular culture and popular media to: a) examine depictions of public health problems related to the social determinants of health and health behaviors and b) explore the use of popular media tools and techniques to enhance health information delivery and intervention design. Students will learn to be critical consumers of health-related popular media content, use popular media approaches to communicate across different demographic segments of the population, and take advantage of traditional and emerging media to shape and dissemination public health messages.

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5360 TPS: Youth Violence

This course is designed to provide students with an understanding of adolescent violence-related injury. Violence among youth is a major public health problem that touches several disciplines including education, emergency medicine, law enforcement and legal systems, mental health, public health and social work. Topics to be covered include school violence, dating violence, suicide, and community violence. Students will also learn about conceptual and theoretical models describing the etiology of adolescent violence-related injury and gain an understanding of how such frameworks influence the development of prevention programs. The course includes a comprehensive overview of the many issues associated with youth violence both locally and across the United States. The course will cover the epidemiology of major violence-related injuries including disparities and social and cultural determinants, risk and resiliency factors. Course instruction will be supplemented by guest lecturers who will help illustrate various disciplinary and community perspectives on this issue. Students will work in concert with local organizations/research projects seeking to address this problem in the completion of major course assignments. Special attention is paid to how evidence-based programming must be used in concert with feasibility given community, culture and resource factors.

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5364 TPS: Gender, Physical Activity and Urban Development in Berlin, Germany

Berlin, the site of the first gender and sexualities studies institute and current center of debates about migration and the development of active healthy cities will be the setting of our seminar. We will explore of strategies for social work and public health workers to respond to changing understandings of gender and embodiment and their relation to moving through and in Berlin. We will prepare in St Louis for a series of visits in Berlin with professionals developing and delivering programs for transgendered youth and adults, sex workers, sexual health clinics, sports clubs working in the inner city, services to mothers and children, services for refugee and migrant women and programs for a variety of queer youth. We will meet with policy makers in this space to explore how German law makers and lobbyists approach some of the structural challenges and the funding mechanisms. In addition to larger agencies we will meet with startups and activist groups in this space. We will stay in a social innovation hostel - Regenbogenfabrik - a formerly squatted community kindergarden, cinema, woodworking space and communal bicycle repair shop in the center of Kreuzberg. We will work together with staff from Camp Group charitable LLC who have created and lead projects like respect.org, boxgirls.org, girlsinthelead.org and camp-group.org.
Same as S50 SWSA 5064

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5372 TPS: Gender, Poverty, and Global Health

This course comes in the wake of the new sustainable development agenda to end poverty by 2030, which includes a stand-alone goal on gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. It explores the interconnections between gender, health, and extreme poverty within low- and middle-income countries. Specifically, students will examine a broad range of data and programmatic evidence related to how gender norms and inequalities influence health and development outcomes in and across various global health sectors, including: maternal and child health; nutrition; family planning; water, sanitation and hygiene; and agriculture. Further, by reviewing government policies, donor mandates and gender-based interventions, students will learn how to identify and explain health-related gender gaps, as well as how to address gender norms and power relations in program/policy planning, implementation, and evaluation. At the end of the course, students will use in-depth case studies to propose programmatic and policy driven action to overcome current gender-related obstacles and advance global health and development.

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5374 TPS: Global Reproductive Health

This course will provide an overview of the critical issues in global reproductive health, covering basic reproductive biology and epidemiological trends related to contraceptive use, fertility, and adverse birth outcomes. Additionally, applying a solutions-based approach, we will use key theoretical frameworks and cases studies from the field to understand the influence of social, behavioral, and environmental factors on adverse reproductive health outcomes. Finally, students will be engaged in topics related to what the field has achieved thus far, including: changes in policies, laws, and development approaches; the use of new technologies; the promotion of constructive male engagement; and overall improvements in outcomes related to family planning, fertility, maternal health, violence, sexually transmitted infections, and HIV/AIDS. Obstacles to progress such as waning political commitment, trends in funding, weakened health systems, and cultural opposition, will also be discussed.

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5380 TPS: Health Impact Assessment in Australia

Health Impact Assessment is an emerging policy evaluation practice that aims to inform policy decisions in many sectors in order to promote the conditions required for optimal health. The goal of this course is to expose students to the rationale, practice and potential of Health Impact Assessment (HIA) with a focus on its application to policy making in Australia over winter break. HIA encompasses diverse methods, tools, and processes by which the potential health impacts of policies, plans, programs, and projects and policies may be evaluated. In this course, students consider the reasons for doing HIA, review a range of HIA case studies and analytic methods, and consider the potential of HIA as well as the needs and challenges for practice development. As a class project, students will gain hands on experience in conducting an original HIA as they work with international partners to critically evaluate a specific policy, project, or plan, identifying health benefits and consequences, potential approaches to quantify or qualify how the project may change health determinants, and recommendations for alternatives or improvements.

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5381 TPS: Sustainability, Development and Health: Costa Rica

Sustainability Studies is a transdisciplinary field that integrates the economic, social, environmental, and technological problems that humanity must solve if our species is to continue to thrive on this planet. This course will employ lessons from diverse fields including, but not limited to, agriculture, forestry, energy production, environmental economics, domestic and international policy, ecology, resource management, and human health. The course introduces perspectives from the natural and social sciences, arts and humanities, and professional disciplines and explores how their interconnection increases the prospects for creating a more sustainable future. The course will be taught in Costa Rica at Earth University. While Costa Rica will provide many of the case examples used in the class, experts from many disciplines will provide lectures and learning opportunities from cases around the world. Specific topics to be explored include: paradigms and worldviews; agriculture, forestry, and food systems; principles of ecology, physics and economics; energy and natural resource and conservation; cultural sustainability; environmental politics and justice; ethics and religion; sustainable agriculture; conservation and preservation of ecosystems and species; and the roles of the arts; ecological connections to human health.

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5382 TPS: System Dynamics Modeling for Strategic Design

This course has controlled registration for all students. Priority is given based on degree requirements. All students who wish to enroll in this course should add themselves to the waitlist. This class focuses on the application of model-based systems thinking and system dynamics simulation modeling for strategy development in social work, public health, and social policy for the design of programs, interventions, and organizations. The course supports students to apply mathematical simulation modeling as a pragmatic tool for the design of program and policy interventions as well as organizational strategies. The course covers the foundations of the systems thinking perspective; problem scoping and definition; model structure formulation, the role of mixed methods to build confidence in models, and model-based analysis to inform design options. Application areas include organization and community practice, with examples from domestic and international settings. The course draws on methods being developed and used by the Brown School's Social System Design Lab and explores current system dynamics applications in both domestic and international settings. Prerequisites: MSW S15-5007 & S15-5040; MPH S55 5000.
Same as S65 SWCD 5660

Credit 3 units. EN: TU

S55 MPH 5383 TPS: Climate Crisis: Understanding Complexity and Advocacy for Global Health Professionals

The elective course aims to provide frameworks that encourage students to engage with global discussions regarding the climate crisis as Global Public Health and Social Work professionals. This course takes a psychosocial and critical approach to examine the complexities of the links between climate crises and global health. In a fast changing domestic/international policy landscape, the next generation of leaders will need to innovate by challenging systems and processes and work across disciplines and borders to propose action that has sustainable impact and that is inclusive of diverse voices, identities, and Knowledge Systems. The course will enable students to: Decipher complex multidisciplinary challenges around interactions between Global Health (GH) and the Climate Crisis (CC). Develop strategic planning around policies and programs that are built on ethical considerations (understanding power dynamics and fostering bottom-up accountability towards the most disadvantaged populations). Develop personal and inter-personal competencies that are required for fighting climate chaos in the long term. Find strength and humility by developing a strong sense of community with their peers and work towards decolonizing Global Health and Climate Policy.

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5527 Development, Validation, and Application of Risk Prediction Models

This course will provide the knowledge and principles of predictive modeling, with applications to clinical and population health settings. Topics covered will include design, conduct, and application of risk predictions; statistical methods and analysis for model development and validation; evaluation of prediction models; emerging new methods; and risk stratification to identify a risk group, to assess eligibility to clinical trials and interventions, and to guide prevention priorities. The student will learn these topics through lecture, class discussions, data analysis lab, and homework.
Same as M19 PHS 527

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5541 Methods, Metrics and Measures for Dissemination and Implementation Research

This course will address key methodological approaches in implementation science, focusing on methods with particular or distinctive relevance to implementation research. The course begins with an introduction to concepts of causality and tools for rendering causal relationships, and suggests that these tools are useful for scientific insights into context, adaptation, heterogeneity, external validity and other issues salient in implementation research. We will cover how to capture and represent strategies, the concept of implementation outcomes and how they can be measured. The course will cover methods relevant for approaches at the organizational, practice, or regional level, based on cluster-level considerations about sampling, measurement and analysis. Subsequently, we will apply a causal lens to examine some prominent issues in measurement - including concepts such as sustainability, context and other concepts. Finally, the course will close a look at present methods of appraising research and rating evidence, such as GRADE and problematize these methods for implementation research, and suggest future directions.
Same as M17 CLNV 541

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5550 Randomized Clinical Trials

This course provides a comprehensive introduction to randomized controlled clinical trials. Topics include types of clinical trials research (efficacy and effectiveness trials), study design, treatment allocation, randomization and stratification, quality control, analysis, sample size requirements, patient consent, data safety and monitoring plans, reporting standards, and interpretation of results. Course activities: lectures, manuscript critiques, class project, paper Course note: Students are strongly encouraged to have taken or be concurrently enrolled in M21-560.If you are not a student in the MPHS program, please contact the program regarding registration.
Same as M19 PHS 550

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5551 Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis

Introduction to the use of meta-analysis and related methods used to synthesize and evaluate epidemiological and clinical research in public health and clinical medicine. Concepts introduced and illustrated through case studies of public health and medical issues. Course activities: lectures, class discussion, group project, paper. Stata IC required. Course note: M21-570 required prerequisite. If you are not a student in the MPHS program, please contact the program regarding registration.
Same as M19 PHS 551

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5554 Developing and Evaluating Implementation Strategies in Health and Social Services

Internationally, there is a substantial gap between the establishment of effective interventions and their delivery in routine practice. Implementation research has emerged as a means of addressing that gap. It is defined as "the scientific study of methods to promote the systematic uptake of research findings and other evidence-based practices" to improve the quality of service delivery in routine care settings (Eccles & Mittman, 2006). It includes the study of influences on professional and organizational behavior that impact implementation effectiveness. This course focuses on developing and evaluating implementation strategies or the methods and techniques that are used to enhance the adoption, implementation, sustainment, and scaling up of effective interventions. It is intended for graduate students, postdoctoral students, staff, and faculty in public health, social work, medicine, and other areas of health science who are interested in developing and/or testing strategies to promote improved implementation of effective health and social service interventions.

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5601 Applied Deep Learning Using Health Data

Data are now available to social scientists in a way and quantity that has never existed before, presenting unprecedented opportunities for advancing social research and practices through state-of-the-art data analytics. On the other hand, dealing with extensive, complex, unconventional "big data" (e.g., free text, image, video/audio recording) requires revolutionary analytic tools only made available during the past decade. Artificial intelligence (AI), characterized by machine and deep learning, has become increasingly recognized as an indispensable tool in modern social and behavioral sciences. For example, AI methodologies have been applied to enhance the effectiveness of diagnosis and prediction of disease conditions, advance understanding of human development and functioning, and improve the effectiveness of data management in various social and human services. As a subdomain of AI, deep learning is based on artificial neural networks in which multiple ("deep") layers of processing are used to extract higher-level features progressively from data. This layered representation enables modeling more complex, dynamic patterns than the traditional machine learning (which sometimes are called "shallow learning" as in contrast to deep learning), which finds its utility in analyzing the "big data"-data massive in scale and "messy" to work with (e.g., unstructured texts, images, audios, and videos). This course contributes to the overarching goal of training next-generation researchers in modern data analytics. It aims to equip students with the core knowledge and essential skills to apply deep learning models to address real-world problems. Through the course, students will familiarize themselves with computer programming in data science, learn state-of-the-art deep learning models, and apply them to social and behavioral questions. In addition, one essential field of deep learning applications is assisting decision-making through identifying patterns and trends, improving prediction precision, and automating evidence collection, synthetization, and dissemination. Students who master deep learning tools will be at the frontier to leverage the power of AI in analytics and practices.

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5602 Building Applications with Generative Artificial Intelligence

Build Applications with Generative AI" is a dynamic, hands-on course designed for those eager to harness the power of generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) to create innovative applications. Over 15 weeks, students will immerse themselves in the practical aspects of using Python, the leading programming language in AI development, to craft and deploy a variety of applications. From constructing intuitive data dashboards that visualize model findings to developing sophisticated chatbots and autonomous AI agents, this course covers the spectrum of Gen AI capabilities. Students will delve into advanced techniques such as image segmentation, object detection, retrieval augmented generation (RAG), and the integration of vector databases for a deep analysis of both qualitative and quantitative data. Whether you're generating lifelike images, automating systematic reviews, or building AI tools to combat disinformation, this course offers the skills and insights to bring your ideas to life. By focusing on real-world applications, including deploying these innovations for global use, learners will not only gain a thorough understanding of Gen AI technologies but also acquire the expertise to pioneer new solutions in various domains. Get ready to transform the digital landscape by developing applications that bridge the gap between theoretical AI and practical, impactful solutions. Prerequisites for this course include proficiency in Python programming. While an understanding of machine learning and deep learning is helpful, it is not required for enrollment.

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5610 Multilevel and Longitudinal Data Analyses for Clinical and Public Health Research

The course - multilevel and longitudinal data analyses for clinical research is designed for medical students, clinicians and health researchers. The course is an extension of the intermediate biostatistics (M19-512, instructor Yan Yan). The topics include basic statistical concepts and methods for various types of clinical data (continuous, categorical, count, and time-to-event outcome data) in multilevel and longitudinal settings. Through lectures, SAS labs, and homework assignments, students will understand the basic statistical concepts and methods for the four types of clinical outcome data in multilevel and longitudinal settings, will be able to address clinical research questions using these concepts and methods, will be able to perform basic data analyses on these types of data with SAS software, will be able to interpret the results in the context of clinical research.
Same as M19 PHS 610

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5613 Skill Lab: Geospatial Data Analysis & Visualization for Social Policy

As a tool and technique for managing, analyzing, and visualizing geospatial data, Geographic Information System (GIS) has become powerful for social sciences applications, and social policy in particular. This course provides an introduction to GIS with a focus on how it may be applied to special needs in social policy, as distinct from other general fields including geology and geography. Over the course, students will learn how to generate, manage, analyze and visualize geospatial data with a social policy-related data example to guide a better social policy design and implementation.
Same as S40 SWSP 5613

Credit 1 unit.

S55 MPH 5620 Advanced Policy Analysis: Policy Impact Assessment

Impact Assessment is an emerging policy evaluation practice that aims to inform policy decisions in many sectors. This course will expose students to the rationale, practice and potential of Impact Assessment with a focus on Health Impact Assessment (HIA) and its direct applications to policy making. HIA encompasses diverse methods, tools, and processes by which the potential health impacts of policies, plans, programs, and projects and policies may be evaluated. Prerequisite S40-5842. MSP students will have priority enrollment for this course.
Same as S40 SWSP 5620

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5650 Benefit-Cost Analysis

This course prepares students to design, interpret, and conduct a fundamental type of economic evaluation for a variety of policy settings: the benefit-cost analysis (BCA). Students also compare BCA with other common techniques of economic evaluation, including cost-effectiveness, cost-utility analysis, and budget impact analysis. MSW Prerequisite: S15 5040. MSP Prerequisite: S50 5011.
Same as S40 SWSP 5650

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5660 Systems Thinking in Health

The major challenges facing global and public health in the 21st century are truly daunting; they include global climate change, global pandemics along with the rise of vaccine denial, threats to food systems and physical activity, persistence of income disparities and health inequities; and healthcare systems that are fracturing as a result of multiple financial, legal, political, and governmental pressures. These 'wicked' problems resist easy solution, and they call for new ways of thinking, studying, evaluating, and implementing. Systems science is a relatively new interdisciplinary paradigm that suggests new ways of addressing these pressing public health challenges. The goal of the new Systems Thinking in Health class is to introduce systems thinking skills and knowledge to graduate students in public health and other closely related disciplinary programs. The course will be conceptual and historical in nature, showing how systems concepts can be an alternative (and sometimes more effective) approach for understanding public health, compared to more usual research, evaluation, and intervention traditions. The course weaves together three broad types of activities: 1) exploration of core systems science concepts such as complexity, holism, dynamics, feedback, nonlinearity, and heterogeneity; 2) understanding how various public health challenges can be viewed through a systems lens such as global pandemics, nutrition and obesity, violence, global warming and environmental change, and health equity; and 3) introducing based systems science research and evaluation methods, including systems mapping, system dynamics modeling, network analysis, and agent-based modeling. At the end of the class, students will be able to: Articulate how major public health problems are embedded in complex systems, in and of themselves Understand the basic concepts and principles of systems science Understand how systems concepts and methods have been historically used to address critical health problems (e.g., modeling for pandemic preparedness) Reframe a specific public health problem in systems terms to support subsequent research, evaluation, or program implementation

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5701 Practicum I - MPH Program

This course provides supervised experience in application of public health techniques through work in a public health agency or other health care organization.

Credit variable, maximum 3 units.

S55 MPH 5702 Practicum II - MPH Program

Practicum II for MPH Students

Credit variable, maximum 3 units.

S55 MPH 5703 Practicum III - MPH Program

Credit variable, maximum 3 units.

S55 MPH 5711 Elective Practicum I - MPH Program

Students must consult with their Office of Field Education adviser prior to registering for this course.

Credit variable, maximum 3 units.

S55 MPH 5712 Elective Practicum II - MPH Program

Students must consult with their Office of Field Education adviser prior to registering for this course.

Credit variable, maximum 2 units.

S55 MPH 5713 Elective Practicum III - MPH Program

Students must consult with their Office of Field Education adviser prior to registering for this course.

Credit 1 unit.

S55 MPH 5800 MSW/MPH Dual-Concentration Practicum I

The MSW/MPH Dual-Concentration Practicum provides learning activities that meet the accreditation requirements of both MSW and MPH accrediting bodies. Students must select a practicum site that is affiliated for both programs. Students will complete a dual ELA to identify learning activities. A site visit and final evaluations will be used to assess student learning and provide a final grade. Prerequisite: completion of MSW Foundation Practicum.

Credit variable, maximum 3 units.

S55 MPH 5801 Independent Study

S55 MPH 5802 MSW/MPH Dual Concentration Practicum II

Prerequisite: MSW/MPH Dual Concentration Practicum I.

Credit variable, maximum 2 units.

S55 MPH 5803 MSW/MPH Dual Concentration Practicum III

Prerequisite: MSW/MPH Dual Concentration Practicum II.

Credit 1 unit.

S55 MPH 5811 TPS: Harm Reduction Community Practice

This course will focus on the systems, policies, and programs essential for implementing harm reduction in community settings. The course will explore the rationale for implementing harm reduction services, the role of community organizing to support harm reduction services, and essential public policy changes needed to save lives and foster client self-determination through harm reduction policies and practices. MSW Pre/co-requisites: S15-5012 & S15-5039. MPH Pre/co-requisites: S55-5001 & S55-5004 Priority enrollment given to MSW Mental Health students and MPH Mental and Behavioral Health students.
Same as S30 SWDP 5811

Credit 3 units.

S55 MPH 5900 CPH Exam

S55 MPH 5905 Culminating Experience - CACE Prep Course

During the final semester of study in the program, all MPH students are required to complete a Culminating Experience. The Case Analysis Comprehensive Exam (CACE) is a written exam centered on analysis of transdisciplinary public health cases. The Culminating Experience CACE Prep Course is a 1-credit hour course that will assist students in preparing for the exam. This course will review the public health core areas and transdisciplinary problem solving competencies. In addition, practice exam(s) will be provided in order to support students' preparation approach and responses. The course is Pass/Fail. Attendance is required to complete the MPH program. This course is the first of two courses in the Culminating Experience sequence. Students should enroll in S55-5905 and S55-5906 concurrently.

Credit 1 unit.

S55 MPH 5906 Culminating Experience - CACE Exam

During the final semester of study in the program, all MPH students are required to complete a Culminating Experience. The Case Analysis Comprehensive Exam (CACE) is a written exam centered on analysis of transdisciplinary public health cases selected by a faculty committee. The Culminating Experience CACE Exam is a 1-credit hour course in which students will complete this exam. The exam will be offered on one day only each semester. This exam will determine: (1) the student's mastery of the program competencies in public health core areas and transdisciplinary problem solving; (2) integration and synthesis of knowledge across public health disciplines; (3) ability to apply public health knowledge in real-world problem solving; and (4) mastery of specialization-specific competencies that vary based on each student's area of specialized study. Students will receive the case and all supporting materials in advance of the exam. The exam is Pass/Fail, and a passing grade is required to complete the MPH program. This course is the second of two courses in the Culminating Experience sequence. Students should enroll in S55-5905 and S55-5906 concurrently.

