Courses

The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular term. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on MyBU Student Portal for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.

• MET HC 560: Research Methods for Health Communication
  There is a growing demand for professionals with the skills to collect, analyze and interpret data. This course prepares students with essential knowledge of primary research methods, and how to apply them - accurately and ethically - to the practice of health communication. Beginning with the basics of research design and evaluation, the course progresses through qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods, survey design, descriptive statistics, focus groups and other approaches, with the goal of helping health communication professionals create meaningful, data-driven strategies, stories and content. Students will practice analyzing, interpreting and writing about various health studies presented throughout the course. Also emphasized is the application of research to advertising messaging and public relations strategies. Please note: This 4-credit course meets over a 7-week period. Students should expect about twice the weekly workload of a 14-week course.
• MET HC 561: Writing for Health
  Effectively communicating knowledge, methods, language and terminology from the complex fields of health, science and medicine - and writing about them plainly - requires an advanced command of language, and proficient use of health literacy principles. If writing does not come naturally to you, this course will introduce you to those health literacy principles, as well as formats and processes for developing materials with confidence. If you're a more experienced writer, get ready to hone your skills using best practices for creating various kinds of health content. Throughout the course you'll analyze different audience needs and refine writing strategies, style, voice, and vocabulary to accommodate each audience. You'll also practice essential writing qualities, including clarity and brevity, alongside advanced grammar, sentence structure and writing mechanics. Assignments include writing, revising, and editing clear, accurate, audience-appropriate content for a journalistic news report; a patient education print brochure; narrative feature storytelling; a health-related blog; scriptwriting for a visual public service announcement, and social media writing to promote your content. Please note: This 4-credit course meets over a 7-week period. Students should expect about twice the weekly workload of a 14-week course.
• MET HC 651: Epidemiology for Health Communication
  This course is recommended for students who are not Epidemiology concentrators. The purpose of this course is to introduce the basic principles and methods of epidemiology and demonstrate their applicability in the field of public health. A further objective is to provide an introduction to the basic skills needed to critically interpret the epidemiologic literature relevant to public health professionals. Please note: This 4-credit course meets over a 7-week period. Students should expect about twice the weekly workload of a 14-week course.
• MET HC 652: Biology of Disease
  This course, designed for students who have little or no background in the biological sciences, provides a foundation in the biological mechanisms and principles underlying major health problems. Selected health problems are explored from a biological perspective in order to provide fundamental information about infectious and non-infectious agents of disease, disease transmission, biological defense mechanisms, co-evolution of man and microbes, the effects of nutritional deficiency and excess, effects of respiratory exposures, the biology of cancer, aging, and other topics. Each student completing this course should be able to knowledgeably participate in a discussion of related health problems with a basic understanding of the terminology, and the underlying biological mechanisms. Please note: This 4-credit course meets over a 7-week period. Students should expect about twice the weekly workload of a 14-week course.
• MET HC 655: Healthcare Marketing Strategies
  This course provides an in-depth understanding of the essential concepts of marketing and their application to health care. Students gain a working knowledge of marketing tools (such as pricing, promotion, channels, consumer behavior, brand equity, and segmentation) and how to use them. Students build practical applied skills in analyzing marketing problems and developing marketing programs and strategies, with particular attention to health care and its organizational structures, financing, technologies, market demands, laws, and regulations. Students also expand their understanding of the differences and similarities between marketing in for-profit and not-for-profit health care organizations, and they increase their appreciation of the role of data collection, analysis, interpretation, and management in marketing decisions. Please note: This 4-credit course meets over a 7-week period. Students should expect about twice the weekly workload of a 14-week course.
• MET HC 656: Healthcare Public Relations
  Provides an overview of the professional principles and practices in public relations for corporate, governmental, agency and nonprofit organizations. Includes history, organization, and scope of the field; its roots in social science; types of campaigns and programs; and professional ethics. Theories, strategies, and tactics in current practice emphasized and applied to health communication. Explores opportunities and requirements for work in the field. Students will learn to apply the basic public relations campaign planning model and examine public relations specialty practice areas including media relations, community relations, government relations, crisis communication, investor relations and employee communication. Please note: This 4-credit course meets over a 7-week period. Students should expect about twice the weekly workload of a 14-week course.
