HEST Course Designation

Health Studies Course Designation

Dickinson faculty can nominate their courses for designation as Health Studies (HEST). A HEST elective designation means that your course is labeled as “HEST Studies Elective” in the attribute section on Banner. It does not affect priorities or pre-requisites for your course. Students who are completing the HEST Certificate can search Banner for that designation, so they can sign up for their required four HEST electives.

To receive the designation, a course should support the following HEST Program Goals:

• Learn about health from an interdisciplinary perspective
• Explore the concept of health, the determinants of health, and/or the consequences of health.
• Identify health-related problems or issues and/or explore how they can be solved.
• Develop research skills to critically examine health from multiple perspectives.
• Apply skills and knowledge about health to a community research project or internship.

Note: The connection to health may emphasize just one dimension of health (e.g., social, biological, economic or cultural), but students should be made aware of other dimensions as well

The Health Studies learning goals do not need to be included explicitly in the course syllabus. But it is expected that the learning goals of the course will support attainment of Health Studies learning goals.

Benefits of having courses designated include student recruitment for courses, data collection for college curriculum assessment, and support of the College's strategic plan. The form has been designed to be easy and quick to complete. Send the completed form and course syllabus to Health Studies chair John Henson.

Courses that are designated as Health Studies electives should fulfill the criteria listed below.

• Students learn how the knowledge and methods that are the subject of the course can be applied or made relevant to inquiries about health.
• Connections to health may be made through lectures, labs, classroom discussions, reading assignments, writing assignments, oral presentations, field experiences, research assignments, creative work or other assignments.
• The course must have a substantial focus on health. Normally this would include 4 or more weeks of the course focusing on health.

Download Health Studies Nomination Form

Questions about course designations may be directed to the Health Studies Chair John Henson.