Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Erie-Behrend College · Courses
HHUM
10 courses with the subject HHUM, each shown exactly as we captured it from the college's catalog, with every element we hold. Where the wording looks broken, that is our reading of the catalog, not the college's text.
HHUM 110NHealth, Illness, and the Human Condition3
This survey course explores the human experience of health and illness from a combined social/behavioral science and humanities perspective. Topics may include the following: the body in art, science, and history; models of normality and disease; family, patient, and practitioner stories; adaptation to illness; health care relationships; principles and psychology of health care ethics; cultural aspects of end-of-life; identity, meaning, and mental health in health care professionals. Reading, writing, and discussion will give students in all majors a set of skills and knowledge for understanding individuals and groups in the context of health and illness. Texts include fiction; poetry; graphic memoir; film; essays; and social science research and theory. Students will experiment with various writing genres to understand and challenge disciplinary boundaries, and creative projects will provide experience with diverse methods and types of knowledge. The arena of health and illness presents a valuable opportunity for integrating social/behavioral science and humanities in analyzing and solving real world problems. Despite technological advances, health care is essentially a human-to-human endeavor, so the humanities and social sciences are necessary to complement biomedical perspectives. This course provides transferable skills and a framework for addressing similar challenges and opportunities in a range of fields that students may encounter in the future. Recommended Preparations: ENGL 15 Cross-listed with: BIOET 110N General Education: Humanities (GH) General Education: Social and Behavioral Scien (GS) General Education - Integrative: Interdomain GenEd Learning Objective: Effective Communication GenEd Learning Objective: Crit and Analytical Think GenEd Learning Objective: Integrative Thinking GenEd Learning Objective: Soc Resp and Ethic Reason
HHUM 111NExploration of Allied Health Professions3
This course is an integrative, interdomain (GHW, GH) course for students pursuing health-related professions, considering health science/allied health fields, or interested in appreciating healthcare in its broader and historical context. It provides a comprehensive understanding of five allied health professions (occupational therapy, physical therapy, radiological sciences, medical laboratory technology, and biomedical engineering technology), emphasizing their critical role in healthcare, the diversity of related career options, and the skills required to excel in these fields. Through a combination of lectures, discussions, case studies, and evidenced based research students will gain insight into national and international influences, current practices, and health promotion in allied health. For the humanities (GH) portion of this course, students will gain an understanding of these professions in a historical context. It examines the historical background of the allied health professions using primary and secondary sources and learning basic techniques of the humanities. Students will learn about the origins, expansion, and current trends of these allied health professions from the 19th century through the present and how these events developed and transformed healthcare. Students will examine such questions as continuity and change; how and why change occurs; and the roles played by technology.
HHUM 112 provides students with a comprehensive and balanced introduction to the practice of one of the most popular health and wellness practices today. We will cover the ancient roots of this technique, how it was extracted from religion and secularized, its scientifically verified health benefits, and the emerging social critiques of the practice. Mindfulness will be studied in an interdisciplinary way, weaving together perspectives such as history, religious studies, Asian studies, philosophy, psychology, social sciences, economics, and neuroscience, depending on the specific expertise of the instructor. The class will also allow students to spend a significant amount of time learning to actually practice mindfulness for themselves. General Education: Health and Wellness (GHW) GenEd Learning Objective: Integrative Thinking GenEd Learning Objective: Key Literacies
This inter-domain (GH and GS) course will introduce students to the application of technology-ethics and bioethics, as well as the humanities (especially health and medical humanities) and the social sciences, through the lens of science fiction and speculative fiction. As an inter- domain course, it will: (1) develop foundational knowledges across the disciplines of the humanities and the social and behavioral sciences; and (2) encourage an appreciation for the plethora of stakeholders and often-competing values and interests underlying bioethical/technology- ethics concerns. By applying ethics-based, analytical arguments and counterarguments, students will engage in civil, reasoned debate on highly charged, challenging topics using ethical frameworks. In addition, given exposure to a wide range of non-canonical authors and other creators with varied intersectionalities, students will engage with the concepts of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Cross-listed with: BIOET 220N, ESC 220N General Education: Humanities (GH) General Education: Social and Behavioral Scien (GS) General Education - Integrative: Interdomain GenEd Learning Objective: Creative Thinking GenEd Learning Objective: Crit and Analytical Think GenEd Learning Objective: Integrative Thinking GenEd Learning Objective: Soc Resp and Ethic Reason
/Maximum of 18 Creative projects, including research and design, which are supervised on an individual basis and which fall outside the scope of formal courses.
/Maximum of 12 Supervised off-campus, nongroup instruction including field experiences, practica, or internships appropriate to the Health Humanities major. Undergraduate - The Pennsylvania State University 2026-2027 4251
1-18 Credits/Maximum of 18 Creative projects, including research and design, which are supervised on an individual basis and which fall outside the scope of formal courses. Health Policy and Administration (HPA) HPA 57: Consumer Choices in Health Care HPA 57 is designed to provide students with an understanding of the breadth of decisions related to health and health care in the United States. HPA 57 introduces students to the consumers' role in health related decisions, including assessing health risks, health benefits, service choices, and end-of-life care. The growth in available health care information resources, the expansion of for-profit medical care, and increasing cost pressure are transforming the role of the health care consumers from passive recipients to active participants in many health care decisions. The main goal of this course is to educate students to become knowledgeable health care consumers and providing them with opportunities to learn how to gather, analyze, and synthesize information about health and health care to make sound health care choices. Students will learn practical information, key terminology and where/how to find reliable, up-to-date information on different sectors of the health care system (e.g. physicians, hospitals, commercial and public health insurance, mental health, long-term care). General Education: Health and Wellness (GHW) GenEd Learning Objective: Key Literacies GenEd Learning Objective: Soc Resp and Ethic Reason HPA 58: Understanding Health Insurance Health insurance is important for maintaining health and wellness across the lifespan, yet health insurance in the United States is incredibly complex. This course equips students with key health literacy skills enabling them to make informed decisions about health insurance coverage and care choices. Students learn health insurance terminology and concepts as well as study primary mechanisms for obtaining coverage (public and private). The challenges associated with choosing and using health insurance as well as how to maximize the value of one's health insurance are explored. Students study who makes up the un- and underinsured populations and how a lack of (adequate) insurance impacts access to care and health. Throughout the course students' complete practical activities that mirror real-life scenarios and decisions. General Education: Health and Wellness (GHW) GenEd Learning Objective: Crit and Analytical Think GenEd Learning Objective: Key Literacies