Credit 1 unit.

S55 MPH 5907 Capstone I

The purpose of Capstone I is to prepare students for their independent integrated learning experience or capstone project. The capstone project is a student-initiated project that integrates and synthesizes selected MPH foundational and specialization competencies in a high-quality written product that demonstrates student mastery of such competencies. Capstone I aims to prepare students for the development of their capstone project by providing capstone guidelines, direction in competency selection, workshops and practice in scientific writing, proposal/outline development, and small group presentations and feedback on project ideas. This one-credit course is required of all MPH students before completion of their capstone project.

Credit 1 unit.

S55 MPH 5908 Capstone II

The purpose of Capstone II is for students to draft and finalize the capstone project proposed during Capstone I. Students will work independently and have regular progress meetings with the faculty instructor for their course section. Upon completion of their capstone projects, students will also perform a self-learning reflection by completing an MPH competency self-assessment. Prerequisite: S55 5907.

Credit 1 unit.

S55 MPH 5910 Public Health Seminar I

In this seminar, students will work closely with faculty members in small groups to process, systematically analyze and discuss timely, real world public health challenges and solutions.

Credit 1 unit.

S55 MPH 5920 Public Health Seminar II

In this seminar, students will work closely with faculty members and peers to systematically analyze and discuss timely, real world public health challenges and solutions. Students enrolled in PHS II are required to attend the monthly Public Health Speaker Series lectures that will take place once in February, March and April from 12pm-1pm. The lectures will cover content that will inform class discussion and participation in the class session. Public Health Speaker Series dates will be published closer to the start of the semester.

Credit 1 unit.

S55 MPH 5925 Public Health and Urban Design Seminar I

This seminar brings together students from the MPH Urban Design specialization at the Brown School and MUD students (Master of Urban Design) from the Sam Fox School of Design for a monthly exchange with faculty from both programs as well as practicing urban design specialists. Sessions will engage students in discussions and analysis of real world urban challenges, and provide the opportunity to process and apply skills from their specialization course work and experiences from their practicum and culminating experience. This seminar course is required for students in the Urban Design specialization.

S55 MPH 5926 Public Health & Urban Design Seminar II

Semester 2. This seminar brings together students from the MPH Urban Design specialization at the Brown School and MUD students (Master of Urban Design) from the Sam Fox School of Design for a monthly exchange with faculty from both programs as well as practicing urban design specialists. Sessions will engage students in discussions and analysis of real world urban challenges, and provide the opportunity to process and apply skills from their specialization course work and experiences from their practicum and culminating experience. This seminar course is required for students in the Urban Design specialization.

S55 MPH 5927 Public Health & Urban Design Seminar III

Semester 3. This seminar brings together students from the Master of Public Health Urban Design specialization at the Brown School and Master of Urban Design students from the Sam Fox School for a monthly exchange with faculty from both programs as well as practicing urban design specialists. Sessions will engage students in discussions and analysis of real-world urban challenges, and they will provide the opportunity for students to process and apply skills from their specialization course work and experiences from their practicum and culminating experience. This seminar course is required for students in the Urban Design specialization.

S55 MPH 5960 Skill Lab: Statistical Analysis: SAS

This course will provide an introduction to the SAS statistical package in a Windows environment. Students will learn the basics of data management and manipulation through hands-on tutorials. Topic will include importing/exporting data, merging datasets, recoding variables, simple statistical analyses and troubleshooting. At the end of the course, students will have the skills necessary to use SAS for advanced biostatistics and epidemiology courses. Prerequisite: S55-5003, & S55-5000. This course is strongly recommended for students taking S55-5011.

Credit 1 unit.

S55 MPH 5961 Skill Lab: Statistical Analysis Using STATA

This skill lab will introduce students to the STATA statistical software package. Students will learn data concepts such as opening/importing/exporting data, applying formats, using syntax, creating variables, graphs and more. Statistical analysis techniques will be covered for both continuous and categorical outcome variables, including chi-square, t-tests, regression and survey weights. Students will demonstrate acquired skills during a final project working with data and running a statistical analysis and interpretation.

Credit 1 unit.

S55 MPH 5962 Skill Lab: Introduction to The R Statistical Programming Language and Environment

This course will introduce students the fundamentals of the R language and RStudio environment. The first session will cover how to obtain and install R and RStudio, import data, create descriptive statistics, and plot simple graphics. The second session will delve into data structures and classes, data manipulation and management, and common data analyses (t-tests, ANOVAs, correlations, regressions, etc.). Students will explore R's graphics capabilities and some of the publishing tools built into RStudio during the third session. Students are expected to have taken at least one introductory statistics course, but need no prior computer programming experience.

Credit 1 unit.

S55 MPH 5964 Skill Lab: Manuscript Development

This course will help students learn to write scholarly manuscripts for publication in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Students will learn and apply a prescriptive formula for writing each section of a manuscript and responding to reviewer critiques. The course is designed for those who are new to writing for publication as a lead author, and it emphasizes reporting findings from empirical studies. Students must enter the course with a manuscript project to work on. They will develop the manuscript through the course and submit it for peer review as the final course requirement.

Credit 1 unit.

S55 MPH 5965 Skill Lab: Qualitative Data Analysis

This weekend-intensive course focuses on analysis of qualitative data (e.g., interview transcripts) in public health and social work research. It will introduce the theory and methods of qualitative inquiry, highlighting the iterative nature of data analysis, coding, and writing. Students will learn the basics of NVivo using sample data for exercises and assignments and will leave prepared to analyze their own data.

Credit 1 unit.

S55 MPH 5966 Skill Lab: Introduction to GIS And Spatial Mapping

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a system for collecting, storing, displaying, and analyzing geographic information. This 1-credit course will serve as an introduction to applications of GIS and spatial mapping for social work and public health topics. Students will be introduced to the visual storytelling and data analysis power of creating maps. This course is intended to be a fundamental lab that provides hands-on experience in basic GIS skills. Methods for applying GIS techniques and other spatial mapping tools for data visualization will be introduced, and several examples of GIS in environmental and social domains will be analyzed. Students will learn about mapping terminology and skills to produce and analyze digital data maps. Students are not permitted to take concurrently with S55-5082/S65-5082.

Credit 1 unit.

S55 MPH 5969 Skill Lab: Practical Consideration in Developing Health Policy

This course will look at real world applications of public health principles as they apply to developing and proposing new health policy. The course will review basic public health principles as they apply to policy development and will provide students with an opportunity to work through the health policy development and proposal process.

Credit 1 unit.

S55 MPH 5970 Skill Lab: Effective Teams

Effective Teams will help students understand the key attributes and behaviors needed for successful team collaboration when partnered with diverse styles and personalities. Who leads and how is power balanced? How can team members have equal responsibility when skill sets vary? How can communication gaps be closed? How can less engaged team members be motivated?

Credit 1 unit.

S55 MPH 5972 Skill Lab: Data Visualization

Students from public health, computer science and design will form interdisciplinary teams to learn how health data can be analyzed and used to build prototypes, embedding visualizations to display data in clear, compelling, and engaging ways. Students will develop and apply skills and learn and use software for data management and analysis as well as information design. They will learn to work in interdisciplinary teams and learn from instructors across disciplines. Students will also gain skills in presenting and critiquing designs.

Credit 1 unit.

S55 MPH 5973 Skill Lab: Advanced Data Management

This skill lab will cover intermediate and advanced aspects of data management using STATA, however all concepts covered are transferable to similar software packages. Topics will include missing data, finding duplicate observations, repeated measures data, programming loops and data transformations such as merge, append, collapse, conversion from long to wide, etc. Prerequisite: S55-5960 or S55-5961 or S55-5962 or by permission of the instructor.

Credit 1 unit.

S55 MPH 5976 Skill Lab: Introduction to Python for Public Health Data Analysis

This course will introduce students to the fundamentals of the Python language, common Python modules for data manipulation and analysis, and Jupyter notebook environment. The course will begin with how to acquire data from publicly available sources and databases, cleansing and transformation of data, creation of descriptive statistics and graphics. The course will also introduce Python's natural language processing and machine learning modules for basic data classification and predictive modeling applications. Throughout the course, instruction and assignments will promote best practices for creating programs that can be shared and used for reproducible research.

Credit 1 unit.

S55 MPH 5980 Skill Lab: Advanced Data Management and Statistical Analysis in SAS

This course will build upon the material covered in S55-5960 (DATA ANALYSIS: SAS) to provide students with the skills to tackle more complex data management and analysis tasks using the SAS statistical package in a Windows environment. Students will learn through hands-on tutorials and assignments. Topics will include arrays, exporting data, complex merging of datasets (e.g., merge-matching), developing algorithms, testing the assumptions of common statistical tests, and troubleshooting. Prerequisite: S55-5003, S55-5000, and S55-5960.

Credit 1 unit.

S55 MPH 5981 Basics of SQL: A First Course in Using Relational Databases to Analyze Publicly Available Data

This course will introduce students to the database language SQL using the open-source relational database management system MySQL. The course will begin with an introduction to databases and then cover the major features of a database. Students will learn to create tables and fields, define relationship between tables, and manipulate numbers, strings, and dates. Students will obtain solid knowledge of the language, how to retrieve and manage data efficiently. By the end of the class, students will be able to download a publicly available dataset, import it into MySQL, and query to filter/extract subsets of data.

Credit 1 unit.

S55 MPH 5982 Skill Lab: Systematic Reviews

A systematic review is a standardized framework used to synthesize and assess the quality of the literature on a specific research topic. For both social workers and public health professionals, systematic reviews can provide insight into which interventions, programs, and policies are the most effective for addressing diverse social welfare and health problems among our clients and the public. Systematic reviews also enable us to learn about gaps in knowledge and limitations in existing literature to guide future social work and public health practice, research, and policy. This course covers the entire range of conducting a systematic review, including framing a review question, implementing a search strategy, and synthesizing data extracted from eligible studies.

Credit 1 unit.

