Education

This course on the history of medicine among African Americans seeks to provide an understanding of the roots of the African American health deficit. The course will enable students to: 1) Articulate how the earliest encounters between African Americans and Western medical researchers set the stage for health inequities. 2) Engage in and direct thought-provoking discussions of how racist pseudoscientific ideas remain in contemporary society that contributes to health disparities among African Americans. 3) Critically examine the theory of eugenics and social Darwinism and how they are used to justify experimental exploitation and poor medical treatment of African Americans. 4) Understand and identify how historical and contemporary medical issues have contributed to medical ethics of distrust in the African American community.

This course on racism and health disparities is designed to support graduate studies in the social sciences, allied health, and medical disciplines. This course will briefly review the biological and social history of race in America; critique emerging views on the genetics of race; discuss how the classification/mechanism of “race” operates to contribute to health disparities; explore theoretical frameworks of racism and related measures; differentiate between the terms “health inequities”, “health inequalities” and “health disparities”; and, examine the biopsychosocial impact of racism on health. Although it is recognized that the discussion of race, racism and health is relevant to other “racially-classified social groups” the course will draw primarily upon the experience of Blacks in the U.S.