This course is delivered through an intensive 3-week hybrid module combining classroom lectures, seminar discussions, and field learning experiences to facilitate an immersive introduction to public health and epidemiology. Students learn undergraduate principles of epidemiology through the lens of justice and reconciliation in the US urban context. This course allows students to learn the foundational concepts of social and behavioral health, environmental health, health systems and global health policy, and epidemiology and statistical reasoning.

This course combines coursework and field learning to explore, teach, and mentor undergraduate students in the foundations of leadership and vocation in the urban context. Students are mentored by professional leaders to learn, analyze, and apply leadership and professional practices towards internships and future employment. The course includes analysis of concepts of civic leadership, interdisciplinary vocation in a pluralistic society, and influences of systems on diverse urban communities. Field learning across an array of disciplines includes case studies from faith-based, public, private, state, federal, and international agencies. This course also includes personality and talent assessments, workshops, and professional development trainings.

This course confronts students with the realities of injustices in Baltimore and other U.S. cities, and challenges them to answer the question, based on Micah 6:8, how does the LORD require me to integrate my faith with approaches that address inequities through the lens of reconciliation. Students will learn from community leaders and ministers that are practicing justice and reconciliation-based approaches in various fields. A component of this course delves into equipping students to cultivate contemplative practices that will sustain their efforts in tackling injustices, so they are not overwhelmed by exhaustion or undermined by apathy.

This course provides experiential learning, academic scaffolding, guided reflection, and community-based learning to explore the intersections of history, advocacy, conflict, resistance, peace-making, and theology within the music, lyrics, rhythms, and culture of Hip-Hop. Through a theological and social justice framework, students learn from lived experiences of music inside the classroom, the analysis of hip-hop from diverse scholars, and the varied implications within the urban community context. Critical analysis of music, seminar-based discussions, and written reflections facilitate students’ exploration of knowledge of self, understanding of multicultural communities, and potential applications of the Christian Gospel related to Hip-Hop culture and music.

This art course introduces historical, theoretical, and practical aspects of large-scale painting, murals and public art with field learning and applications in Baltimore, MD, New York City, NY, Philadelphia, PA, and Washington, DC. The objective of this course is for students to develop understanding about some of the social roles of art and the impact of murals in communities, based upon its historical and contemporary applications. The course will enable student to learn from professionals in the field about the importance of scale, color, specific techniques and safety measures particular to murals and art in public spaces. Students will incorporate a Service Learning component by either conducting a collective workshop with community members or participating in a collective mural painting project. This course does not require previous painting knowledge.

This course provides the theological framework for the spiritual formation curriculum for Baltimore Urban Studies. Students will learn from diverse cultural perspectives as they investigate the foundational beliefs of discipleship and Christian formation. This course gives focused attention on the implications of Christian formation in an urban context, the relationship between the Church and culture, and how theology informs, guides and facilitates personal transformation and community reconciliation. A component of this course delves into equipping students to cultivate contemplative practices that will help them deepen their personal relationship with Christ.

Bioethics is the study of the ethical issues that arise in the study of human biology, ecology, nursing, medicine, public health, and other biological research fields. Drawing on a variety of ethical cases from recent biomedical literature, this course covers the conceptual foundations of moral theory, principles of justice, and the application of conceptual tools developed from those principles. This course includes two units: (1) Moral theories, distributive justice theories, and the ethical treatment of patients, the environment, and communities and (2) Consideration of alternative approaches to rationing health care.

The disproportionate burden of HIV/AIDS in global cities coupled with a decrease in HIV mortality and morbidity provide an opportunity to apply principles of community psychology to guide student understanding of the complex interplay of environmental and individual-level drivers that influence HIV prevention, treatment, and care. This course offers a unique perspective on how social structures, neighborhoods, and individuals shape HIV prevention and care delivery, particularly for communities living in urban poverty. Specific theories of participatory-action research, multi-level community interventions, structural dimensions of HIV stigma, and public health policy implications will be critically examined and discussed.

This course is an interdisciplinary sociology and history course challenging students to analyze the social dynamics of Baltimore City from 1861 to 2023. Critical analysis of topics including urbanization, migration, segregation, socioeconomic dynamics, and public policy. Students learn from the historical demography and contemporary issues that define the structure and culture of Baltimore city. This narrow geographical focus enables students to generate broad and deep sociological analyses of the major social challenges of Baltimore that are shared with many other global cities; and the historical and cultural context that often garner national and international attention.