S55 MPH 5986 Skill Lab: Data & Algorithmic Bias

In public health and other social sciences, research is conducted by scientists working in a biased system using data from human beings living in a biased society. As a result, how we measure, collect, manage, analyze, report, disseminate, and implement science all have the potential to reinforce or widen existing biases. This potential to worsen existing biases goes against the goals and aspirations of most social scientists who are often working to protect and improve lives. In this skill lab, students will be introduced to potential sources of data and algorithmic bias and some strategies for identifying, understanding, and avoiding data bias.

Credit 1 unit.

S55 MPH 5987 Skill Lab: Strategic Healthcare Leadership

The goal of this course is to explore the applications of key strategic leadership principles to healthcare organizations. The Strategic Healthcare Leadership course is designed for students who aspire to leadership roles in healthcare sector organizations. Throughout the course, students will increase both their strategic thinking and leadership capacities with readings, role plays, experiential exercises, as well as self-reflection to sharpen an understanding of the complexity of the healthcare industry and how that complexity impacts effective decision making. The readings are books, case studies, and articles from the general leadership literature, and from the organizational change management literature. The course will be enriched by guest executives who join the discussion and invite you into their world. In their words and from their perspectives, you will experience what it takes to define an organization's strategy from current and former healthcare executives. Finally, the course will provide an opportunity to reflect upon and apply principles learned throughout the course with a small group final project/paper that analyzes what they have learned about strategic leadership in the course.

Credit 1 unit.

S55 MPH 5988 Skills Lab: Using Publicly Available Global Health Data in Epidemiology and Biostatistics

This skill lab will provide practical variable operationalization, preliminary descriptive analysis, and analysis protocol writing skills that are relevant for students who are: (1) completing independent research projects (i.e., MPH capstone, research practicum, etc.), (2) seeking a data-driven global health career using complex and nationally representative household surveys, and (3) developing the skills to analyze the major causes of morbidity and mortality in low and middle income countries. Students will learn how to access publicly available global health datasets (i.e., Demographic and Health Surveys) commonly used by data scientists and epidemiologists to inform the policies, programs, and services of national health ministries and international health organizations. Students will then gain mastery of statistical and methodological considerations for handling complex survey data by understanding the principles of multistage sampling and probability. Students will increase confidence in developing pragmatic research questions that can be addressed using publicly available global health datasets and exploring data and statistical issues that require reformulation of research questions: missingness, low cell sizes, skip logic patterns, non-response, etc. The course instructor will systematically guide students through important stages of research question formulation, data access, preliminary data analysis, and descriptive statistics. The final project will be a 5 -page, double spaced, APA-style research analysis protocol consisting of research question and rationale (1 page), dataset description (0.5 page), descriptive statistics table (1 page), feasibility of addressing the research question (0.5 page), variable operationalization (1 page), and analytical plan for further descriptive or inferential statistics (1 page, completing the full analysis is not required). Overall, this course will equip students in independently answering a variety of research questions using publicly available global health datasets.

Credit 1 unit.

S55 MPH 6000 Foundations of Field Education MPH

This workshop is designed to provide students with the information needed for the practicum/internship search, interview, and selection process. Students will learn the steps for securing a practicum/internship. In addition, they will create a personal rubric for choosing a practicum site. Students will also have the opportunity to ask questions of members of the field education team. After the workshop, students will be required to follow up with a field advising appointment to discuss their practicum/internship search process. This is a required course for all students prior to entering practicum.

S55 MPH 6107 Skill Lab: Gun Violence Epidemiology & Policy in the United States

In this five-week skill lab, we will learn about the epidemiology of gun violence in the United States and review the scientific evidence of policies aimed at reducing gun deaths. We will address questions such as: What is the risk of death from a gun in the United States? How does this risk vary by age, gender, race, and ethnicity? And which policies are effective at mitigating these risks? The course will operate as an upper-level graduate seminar (i.e., it will be heavy on readings and required material) and class time will focus on discussion. Additionally, the ICD-10 classification system for firearm deaths will organize course content: accidents, events of undetermined intent, legal intervention (police shootings), intentional self-harm (suicide), and assault (homicide). Students will demonstrate their learning through an article critique at the end of the course.

Credit 1 unit.

S55 MPH 6108 Skill Lab: Political Strategy for Gun Policy in the United States

In this five-week skill lab, we will focus on political strategy as it relates to gun laws in the United States, paying special attention to state-level ballot initiatives. We will review the politics of guns in America, the importance of the Second Amendment and recent decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court, the influence of lobbying groups like the National Rifle Association, and political advocacy tactics at the state level. We will also examine case studies to understand these ideas in practice, including Maine's unsuccessful attempt in 2016 to pass a ballot initiative aimed at expanding firearm background checks. The course will operate as an upper-level graduate seminar (i.e., it will be heavy on readings and required material) and class time will focus on discussion. Students will demonstrate their learning by collaboratively designing a ballot initiative campaign to expand or restrict firearm access in a state of their choosing. Prior enrollment in the skill lab, Gun Violence Epidemiology and Policy in the United States, is strongly encouraged, but not required. Familiarity with the basic structure and operation of American government is mandatory.

Credit 1 unit.

S70 SWPR 5006 MSW Foundation Practicum I

Prerequisite: S15-5011 & S15-5038 Corequisite: Concurrent enrollment or completion of S15-5007, S15-5012, S15-5015, S15-5039, S15-5040, and S70-5102.

Credit variable, maximum 3 units.

S70 SWPR 5012 MSW Foundation Practicum II

Prerequisite: S70-5006

Credit variable, maximum 3 units.

S70 SWPR 5013 MSW Foundation Practicum III

Prerequisites: S70-5012

Credit variable, maximum 2 units.

S70 SWPR 5014 MSW Concentration Practicum I

Prerequisite: Foundation Practicum

Credit variable, maximum 5 units.

S70 SWPR 5018 MSW Concentration Practicum II

Prerequisite: S70-5014

Credit variable, maximum 4 units.

S70 SWPR 5022 MSW Concentration Practicum III

Prerequisite: S70-5018

Credit variable, maximum 3 units.

S70 SWPR 5032 MSW Concentration Practicum IV

Prerequisite: S70-5022

Credit variable, maximum 2 units.

S70 SWPR 5036 MSW Elective Concentration Practicum I

Prerequisite: Concentration Practicum

Credit variable, maximum 5 units.

S70 SWPR 5037 MSW Elective Concentration Practicum II

Credit variable, maximum 4 units.

S70 SWPR 5038 MSW Elective Concentration Practicum III

Credit variable, maximum 3 units.

S70 SWPR 5039 MSP Practicum I

The MSP practicum is an essential component of the social policy degree program. The practicum is designed to provide authentic practice situations in which theoretical knowledge and concepts from the classroom and literature can be applied to the concrete demands of the social policy setting. The learning that occurs in this context complements academic courses with the application of theories and concepts. The 3-credit-unit practicum is designed to allow students to gain practical experiences involving policy making. Students will experience the application of policy in the environment.

Credit variable, maximum 3 units.

S70 SWPR 5041 MSP Elective Practicum

Credit variable, maximum 3 units.

S70 SWPR 5042 MSW Concentration Practicum V

Prerequisite: S70-5032

Credit variable, maximum 1 units.

S70 SWPR 5046 Foundations of Field Education - MSP

This workshop is designed to provide students with the information needed for the practicum/internship search, interview, and selection process. Students will learn the steps for securing a practicum/internship. In addition, they will create a personal rubric for choosing a practicum site. Students will also have the opportunity to ask questions of members of the field education team. After the workshop, students will be required to follow up with a field advising appointment to discuss their practicum/internship search process. This is a required course for all students prior to entering practicum.

S70 SWPR 5102 MSW Integrative Foundation Field Seminar

This seminar provides an opportunity for students to integrate theoretical and research-based knowledge gained in the classroom with the applied knowledge gained from social work practice. It is designed to provide additional integration of coursework and daily practice, enhance student knowledge and provide a safe and supportive environment for students to debrief on practice challenges and ethical issues. Required Corequisite: S70-5006: MSW Foundation Practicum I

Credit 1 unit.

S70 SWPR 6000 Foundations of Field Education

Foundations of Field Education is a three-hour workshop designed to provide students with the information needed for the practicum/internship search, interview, and selection process. Students will learn the steps for securing a practicum/internship. In addition, they will create a personal rubric for choosing a practicum site. Students will also have the opportunity to ask questions of members the field education team. After the workshop, students will be required to follow-up with a field advising appointment to discuss their practicum/internship search process. This is a required course for all students prior to entering practicum.

S81 SKILL 5041 Skill Lab: Grant Writing: Foundation Grants

This course will provide the knowledge and specific skills to prepare a foundation grant proposal. It will examine how grantmakers operate, trends in foundation giving, the different types of foundations, how to research their interests and priorities, basic writing skills, how to build a working relationship with a foundation, elements of a strong grant proposal and customizing a grant proposal to various types of foundations.

Credit 1 unit.

S81 SKILL 5042 Skill Lab: Grant Writing: Government Grants

This course will provide the knowledge and specific skills to research and prepare a grant proposal to a local, state or federal government funder. It will examine the different types of government funders, how to research their interests and priorities, basic writing skills, how to build a working relationship with funder staff, elements of a strong grant proposal and customizing a grant proposal to various types of government funders.

Credit 1 unit.

S81 SKILL 5048 Motivational Interviewing Fundamentals

Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a clinical method to help people resolve ambivalence about change by evoking intrinsic motivation and commitment. This course will review the basic spirit, principles, and strategies of MI, particularly ways to evoke change talk and handle resistance. Students will be given the opportunity to practice the skills in the classroom setting. The use of MI in conjunction with other counseling styles and interventions will also be discussed.

Credit 1 unit.

S81 SKILL 5049 Cognitive Processing Therapy

Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) is an evidence-based treatment for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. This course will provide students with a basic working knowledge of the theoretical underpinnings of CPT, the structure of the treatment, and the empirical support for the protocol. Students will be given the opportunity to practice the basic clinical skills in the classroom. Prerequisite: S15-5038.

Credit 1 unit.

S81 SKILL 5058 Motivational Interviewing: Beyond the Basics to Integration and Application

Motivational Interviewing is a psychotherapeutic approach to helping clients create positive changes in their lives by enhancing client motivation and resolving ambivalence. Often cited as a key component of trauma informed care and cultural humility, MI has a strong evidence base for use with a variety of behavioral change goals among a variety of helping roles and in a variety of settings.This skills lab is designed to bring students' MI skills to the next level by building on the basics and introducing advanced content. The intermediate MI skills lab is fast-paced and assumes that students have basic knowledge of MI through completion of S81-5048. By the end of this 2-day course, students will be equipped with the information, knowledge, and understanding of steps needed to become a member of the prestigious Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT). Prerequisite S81-5048.

