In this age of ‘non-facts’ sufficing as the basis for populist resistance to scientific ‘facts’, the ‘citizen skills’ needed to be able to read, understand and make reasonable ‘action decisions’—both for personal health as well as community health issues—are ever more important to acquire within a liberal arts education. The overall goal of this course is to provide the student with fundamental ‘citizen skills’ in assessing epidemiologic original research articles. The fundamental concepts which underpin the range of epidemiologic research designs will be presented first, followed by skill-building exercises that culminates in assessing published epidemiologic original research articles. Both lecture and seminar-of-the whole formats will be utilized. At the end of the course the students should be able to: understand the basic concepts of epidemiologic research design; critically evaluate published epidemiology research article using the Literature Analysis Form-for Epidemiologic Research (LAF-fER); contribute to their future communities as an informed member; and savor and reflect upon the description of epidemiologic outbreaks in literature, esp. in short story and ‘novel-like’ formats.

Advanced Honors Seminars (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks