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This course pro­vides an overview of ex­ist­ing psy­cho­log­i­cal and epi­demi­o­log­i­cal find­ings on the re­la­tion­ship be­tween be­hav­ior and dis­ease. The course ex­plores how be­hav­ior, emo­tion and cog­ni­tion can in­flu­ence dis­ease processes and ex­am­ines the im­pact of stress and per­ceived con­trol of one’s des­tiny on coro­nary, im­mune and in­fec­tious dis­eases and symp­toms. The bi­o­log­i­cal processes of sev­eral rel­e­vant chronic ill­nesses are cov­ered as well as re­lated racial and so­cial eco­nomic health dis­par­i­ties. Tem­plates for un­der­stand­ing and treat­ing chronic ill­ness in­clud­ing so­cial sup­port, re­fer­ral and in­ter­ven­tions for op­ti­mal phys­i­cal and men­tal health are dis­cussed. The in­ter­dis­ci­pli­nary theme of this course will pro­vide an overview of ex­tant lit­er­a­ture on the­o­ries of health psy­chol­ogy within the con­text of crit­i­cal race the­ory, epi­demi­ol­ogy, re­search meth­ods, phi­los­o­phy of sci­ence, bi­o­log­i­cal an­thro­pol­ogy, so­ci­ol­ogy, as well as ap­plied health/med­ical fields for an en­riched un­der­stand­ing of the biopsy­choso­cial ap­proach to health and ill­ness. Lec­tures and in-class ac­tiv­i­ties as well as films, guest lec­tur­ers, and in­ter­ac­tive com­puter pro­grams make up this text­book-free course with re­quired read­ings made avail­able through CityTech’s Open­Lab and Open Ed­u­ca­tional Re­sources (OER).

This course provides an overview of existing psychological and epidemiological findings on the relationship between behavior and disease. The course explores how behavior, emotion and cognition can influence disease processes and examines the impact of stress and perceived control of one’s destiny on coronary, immune and infectious diseases and symptoms. The biological processes of several relevant chronic illnesses are covered as well as related racial and social economic health disparities. Templates for understanding and treating chronic illness including social support, referral and interventions for optimal physical and mental health are discussed. The interdisciplinary theme of this course will provide an overview of extant literature on theories of health psychology within the context of critical race theory, epidemiology, research methods, philosophy of science, biological anthropology, sociology, as well as applied health/medical fields for an enriched understanding of the biopsychosocial approach to health and illness. Lectures and in-class activities as well as films, guest lecturers, and interactive computer programs make up this textbook-free course with required readings made available through CityTech’s OpenLab and Open Educational Resources (OER).