Credit 1 unit.

S81 SKILL 5061 English Language Support for Academic Communication in Brown School Programs

This course supports multilingual students as they strengthen the oral and written English communication skills needed for academic programs in the Brown School. Communication skills addressed in the course include participating in fast-paced small group conversations and class discussions, building discipline-specific vocabulary, reviewing grammar issues that impact effective communication, handling a heavy reading load, understanding the U.S. conventions of academic integrity, and developing strategies for independently editing one's own academic writing. Placement by examination.

Credit 2 units.

S81 SKILL 5066 Teen Outreach Program (TOP)

This skills lab will provide students with knowledge of and basic facilitation skills in the Teen Outreach Program (TOP), an evidence-based youth development and teen pregnancy prevention model. TOP is one of the few youth development initiatives proven to be highly effective in preventing risk factors of school dropout, academic failure, and teen pregnancy. The TOP facilitator skills lab content will include an orientation to TOP - including program history, core goals, core principles, key outcomes, the TOP fidelity model, and an overview of how and why TOP gets results. The TOP Changing Scenes curriculum will be introduced with modeling of two lessons, a review of Community Service Learning principles, practice building a service learning project with a group, coaching on and practice facilitating sensitive subject matter, and values neutral facilitation. The experiential learning cycle and multiple intelligence theory will be reviewed, including practice integrating both into lessons and service learning. An overview of operational, sequencing, and routine considerations for planning a TOP club will be provided. Teams of two to three training participants will prepare and practice facilitating a TOP lesson. Trainers will provide consistent modeling of techniques for group engagement, process learning, and integrating the core components of TOP. Participants who successfully complete this skills lab will be eligible for certification as a TOP facilitator, but can only facilitate TOP within Wyman Center's TOP replication model.

Credit 1 unit.

S81 SKILL 5080 Prolonged Exposure Therapy

Prolonged Exposure Therapy is an evidenced-based intervention shown to be effective in addressing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the anxiety, depression, and/or anger that PTSD often causes. Students in this skills lab will learn about current theories explaining the development and maintenance of PTSD, how to diagnose PTSD in children, youth and adults, and the broad spectrum impact of exposure to traumatic events. Prolonged Exposure as a viable treatment option for PTSD will be introduced and students will learn about Emotional Processing Theory upon which this cognitive and behavioral intervention for PTSD is based, the specific component of PE, and how to implement this with clients.

Credit 1 unit.

S81 SKILL 5081 Brief Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (BCBT) for Anxious Youth

Anxiety disorders are the most common type of mental health disorder in children, affecting as many as ten percent of young people. The purpose of this skills lab is to help future clinicians: 1) identify and accurately diagnose children with anxiety disorders; 2) understand the principles of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT); 3) learn an evidenced based CBT program and how to implement it effectively and 4) understand how families are involved in the treatment process and identify and address potential barriers to treatment.

Credit 1 unit.

S81 SKILL 5083 Integrated Mental & Behavioral Healthcare

New professional roles are open to social workers, given Innovative policy and practice models in which mental health care is integrated, coordinated or co-located with medical care and social services. This course prepares students to shape and deliver integrated behavioral and mental health services. Students will learn the benefits of integrated care; different models of integrated care; skills for client engagement, care coordination, and professional collaboration; and understanding of the data and infrastructure requirements to ensure effective and efficient care.

Credit 1 unit.

S81 SKILL 5084 Exposure and Response Prevention Therapy

This skills lab will provide an understanding of when and how to use exposure and response prevention (ERP), an evidence-based exposure therapy that is useful for addressing anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The course will consider current research support for ERP. We will explore implementing ERP as in vivo exposure, imaginal exposure, and interoceptive exposure. Implementation with specific diagnoses such as OCD, social anxiety disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder will be considered.

Credit 1 unit.

S81 SKILL 5085 Acceptance & Commitment Therapy Skill Lab

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is an evidence-based behavioral treatment for depression, anxiety, substance abuse, psychosis, and numerous other psychological problems and stressors. It teaches people to accept difficult thoughts, feelings, sensations, and memories, build mindfulness skills, identify core personal values, and commit to behaviors that are consistent with those values. Participants will learn about the model of psychological flexibility, upon which ACT is based, and engage in basic skill development in the implementation of ACT.

Credit 1 unit.

S81 SKILL 5086 ASIST: Applied Suicide Intervention Training

ASIST is a two-day curriculum that will train you to carry out life-saving interventions for people at risk of suicide or suicidal behavior. You will identify your attitudes about suicide and learn how to approach the topic with those at risk without judgment. Learn the stages of a suicide intervention and engage in simulations and role plays that will apply your knowledge.

Credit 1 unit.

S81 SKILL 5087 Skill Lab: Core Elements of Parent Management Training

Students will gain an overview of the theoretical and empirical basis of parent management training, as well as learn  the principles and techniques associated with positive reinforcement and compliance training. Emphasis will be placed on students learning common techniques to engage parents and other caregivers in parent management training in group and individual settings, such as modeling, role-playing, feedback, and facilitating discussions. The course will examine critical issues in applying and implementing PMT. Prequisite S15-5038.

Credit 1 unit.

S81 SKILL 5088 Assessment and Treatment of Eating Disorders

In this course, students will learn to accurately define of the spectrum of eating disorders through the most recent diagnostic categories, from Avoidant Restrictive Eating Disorder through Binge Eating Disorder. They will also be introduced to effective, evidence-based treatments -- specifically Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Family-Based Treatment, Interpersonal Psychotherapy, and Acceptance & Commitment Therapy -- and their specific application to eating disorders. Theory, research base, practical application and case studies will be discussed. Interactive case studies, treatment planning, role plays and demonstrations will be incorporated to ensure that the material can immediately be put in to use in practice settings.

Credit 1 unit.

S81 SKILL 5121 Skill Lab: Self-Care for Helping Professionals

The Self-Care for Helping Professionals skills lab will provide students with knowledge of the occupational risks of the helping professions, provide opportunities to explore four domains of Self-Care, including physical, social, spiritual, and mental as means to mitigate the occupational risks. Students will examine obstacles to practicing self-care and practice strategies to overcome said obstacles. Also, students will consider self-care across the lifespan, including individual self-care and self-care in an organizational/institutional context, with skills to advocate for wellness within workplaces.

Credit 1 unit.

S81 SKILL 5141 Skill Lab: Performance Management and Continuous Quality Improvement

This course will provide skills in selecting and applying widely used tools and best practices to yield effective and efficient organizational performance and continuous learning and quality improvement. These skills are applicable to diverse functions and settings areas such as intake and case management, clinic operations and volunteer management.

Credit 1 unit.

S81 SKILL 5142 Skill Lab: Program and Project Management

This course focuses on key program and project management competencies and principles that are critical to executing successful projects. Students will learn about planning, scheduling, organizing, and controlling projects and will apply these concepts using case studies and small group projects.

Credit 1 unit.

S81 SKILL 5143 Skill Lab: Volunteer Management

This course will provide skills in recruiting and retaining volunteers for a wide variety of organizational roles. It will provide training on the basic tasks of the Volunteer Manager, and volunteer supervision within a cycle of management from job design to evaluation.

Credit 1 unit.

S81 SKILL 5144 Skill Lab: Fundraising Design and Management

This course will provide skills in developing and implementing a strategic fundraising program, including setting goals, choosing fundraising techniques, interfacing with staff and volunteers, data management and evaluating results.

Credit 1 unit.

S81 SKILL 5145 Skill Lab: Budget Management

This course will provide skills in budgeting, budget management and reporting, using commonly available software. It will include both line item and program budgeting models, and the basics of grant reporting. It will connect budgeting to the overall process of financial management.

Credit 1 unit.

S81 SKILL 5147 Effective Meeting Management & Group Facilitation

For organizations and communities, meetings large and small are a way of life. Making these meetings as productive, effective and efficient as possible increases organizational productivity, improves decision making and enhances community development. This course provides the basic theories and techniques for meeting planning and implementation and facilitation practice. The skills and practice methods are applicable in multiple settings and relevant to management and organizing arenas used in stakeholder input, community organizing, strategic planning, project evaluation, staff retreats and policy development.

Credit 1 unit.

S81 SKILL 5151 MSW Research Seminar I

Prerequisite/Corequisite: Biostatistics.

Credit 1 unit.

S81 SKILL 5152 MSW Research Seminar II

Prerequisite: S81 5151 MSW Research Seminar I and Biostatistics. Corequisite: Applied Linear Modeling.

Credit 2 units.

S81 SKILL 5177 Skill Lab: Strategic Planning and Execution

This course will help students gain knowledge and basic skills in strategic planning and execution. The course will include an examination of models of strategic planning; assessing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. developing a vision, goals, and strategies for mission achievement and then translates them into action plans, dashboards, staff and board responsibilities.

Credit 1 unit.

S81 SKILL 5188 Voting, Racism, and the Promise of Democracy: What's Next?

One of the most critical ways that individuals can influence governmental decision making and social and racial justice is by participating in democracy via voting. Widely recognized as a fundamental civil right, the ability to vote is not available for millions of individuals in the United States. This course incorporates readings, guest lectures, and deliberate dialogue focused on the intersections of voting, voter suppression, voter intimidation, democracy, and racism.

Credit 1 unit.

S81 SKILL 5190 Exploring The Therapeutic Model of Policing

This course will explore the history/culture of policing; training and socialization process; community Ferguson/St. Louis (demands/expectations/responses); contemporary police operations and management (Ferguson/St. Louis City); and the characteristics of a Therapeutic Model of Policing.

Credit 1 unit.

S81 SKILL 5193 Skill Lab: Helping Low-Income Clients Navigate Household Finances

This course is an introduction to the field of financial capability and asset building practice. Financial capability is a micro-to-macro level process to help clients gain the knowledge to make optimal financial decisions and to access appropriate and beneficial financial services. Micro-level social workers integrate financial and economic principles and interventions into direct practice with low-income families, and macro-level social workers address the broader social and economic inequities and incorporate economic opportunities/innovations into policy proposals. Financial capability and asset building practice includes content about poverty, personal household finance, financial access, and related economic concepts. The course focuses on economic and financial concepts as related to individuals and families across the life cycle and communities, with special attention to oppressed populations and communities experiencing poverty and near-poverty. Interactive exercises focus on how to address financial matters with clients, and tools to increase client financial capability and build assets. Social innovations, policy research, and policy change efforts related to these areas are also examined.

Credit 1 unit.

S81 SKILL 5194 Expressive Therapies Continuum: Art in Therapy

The course will provide an overview of the Expressive Therapy Continuum and its relationship to clinical social work practice. We will also discuss basic beginning competencies in using the Expressive Therapies Continuum within an ethical framework of integrating certain art therapy techniques into clinical practice settings. Individual, group, and community practice often emphasizes the integration of expressive practices that go beyond verbalizing experiences. This course is designed to expand clinical social work practice competencies through introducing integrative expressive art approaches to engagement, assessment, intervention, and evaluation.

Credit 1 unit.

S81 SKILL 5501 System Dynamics Skill Lab I: Designing Responsive Community Based System Dynamics Approaches

This course focuses on assessment and adaptation of S65-5050/S55-5050: Community Based System Dynamics approaches for specific community and stakeholder contexts. The course will focus on skill building in identifying community priorities and concerns; translating narratives and research evidence into preliminary model structure; and on skills of designing community-specific and culturally relevant group model building workshops. This course applies a strength based, resource based view of individuals, organizations and communities through reflective work on individual practice and through design of approaches to engaging communities and organizations. The course draws on methods being developed and used by the Brown School's Social System Design Lab, and will be structured as a collaboration with a community partner of the SSDL. This course is intended for students who are currently enrolled in or have previously taken S65-5050/S55-5050: Community Based System Dynamics and wish to strengthen their skills using system dynamics for community development and practice. The course is structured as a group independent study and will be working with a community partner. Specific meeting times and frequency will be determined by the first week of the semester based on student, instructor, and community partner availability. The deadline to drop this course will be the semester drop deadline, 2nd Thursday of the Fall Semester. Pre or Co-Requisite S65-5050/S55-5050 or by permission of instructor

Credit 1 unit.

S81 SKILL 5502 System Dynamics Skill Lab II: Simulation Model Translation & Adaptation

This course will help students learn how to identify relevant system dynamics model structures and adapt those models for use in new problem domains. The course will focus on skills in development of model structure from equations; identification of generic structures; model confidence building, sensitivity analysis and critique; parameter estimation & model calibration. The course draws on methods being developed and used by the Brown School's Social System Design Lab, and will be structured as a collaboration with a community partner of the SSDL. This course is designed for those are currently enrolled in or have completed S65-5660/S55-5382: Designing Sustainable Policies and Programs: A System Dynamics Approach, and wish to strengthen their skills in model building and computer simulation. The course is structured as a group independent study. Specific meeting times and frequency will be determined by the first week of the semester based on student, instructor, and community partner availability. The deadline to drop this course will be the semester drop deadline, 2nd Thursday of the Fall Semester. Pre or Co-Requisite S65-5660/S55-5382

Credit 1 unit.

S81 SKILL 5503 System Dynamics Skill Lab III: Developing Interactive Model Interfaces

This course will help students learn and apply techniques for model analysis and translation of insights to new audiences. Specific attention will be on using model analysis to explore structural explanations for policy and program behavior, and on developing interactive model interfaces to communicate system insights. The course draws on methods being developed and used by the Brown School's Social System Design Lab, and will be structured as a collaboration with a community partner of the SSDL. This course is designed for those are currently enrolled in or have completed S65-5660/S55-5382: Designing Sustainable Policies and Programs: A System Dynamics Approach, and wish to strengthen their skills in using system dynamics to identify and implement high leverage solutions. Students are encouraged to take this class in tandem with S81-5502. The course is structured as a group independent study and will be working with a community partner. Specific meeting times and frequency will be determined by the first week of the semester based on student, instructor, and community partner availability. The deadline to drop this course will be the semester drop deadline, 2nd Thursday of the Fall Semester. Pre or Co-Requisite S65-5660/S55-5382

Credit 1 unit.

S81 SKILL 5504 Introduction to System Dynamics for Advancing Equity

This course exposes students to a systems approach to understanding equity in health, education and general well-being in complex social systems spanning individuals and families to organizations, communities, and the global context. The course covers the foundations of system dynamics: endogenous or feedback perspective, accumulations, rates of changes, and the role of computer models to understand systems. The course introduces students to causal loop diagramming, stock and flow representations of systems, system dynamics modeling software tools, and the distributional and structural inequalities in social systems.

Credit 1 unit.

S81 SKILL 5960 Skill Lab: Statistical Analysis: SAS

This course will provide an introduction to the SAS statistical package in a Windows environment. Students will learn the basics of data management and manipulation through hands-on tutorials. Topic will include importing/exporting data, merging datasets, recoding variables, simple statistical analyses and troubleshooting. At the end of the course, students will have the skills necessary to use SAS for advanced biostatistics and epidemiology courses. Prerequisite: S55-5003, & S55-5000. This course is strongly recommended for students taking S55-5011.
Same as S55 MPH 5960

Credit 1 unit.

S81 SKILL 5961 Skill Lab: Statistical Analysis: STATA

This skill lab will introduce students to the STATA statistical software package. Students will learn data concepts such as opening/importing/exporting data, applying formats, using syntax, creating variables, graphs and more. Statistical analysis techniques will be covered for both continuous and categorical outcome variables, including chi-square, t-tests, regression and survey weights. Students will demonstrate acquired skills during a final project working with data and running a statistical analysis and interpretation.
Same as S55 MPH 5961

Credit 1 unit.

S81 SKILL 5962 Skill Lab: Statistical Analysis: R

This course will introduce students the fundamentals of the R language and RStudio environment. The first session will cover how to obtain and install R and RStudio, import data, create descriptive statistics, and plot simple graphics. The second session will delve into data structures and classes, data manipulation and management, and common data analyses (t-tests, ANOVAs, correlations, regressions, etc.). Students will explore R's graphics capabilities and some of the publishing tools built into RStudio during the third session. Students are expected to have taken at least one introductory statistics course, but need no prior computer programming experience.
Same as S55 MPH 5962

Credit 1 unit.

S81 SKILL 5966 Skill Lab: Introduction to GIS and Spatial Mapping

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a system for collecting, storing, displaying, and analyzing geographic information. This 1-credit course will serve as an introduction to applications of GIS and spatial mapping for social work and public health topics. Students will be introduced to the visual storytelling and data analysis power of creating maps. This course is intended to be a fundamental lab that provides hands-on experience in basic GIS skills. Methods for applying GIS techniques and other spatial mapping tools for data visualization will be introduced, and several examples of GIS in environmental and social domains will be analyzed. Students will learn about mapping terminology and skills to produce and analyze digital data maps. Students are not permitted to take concurrently with S55-5082/S65-5082.
Same as S55 MPH 5966

Credit 1 unit.

S81 SKILL 5970 Skill Lab: Effective Teams

Effective Teams will help students understand the key attributes and behaviors needed for successful team collaboration when partnered with diverse styles and personalities. Who leads and how is power balanced? How can team members have equal responsibility when skill sets vary? How can communication gaps be closed? How can less engaged team members be motivated?
Same as S55 MPH 5970

Credit 1 unit.

S81 SKILL 5973 Skill Lab: Advanced Data Management

This skill lab will cover intermediate and advanced aspects of data management using STATA, however all concepts covered are transferable to similar software packages. Topics will include missing data, finding duplicate observations, repeated measures data, programming loops and data transformations such as merge, append, collapse, conversion from long to wide, etc. Prerequisite: S55-5960 or S55-5961 or S55-5962 or by permission of the instructor.
Same as S55 MPH 5973

Credit 1 unit.

S81 SKILL 6109 Telehealth: Integrating Social Work Practice & Technology

This course explores the use of technology to facilitate social work practice with individuals and families. By examining the pros and cons of telehealth, ethical and legal considerations, and best practice methods, students will be able to assess the feasibility of telehealth as a service delivery mechanism. Through structured role play and reflection, students will become familiar with techniques to enhance their practice effectiveness when utilizing telehealth with clients.

Credit 1 unit.

S90 SWDT 5001 Foundations of Data Analysis

This course provides some of the mathematical and conceptual tools essential to data analysis in social science research. A wide range of statistics are covered. The focus of the course is principally upon the development of arithmetic and conceptual tools needed for advanced work in research design, model development, model fitting and estimation, hypothesis testing, and interpretation of data. The course revolves around the systematic establishment of scientifically meaningful comparisons and relationships. The course will evolve from simple bivariate to more complete multivariate forms of data analysis. Basic principles are illustrated through exercises.

Credit 3 units.

S90 SWDT 5010 Social Network Analysis

Social Network Analysis is an advanced graduate seminar covering social network analysis methods, with an emphasis on using network analysis tools to model social and health science relational and systems data. Network analysis techniques have become more widely used in recent years to study important areas such as the spread of infectious diseases (e.g., AIDS), the structure of the Internet and other complex information systems, the organization of terrorist networks, peer and family influences on smoking and obesity, referral patterns in social service systems, the diffusion of innovations, and the structure of governmental policy systems. The class will cover the historical and conceptual foundations of network analysis, but will emphasize a hands-on approach to exploring network data and learning to use professional network analysis tools. Specific topics include background and history of network analysis; network theories; network data collection and management; network visualization; network measures of centrality, cohesion, and structural equivalence; statistical modeling of networks; and longitudinal network analysis.

Credit 3 units.

S90 SWDT 5050 Community Based System Dynamics

This course introduces students to community based system dynamics (CBSD) as an approach for engaging communities, organizations, and trans-disciplinary teams to understand and represent complex social, health, and policy problems through the diagramming conventions of system dynamics. The course introduces students to the background and theoretical foundations of community based system dynamics; qualitative causal mapping; the practice of group model building for working with organizations, communities, and teams through structured small group exercises or "scripts"; tools for designing, facilitating, and evaluating CBSD interventions; and techniques for managing group dynamics involving power, interpersonal conflicts, and working with marginalized stakeholders. Learning is structured around problem-based and experiential approaches, including simulated group model building exercises, facilitation practice, case study activities, and guest presentations by CBSD practitioners working in the field. Students will apply their knowledge and skills in a community-based group project to design a CBSD intervention with a community project sponsor. The course draws on methods being developed and used by the Brown School's Social System Design Lab and explores current CBSD applications in both domestic and international settings. Prerequisites: MSW S15-5007; MPH S55 5000
Same as S65 SWCD 5050

Credit 3 units.