This course combines theory and fieldwork in Baltimore and Washington, D.C. to study public policy analysis. It introduces the political institutions and processes behind policymaking, comparing domestic and foreign systems at both national and local levels. Students learn an analytical model for evaluating policy proposals, applying this framework through a policy memo assignment and engaging with local and national experts. The course concludes with a focus on how policy stakeholders engage their audiences to advocate for policy goals, using a four-stage framework for strategic planning and communication. Advocacy case studies are explored through visits to think tanks and advocacy groups.

This course integrates theological studies with fieldwork in Baltimore and Washington, D.C. to explore how Christians engage in contemporary public life as citizens and professionals. Organized into five parts, it begins by establishing an analytical framework for studying matters of identity and responsibility in public life. Next, it compares the role of religion in pre-modern, early modern, and late modern societies. The course then examines the theological roots of differing political affiliations and activity among Evangelicals in late 20th-century U.S. politics. It addresses the rise of social fragmentation and political polarization in the 21st century and their implications for old ways of understanding Christian identity and responsibility in public life. Finally, students consider how the Biblical narrative informs Christian identity and responsibility amid these challenges. Throughout the semester, students engage with Christian professionals from diverse theological perspectives and political affiliations, emphasizing the real-world relevance of course themes and evaluating lessons learned from their experiences.

This course teaches concepts, theory, and frameworks of community economic development with special focus on the impacts of business and economics on diverse urban communities. Business leaders and economic practitioners facilitate critical analysis of theory and interplay of forces impacting urban enterprise. While completing semester-long internships, this class provides deeper exploration of approaches to urban economic development and critical reflection of the implications of these strategies for economic wellbeing and social equity. The course also includes analysis of how government, nonprofit and religious institutions, land use, social services provisions, and other regulations are involved in urban enterprise and economic development.

Epidemiology is the study of the distribution of diseases and determinants of health and illness in diverse human populations. This course provides the opportunity for students to learn the principles and methods of epidemiology, with an applied focus on global and urban case studies. All students participate in a synchronous online epidemiology laboratory (STATA) performing statistical analyses of measures of disease frequency, transmission, and graphical representations of associations between exposures, or risk factors, on health and disease outcomes. This course includes mentorship from epidemiologists and clinicians who integrate Christian faith into public health practice in domestic and international contexts.

This course covers general aspects of undergraduate microbiology with an emphasis on endemic microorganisms and human interaction. Topics include an introduction to microbiology, microbial taxonomy, methods of microbial identification, immunology and infection. This course includes microscopy, staining, and microbiology laboratory applications with over 40 laboratory hours at the Baltimore Underground Science Station.

This course challenges students to learn the foundational principles of human nutrition across the lifespan. Students learn the physiology and functional science of nutrition from all 24 chapters of Discovering Nutrition (Insel et al.). Additionally, the course includes 10 public health nutrition laboratory experiences. Nutrition laboratory includes an analysis of the factors, systems, and structures that impact dietary patterns, dietary behaviors, food assistance, and safety net programs in the US. Students explore the policies, history, and complexities of urban access to healthy food and gain an introduction to the physiological, psychological, and socio-cultural factors that affect eating behaviors.

This course provides academic scaffolding, guided reflection, seminar-based learning, and assessment for internships in the urban context. Mentorship from multicultural community leaders in private, government, non-profit, and religious agencies facilitates student learning of foundational principles of vocational praxis. Specialized semester-long internships exist for business administration, Christian ministry, church leadership, communications and leadership development, elementary and secondary education, environmental sciences, microbiology, non-profit management, psychology, refugee and immigrant community development, sociology, social work, and wholistic spiritual recovery from addiction and homelessness. This is a variable-credit course. Students earn 1 credit per 40 hours of internship - Minimum 3 credits (120 hours) & Maximum 12 credits (480 hours).

This course provides academic scaffolding, guided reflection, seminar-based learning, and assessment for urban public health internships. There are two options for a 120-hour internship (3 credits) or a 160-hour internship (4 credits). Internships include mentorship from multicultural Christian clinicians and learning experiences in human protection, health improvement, and health services in urban clinics and public health agencies of Baltimore, MD, and Washington DC. Students will gain an introduction to the foundational principles of public health and engage in constructivist learning from three months of urban public health learning experiences supported by academic readings, seminary discussions, and reflective writing assignments.

This course provides academic scaffolding, guided reflection, seminar-based learning, and assessment for Social Work Field Practice in the urban context. Practicum learning experiences include mentorship from multicultural and interdisciplinary community leaders in private, government, non-profit, and religious agencies while completing a minimum of 400 student social work practicum hours. Learning opportunities are structured to connect social work theory with practice and develop social work skills with various client systems within an agency context utilizing theory-based practice knowledge.