• MET HC 657: Digital Marketing for Healthcare
  An overview of the theories, practices, and techniques in the dynamic field of interactive marketing communications (IAMC). Students gain an understanding of the strategy and tactics of IAMC and its place in the more comprehensive field of marketing communications. In addition, students review IAMC's relationship to and its effects on society, culture, and the economic system. The course will explore almost all the ways interactive marketing can be practiced via the Internet: historical introduction, dotcom era, basic principles, database marketing, etail, email, search (SEO & SEM/PPC), display advertising, social networking, gaming, mobile, et al. Please note: This 4-credit course meets over a 7-week period. Students should expect about twice the weekly workload of a 14-week course.
• MET HC 658: Media Relations for Healthcare
  Students learn publicity techniques used in mass media communication, including working with daily and weekly newspapers, magazines, radio, television, film and online media. The course will examine the principles and practices of working with mass media "gatekeepers" to accomplish campaign objectives as well as strategies and tactics for communicating directly with audiences through new media. Students will develop knowledge and skills related to the production and use of media relations tools with a focus on health communication. Case studies will be employed to understand the challenges and opportunities inherent in working with mass media as well as the special demands and practices associated with crisis communication. The course will also explore the roles of interactive and social media. Please note: This 4-credit course meets over a 7-week period. Students should expect about twice the weekly workload of a 14-week course.
• MET HC 762: Visual Communication in the Digital Health Age
  Over the past two decades, the power of visuals in learning and retention has been increasingly recognized - attributing as much as 80% of retention to information that is visually communicated. In a recent study, 85% of working professionals agreed that creative thinking is critical for problem solving in their career, and 71% say creative thinking should be taught as a course, like math and science. The efficacy of the use of visual symbols has also been recognized for bridging language barriers in health care settings. This course provides health communication professionals the fundamental principles of design and how these relate to effective communication, particularly in health education and delivery applications. Course lectures and resources will guide students from visual design theory, straight through content creation and measuring effectiveness of visual messaging. Students will explore various media and tools used to create digital images and get hands-on practice in the image editing process. Topics include conceptual design, critical thinking in the creation of practical design, how design relates to industry, human perception and the visual process, and the use of symbols for immediacy and to bridge cultural and literacy divides. In addition to exploring popular digital vehicles for visual storytelling, such as infographics, data visualization, video and mobile, the course will also present real-world challenges, such as ethics and regulations in digital communications, as well as business processes. Course requires access to a smartphone with camera and video capability or a digital camera/video. Please note: This 4-credit course meets over a 7-week period. Students should expect about twice the weekly workload of a 14-week course.
• MET HC 763: Social Media Strategies and Tactics for Healthcare
  The course examines how healthcare organizations are tapping the power of social media to listen, learn, engage and act. This course helps students understand the power and importance of this fundamental shift in communication, and how savvy health care organizations are turning this shift into a strategic advantage. Together, we will examine the impact of the communication technology revolution on the field of health marketing and communication. Through extensive readings, case studies, project assignments, hands-on use of social media and weekly discussions, students will explore the extraordinary health communication challenges and opportunities driven by social media - as well as the new and daunting problems and threats social media present to healthcare organizations. Students will learn how social media is used in health care and why using it effectively and efficiently has become a necessary skill for many health care professionals. As part of this course, students have the opportunity to earn the Mayo-Hootsuite Social Media Basics Certification, and participate in the Mayo Clinic Social Media Network community. Please note: This 4-credit course meets over a 7-week period. Students should expect about twice the weekly workload of a 14-week course.
• MET HI 101: The History of Western Civilization I
  Surveys the development of Western society and culture from a.d. 1000 to the French Revolution of 1789. Topics include the development of medieval European society and culture, the Renaissance, the Reformation, the scientific revolution, absolutism, enlightened despotism, and eighteenth-century rationalism.
• MET HI 102: The History of Western Civilization II
  A survey of Western society from the French Revolution through World War II, including the Industrial Revolution, nineteenth-century nationalism and imperialism, the rise of working-class movements, international rivalries, and ideological conflict in the twentieth century.
• MET HI 215: Special Topics in History
  Fall 2021, METHI 215 A1- Special Topics: "Politics, Media and Propaganda from World War I to Present". This course will cover the emergence of powerful new propaganda techniques during WWI and WWII, trace the evolving political uses of radio, cinema, and television during the 20th century and culminate with an exploration of internet culture, social media, and political polarization in the 21st century.
• MET HI 252: US History 1775-1865: America from Revolution to Civil War
  This course explores American history from the end of the Revolution up through the Civil War. Particular emphasis is given to debates on the form and role of the both state power and the Federal Government, the evolution of slavery and the abolitionist movement, the impact and outlines of the Industrial Revolution, the emergence of the suffragette movement, immigration and America's role in the world, and the development of a unified popular culture in the US. The events of this period are contextualized by examining various primary sources from the era and exploring different historiographic viewpoints.
• MET HI 253: US History 1877-1945: Making Modern America
  This course explores US history from Reconstruction through World War II. Emphasis is given to the debate over questions of race and national identity, the Gilded Age and the rise of Modern American industry, the evolution of the Presidency/Federal Government, the Great Depression and the New Deal, the birth/evolution of the modern civil rights and women's rights movements, the creation and expansion of a unified American culture, and America's rise as a global power. These events are contextualized by examining various primary sources and exploring different historiographic viewpoints. Effective Fall 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Research and Information Literacy, Teamwork/Collaboration.
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  • Historical Consciousness
  • Research and Information Literacy
  • Teamwork/Collaboration
• MET HI 262: The Vietnam War
  This course explores the origins, events, and consequences of the wars in Vietnam from 1945 to 1979. Special emphasis will be given to the causes of American involvement and the reasons for the failures of U.S. policy. The events of the wars are placed in different contexts demonstrating how ideological, diplomatic, social, cultural, and economic considerations influenced the conduct, duration, and end of the war. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Historical Consciousness, Research and Information Literacy.
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  • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
  • Historical Consciousness
  • Research and Information Literacy
• MET HI 286: Science and Medicine Go to War
  Science and medicine played key roles in helping warfare shape the social and political fabric of the modern world. While war played a critical role in advancing science and medicine, they in turn serviced the demands of societies at war. This course situates science and medicine within broader themes in the social, cultural, and political history of warfare. It takes a flexible case study approach including a range of topics from the development of gun powder, the treatments for PTSD, the discovery of penicillin and the atomic bomb. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Historical Consciousness, Critical Thinking.
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  • Critical Thinking
  • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
  • Historical Consciousness
• MET HI 300: The American Immigrant Experience
  Immigration has made and is remaking America. All Americans, or their ancestors, were at one time immigrants. This course provides a historical survey of this immigration. The first half of the course explores eighteenth- and nineteenth-century immigration movements; the second half focuses on the twentieth century. Effective Fall 2025 fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, The Individual in Community, Teamwork/Collaboration.
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  • Historical Consciousness
  • The Individual in Community
  • Teamwork/Collaboration
• MET HI 307: Great Trials in American Political History
  This course provides a historical survey of key trials in American history and uses them as a lens through which to study American culture and politics. Beginning during the colonial era, we will look at legal battles, both civil and criminal, which were sensational at the time and had a lasting impact. We will examine many cases in-depth including (but not limited to) the Salem Witch trials, the Dred Scott case, the Sacco-Vanzetti murder trial, the Scopes Monkey trial, the Rosenberg Espionage trial, and the Watergate Burglary trials. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Critical Thinking, Research and Information Literacy.
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  • Critical Thinking
  • Historical Consciousness
  • Research and Information Literacy
• MET HI 312: The History of the U.S. Supreme Court
  The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the ultimate legal interpreter of the United States Constitution. It is one of the most visible and also most controversial organs of the Federal Government. This course examines the political, legal, and cultural history of the United States through the lens of some of the Court's major rulings. Students will be introduced to the Court's institutional history, several of its major Justices, as well as many landmark decisions on issues such as abortion, free speech, slavery, segregation, immigration and citizenship, and the right to privacy. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Ethical Reasoning, Critical Thinking, Research and Information Literacy.
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  • Critical Thinking
  • Ethical Reasoning
  • Research and Information Literacy