To see health in its social context is to look beyond the limits of medicine as we know it.

York’s Health & Society program is an interdisciplinary program bridging critical heath studies, humanities (history, creative writing), and the social sciences (Indigenous studies, anthropology, sociology) to consider the social, cultural, political, historical and economic forces that shape health, well-being, and illness in both the Global North (Canada, US, EU, and the UK) and Global South (including nations like Peru, Kenya, Nepal, and many more). 

This exciting and innovative program explores a wide range of influences including social media, art and aesthetics, cultural values, capitalist networks, and political ideologies as they shape everyday health and healing. In this program students will consider the scientific controversies surrounding mammograms, female circumcision, vaping, and supervised injection sites; the barriers in providing equitable health care delivery in resource poor and resource developed communities; and structural forces that contribute to poor health like environmental racism (Alberta’s oil sands, Dakota Access Pipeline), the contemporary effects of colonial legislation (like the Indian Act), and exclusionary practices and policies in health care development and delivery. 
 

Possible Career Paths
Community health/ health advocate, healthcare worker, alternative healthcare worker, health administration/management/policy officer, law, teacher

Questions?

Contact us at goyork@yorku.ca