S90 SWDT 5101 Foundations of Data Management

This course focuses on the practical skills of data management that the PhD student will need to complete their dissertation and early career research. The course will cover techniques in importing data from commonly used platforms into statistical packages, data manipulation, variable creation, and documentation. This didactic course includes syntax-based learning and the analysis of "case study examples" of actual data management challenges.

Credit 3 units.

S90 SWDT 5117 Translating Epidemiology into Policy

Policy has a well-documented, powerful and sustained effect on public health indicators. This course covers the epidemiologic basis for health policy, types of policy evidence, policy theories, study designs for understanding the effects of policy, methods of policy communication, and current controversies. Course content will be covered through readings, individual and group exercises, case studies, lectures, and discussions. Prerequisite: S55-5002, Foundations of Public Health: Epidemiology
Same as S55 MPH 5117

Credit 3 units.

S90 SWDT 5121 Quantitative Methods for Health Policy Analysis

This course will introduce students to additional methods and topics in economic evaluation of health (health care and public health) and health services research (HSR). Students will learn the differences, strengths, and weaknesses of different approaches at a "user" level. Students will produce a project in which they focus on either the economic evaluation or HSR side to evaluate public health policies or problems. Prerequisite: Health Economics (S55-5120) or permission of instructor.
Same as S55 MPH 5121

Credit 3 units.

S90 SWDT 5139 Applied Machine Learning Using Health Data

This course teaches popular machine learning (ML) models using Python and their applications on health data. The topics include (1) Python programming basics (e.g., coding with Python, Python modules such as NumPy, Pandas, Matplotlib, and Scikit-learn); (2) Classification ML models; (3) Regression ML models; (4) ML model training and validation; (5) Support vector machines and decision trees; (6) Ensemble methods; (7) Dimensionality reduction; and (8) Unsupervised learning techniques. Students who complete this course will: (1) Understand the algorithms for ML models widely adopted in health sciences; (2) Proficiently apply ML models to analyze health data; and (3) Appraise the relative strengths and weaknesses of alternative ML models in the contexts of real-world problem-solving. Weekly assignment helps students deepen their understanding of critical concepts and sharpen their model building and problem-solving skills using health datasets. Students who complete this course will have a solid foundation to pursue more advanced artificial intelligence (AI) topics, including deep learning. A prerequisite for this course is an introductory course on statistics or biostatistics. No prior exposure to Python programming is needed.
Same as S55 MPH 5139

Credit 3 units.

S90 SWDT 5500 Theoretical Orientations in Public Health Sciences

The primary goal of Theoretical Orientations in Public Health Sciences is to provide an in-depth exploration of the major theoretical traditions and approaches used in the public health sciences. The class will cover the historical development of important public health theories, as well as current theoretical developments and challenges. Students will also engage with a number of class exercises and assignments that will introduce them to how theories are developed, applied, and tested in public health research contexts. The theoretical coverage emphasizes a 'cells-to-society' approach, and will include assessments of biological, medical, epidemiologic, behavioral, environmental, policy, organizational, and systems theories.

Credit 3 units.

S90 SWDT 5554 Developing & Evaluating Implementation Strategies in Health & Social Services

Internationally, there is a substantial gap between the establishment of effective interventions and their delivery in routine practice. Implementation research has emerged as a means of addressing that gap. It is defined as "the scientific study of methods to promote the systematic uptake of research findings and other evidence-based practices" to improve the quality of service delivery in routine care settings (Eccles & Mittman, 2006). It includes the study of influences on professional and organizational behavior that impact implementation effectiveness. This course focuses on developing and evaluating implementation strategies or the methods and techniques that are used to enhance the adoption, implementation, sustainment, and scaling up of effective interventions. It is intended for graduate students, postdoctoral students, staff, and faculty in public health, social work, medicine, and other areas of health science who are interested in developing and/or testing strategies to promote improved implementation of effective health and social service interventions.
Same as S55 MPH 5554

Credit 3 units.

S90 SWDT 5563 Introduction to Dissemination & Implementation Science

This course will introduce students to modern concepts in design thinking and how they affect dissemination, implementation, and sustainability of health interventions in clinical and public health translational research practice. This course will provide students with methods in all stages of the design thinking process: 1) empathize; 2) define; 3) ideate; 4) prototype; and 5) test. The goal of this approach is to ensure that the products of research (interventions, materials, and findings) are developed in ways that match well with the needs, resources, workflows, and contextual characteristics of the target audience and setting to maximize impact and equity.
Same as M17 CLNV 5420

Credit 3 units.

S90 SWDT 5590 Dissemination & Implementation Science

This course provides an overview of dissemination and implementation (D&I) science (i.e., translational research in health). Topics include the importance and language of D&I science; designs, methods, and measures; differences and similarities across clinical, public health, and policy settings; selected tools for D&I research and practice; and future issues.
Same as M19 PHS 559

Credit 3 units.

S90 SWDT 5601 Applied Deep Learning Using Health Data

Data are now available to social scientists in a way and quantity that has never existed before, presenting unprecedented opportunities for advancing social research and practices through state-of-the-art data analytics. On the other hand, dealing with extensive, complex, unconventional "big data" (e.g., free text, image, video/audio recording) requires revolutionary analytic tools only made available during the past decade. Artificial intelligence (AI), characterized by machine and deep learning, has become increasingly recognized as an indispensable tool in modern social and behavioral sciences. For example, AI methodologies have been applied to enhance the effectiveness of diagnosis and prediction of disease conditions, advance understanding of human development and functioning, and improve the effectiveness of data management in various social and human services. As a subdomain of AI, deep learning is based on artificial neural networks in which multiple ("deep") layers of processing are used to extract higher-level features progressively from data. This layered representation enables modeling more complex, dynamic patterns than the traditional machine learning (which sometimes are called "shallow learning" as in contrast to deep learning), which finds its utility in analyzing the "big data"-data massive in scale and "messy" to work with (e.g., unstructured texts, images, audios, and videos). This course contributes to the overarching goal of training next-generation researchers in modern data analytics. It aims to equip students with the core knowledge and essential skills to apply deep learning models to address real-world problems. Through the course, students will familiarize themselves with computer programming in data science, learn state-of-the-art deep learning models, and apply them to social and behavioral questions. In addition, one essential field of deep learning applications is assisting decision-making through identifying patterns and trends, improving prediction precision, and automating evidence collection, synthetization, and dissemination. Students who master deep learning tools will be at the frontier to leverage the power of AI in analytics and practices.
Same as S55 MPH 5601

Credit 3 units.

S90 SWDT 5660 Systems Thinking in Health

The major challenges facing global and public health in the 21st century are truly daunting; they include global climate change, global pandemics along with the rise of vaccine denial, threats to food systems and physical activity, persistence of income disparities and health inequities; and healthcare systems that are fracturing as a result of multiple financial, legal, political, and governmental pressures. These 'wicked' problems resist easy solution, and they call for new ways of thinking, studying, evaluating, and implementing. Systems science is a relatively new interdisciplinary paradigm that suggests new ways of addressing these pressing public health challenges. The goal of the new Systems Thinking in Health class is to introduce systems thinking skills and knowledge to graduate students in public health and other closely related disciplinary programs. The course will be conceptual and historical in nature, showing how systems concepts can be an alternative (and sometimes more effective) approach for understanding public health, compared to more usual research, evaluation, and intervention traditions. The course weaves together three broad types of activities: 1) exploration of core systems science concepts such as complexity, holism, dynamics, feedback, nonlinearity, and heterogeneity; 2) understanding how various public health challenges can be viewed through a systems lens such as global pandemics, nutrition and obesity, violence, global warming and environmental change, and health equity; and 3) introducing based systems science research and evaluation methods, including systems mapping, system dynamics modeling, network analysis, and agent-based modeling. At the end of the class, students will be able to: Articulate how major public health problems are embedded in complex systems, in and of themselves Understand the basic concepts and principles of systems science Understand how systems concepts and methods have been historically used to address critical health problems (e.g., modeling for pandemic preparedness) Reframe a specific public health problem in systems terms to support subsequent research, evaluation, or program implementation
Same as S55 MPH 5660

Credit 3 units.

S90 SWDT 5661 System Dynamics Simulation for Strategic Design

This course has controlled registration for all students. Priority is given based on degree requirements. All students who wish to enroll in this course should add themselves to the waitlist. This class focuses on the application of model-based systems thinking and system dynamics simulation modeling for strategy development in social work, public health, and social policy for the design of programs, interventions, and organizations. The course supports students to apply mathematical simulation modeling as a pragmatic tool for the design of program and policy interventions as well as organizational strategies. The course covers the foundations of the systems thinking perspective; problem scoping and definition; model structure formulation, the role of mixed methods to build confidence in models, and model-based analysis to inform design options. Application areas include organization and community practice, with examples from domestic and international settings. The course draws on methods being developed and used by the Brown School's Social System Design Lab and explores current system dynamics applications in both domestic and international settings. Prerequisites: MSW S15-5007 & S15-5040; MPH S55 5000.
Same as S65 SWCD 5660

Credit 3 units. EN: TU

S90 SWDT 5662 Mixed Methods Research: Foundations & Applications

Mixed methods research is becoming critically important for the fields of social work, public health, medicine, and behavioral health. This diverse methodology focuses on pragmatically conceptualizing, collecting, analyzing, and mixing quantitative and qualitative data and approaches in a single or series of studies (Creswell & Clark, 2007). The fundamental strength of mixed methods designs is that using and mixing quantitative and qualitative approaches can produce a better and more comprehensive understanding of the area of study than using a single method. Mixed methodologies are also suitable for capturing the multi-faceted and dynamic complexities of social phenomena and have the potential to advance the generation of knowledge and actions to find practical and sustainable solutions to real-world problems. This doctoral-level course introduces students to the fundamental elements, characteristics, debates, approaches and designs of mixed method research and its applications to real-world problems. In this course students will develop and apply skills to critically appraise the quality and rigor of mixed methods studies and write a mixed method grant proposal.

Credit 3 units.

S90 SWDT 5663 Designing for Dissemination, Implementation & Sustainability: How to Maximize Impact & Equity

This course will introduce students to modern concepts in design thinking and how they affect dissemination, implementation, and sustainability of health interventions in clinical and public health translational research practice. This course will provide students with methods in all stages of the design thinking process: 1) empathize; 2) define; 3) ideate; 4) prototype; and 5) test. The goal of this approach is to ensure that the products of research (interventions, materials, and findings) are developed in ways that match well with the needs, resources, workflows, and contextual characteristics of the target audience and setting to maximize impact and equity.

Credit 3 units.

S90 SWDT 5664 Introduction to Dissemination & Implementation Science

Upon successfully completing this class, scholars will be able to: Describe the need for dissemination and implementation research, compare theories and frameworks in the field, select the appropriate designs, strategies, outcomes, and measures for implementation studies. Scholars will also: Understand the importance and language of D&I basic science, explore the theories and frameworks that are commonly used in D&I research and practice, describe the importance of context at multiple levels in D&I science, distinguish between implementation strategies and outcomes from those in efficacy and effectiveness research, describe various study designs, methods, and measures that support D&I science, understand D&I methods and challenges across various settings and populations, recognize opportunities to apply D&I science to intervention development and evaluation, and understand how D&I science can further your research/practice plans and career.
Same as M17 CLNV 540

Credit 3 units.

S90 SWDT 6550 Introduction to Advanced Research

This course provides an introduction to the basic and central concepts in social scientific research. It also addresses the skills needed to conceptualize and plan a research project. The research process is presented as a means to scientifically and systematically advance social work and social science knowledge. This course also examines some of the current issues concerning scientific research. Students prepare a framework for a critical review of research in a selected area and prepare a full research proposal, suitable for submission to external funders.

Credit 3 units.

S90 SWDT 6555 Conceptual Foundations of Social Science Research

This is an introduction to the conceptual and philosophical foundations of social science research. Through readings and in-class exercises, students will explore a diversity of topics integral to doctoral level scholarship, including reliability and validity, causal inference, research epistemology, the nature of social phenomena, the role of agency, rationality and its consequences, and other assumptions inherent in the conceptualization of, and study of, social phenomena.

Credit 3 units.

S90 SWDT 6561 Practicum in Research I

Section 00 is for SW PhD, Section 01 is for PHS PhD.

Credit 2 units.

S90 SWDT 6572 Practicum in Research II

Section 00 is for SW PhD, Section 01 is for PHS PhD.

Credit 2 units.

S90 SWDT 6583 Practicum in Research III

Section 00 is for SW PhD, Section 01 is for PHS PhD.

Credit 2 units.

S90 SWDT 6591 Practicum in Teaching I

Section 00 is for SW PhD, Section 01 is for PHS PhD.

Credit 1 unit.

S90 SWDT 6592 Practicum in Teaching II

Section 00 is for SW PhD, Section 01 is for PHS PhD.

Credit 1 unit.

S90 SWDT 6593 Practicum in Teaching III

Section 00 is for SW PhD, Section 01 is for PHS PhD.

Credit 1 unit.

S90 SWDT 6600 Multilevel and Longitudinal Modeling

This course is an advanced statistics seminar intended for graduate students in social work, public health, health or social sciences. This course covers hierarchical linear modeling techniques that are used to build and test multilevel and longitudinal statistical models. This course will be of interest to anybody who wants to know how to analyze contextual, ecological, and longitudinal data. The course will review both the conceptual issues and methodological issues in using hierarchical linear modeling by working with several real public health and social science data sets. Topics include: fitting and testing two-level and three-level models; evaluating model fit; generalizing multilevel models to binary and other special data; building simple longitudinal models; advanced error covariance structures. Prerequisite: Completion of a graduate level regression or general linear modeling class.

Credit 3 units.

S90 SWDT 6815 Professional Development Seminar I

Brown School doctoral students only.

Credit variable, maximum 1 units.

S90 SWDT 6816 Professional Development Seminar II

Brown School doctoral students only.

Credit 1 unit.

S90 SWDT 6820 Seminar in Social Work Theory & Knowledge

Properties of theories, other knowledge formulations, and strategies for knowledge development are considered in relation to their role in informing accountable practice and generating practice-relevant research. These same criteria are used in review of epistemological and methodological debates in our profession. Relationships between formal properties of knowledge statements, practice-relevant research, accountability criteria, and utilization of knowledge in practice will be explored.

Credit 3 units.

S90 SWDT 6875 Interpretive Methodology in Social Research

This course provides a doctoral-level introduction to interpretive methodology in social research. The course will begin with an introduction to social research that recognizes multiple epistemological and ontological perspectives on social inquiry and scientific methods. We will then situate the interpretive paradigm with respect to this philosophical landscape and consider the aims of social work, public health, and social justice-oriented research. The course will highlight dominant interpretive methodologies used to conceptualize, design, and carry out research using qualitative data and attention will also be given to mixed methods research design. Students will have opportunities to consider issues in the generation of interview-based and observation-based data, to learn how to use qualitative data analysis software, and to analyze qualitative data firsthand. Throughout the course students will be encouraged to seek out and critique interpretive-qualitative research in a substantive domain of their choice.

Credit 3 units.

S90 SWDT 6887 Issues and Directions in Intervention Research

Addresses substantive, theoretical, and methodological issues in conducting and evaluating intervention research with social work populations. Emphasis will be on evaluating evidence-based interventions and methodological rigor in a specific area of practice. Critical review of practice and intervention theories, and ethical issues inherent in conducting intervention research will be examined.

Credit 3 units.

S90 SWDT 6893 T32 Seminar in Mental Health & Addictions Services Research

This seminar focuses on methdological issues in mental health services research. This semester, the seminar foucses on components of a quality research proposal.

Credit 1 unit.

S90 SWDT 6895 Mental Health Services Research

This course will cover the history and trends in public and private mental health services, seminal studies in mental health service, and such methodological issues as measurement of services, operationalization and measurement of mental health service intervention, and alternative data sources. Particular attention will be directed to methodological issues and knowledge needs with regard to service needs of special populations, including the elderly, children, adolescents, the poor, and ethnic minorities. Research methods for investigating the organization and financing of mental health services will also be addressed. Course reading will include published studies and government documents addressing methodological issues.

Credit 3 units.

S90 SWDT 6900 Applied Linear Regression Analysis

This course is a seminar in multiple regression (MR) analysis. There is an emphasis on both conceptual and procedural aspects of MR. Conceptually, multiple regression is approached as a general model with extensive applications in social work research and knowledge building. The procedures of multiple regression are understood as extensions of simple regression and correlation. Statistical formulas for various facets of multiple regression are presented; examples from the literature are critiqued; and experience in working with multiple regression is gained through computer exercises.

Credit 3 units.

S90 SWDT 6901 Structural Equation Modeling

This course introduces the analysis of general structural equations. Topics include causal models and path analysis structural equation models with observed variables, confirmatory factory analysis, consequences of measurement error, the relation between latent and observed variables, and combined latent variable and measurement models. LISREL software will be learned.

Credit 3 units.

S90 SWDT 6905 Propensity Score Analysis

Propensity score analysis is a relatively new and innovative class of statistical methods that has proven useful for evaluating the effects of treatments or interventions when using nonexperimental or observational data. This PhD course focuses on three closely related, but technically distinct propensity score methods: (1) Propensity score matching and related methods, including greedy matching, optimal matching, propensity score subclassification, and propensity score weighting using Stata psmatch2, pweights and R optmatch; (2) Matching estimators using Stata nnmatch; and (3) Propensity score analysis with nonparametric regression using Stata psmatch2 and lowess. The examination of these methods will be guided by two conceptual frameworks: the Neyman-Rubin counterfactual framework and the Heckman scientific model of causality. The course also covers Heckman's sample selection model and Rosenbaum's approaches of sensitivity analysis to discern bias produced by hidden selections. The course uses Stata software to demonstrate the implementation of propensity score analysis. PhD students enrolled should be familiar with descriptive and inferential statistics. Students not meeting this prerequisite should contact the instructor to determine their eligibility to enroll in this course.

Credit 3 units.

S90 SWDT 6910 Generalized Linear Models

Generalized linear models are a collection of statistical methods used to analyze categorical and limited dependent variables. In this course, students will learn fundamental concepts and skills to conduct generalized linear models, and know how to apply these techniques to social, behavioral, and health research. The course covers the following topics: the Nelder and Wedderburn framework of generalized linear models and the key concept of "link function," maximum likelihood estimator, a review of logistic and probit models, multinomial logit model, ordered logistic regression, Poisson regression, negative binomial regression, quasi-likelihood functions, and model fit/validation. Students taking this course are assumed to have taken statistics courses on inferential statistics and regression analysis, particularly Applied Linear Regression Analysis-S90-6900. This course is designed to fulfill part of the core quantitative methods requirements for doctoral students at the Brown School. It will typically be the second quantitative methods course taken for all PHS students, and some SW students.

Credit 3 units.

S90 SWDT 6915 Introduction to Agent-Based Modeling

This is an advanced (PhD-level) seminar providing an introduction to and hands-on experience with agent-based computational modeling (ABM), a prominent complex systems science methodology. The course will draw on examples of the application of ABM from public health and social policy. Topics will include the background and history of ABM, the multiple roles ABM can play as part of a broader research agenda, core concepts in the design and application of ABM, best practices for using ABM effectively, an introduction to software packages commonly used for ABM work, and the use of ABM as a tool to inform policy and intervention design.

Credit 3 units.

S90 SWDT 6960 Survival Analysis

Survival analysis is a collection of statistical methods used to address questions that have to do with whether and when an event of interest takes place. It is "the analysis of data that correspond to the time from a well-defined time origin until the occurrence of some particular event or end-point (Collett, 1994)." In this course, students will learn fundamental concepts and skills to conduct survival analysis, and know how to apply these techniques to social, behavioral, and health research. The topics covered by this course include types of censoring mechanisms, descriptive methods for survival data including the life table and Kaplan-Meier methods, the discrete-time models, the Cox proportional hazards model, the parametric regression models, competing risks survival analysis, and multivariate analysis of autocorrelated time-to-event data. Students taking this course are assumed to have taken statistics courses on inferential statistics and regression analysis, and know how to run Stata or SAS software package to perform statistical analysis.

Credit 3 units.

S90 SWDT 6972 Area Statement & Qualifying Exam

Second-year doctoral students enroll in this course and successfully pass the area statement and qualifying exams before August 1 of their fourth year.

Credit 3 units.

S90 SWDT 8840 Doctoral Continuing Student Status

Used for Residency.

S90 SWDT 9000 Mentored Independent Teaching Experience

Eligible doctoral students teach independently with the guidance of faculty.

S90 SWDT 9001 Mentored Assistant Teaching Experience

Students assisting in the course instruction under the supervision of the course instructor.