Health Geography Minor Concentration (B.A.) (18 credits)
Offered by: Geography (Faculty of Science)
Degree: Bachelor of Arts; Bachelor of Arts and Science
Program credit weight: 18
Program Description
There is increasing consensus around the idea that health is not just an expression of individual characteristics but an interaction between the characteristics of the individual and the environments, both physical and social, to which one is exposed over a lifetime of daily living and working. Health outcomes vary dramatically by physical and social characteristics of places both within and between countries and these provide a wedge for our understanding of the factors that might be modified to improve the health of large groups of people. The B.A.; Minor Concentration in Health Geography introduces students to both local and global health issues and provides a skill set in spatial and statistical analyses of diverse health outcomes in populations.
Note: For information about Fall 2025 and Winter 2026 course offerings, please check back on May 8, 2025. Until then, the "Terms offered" field will appear blank for most courses while the class schedule is being finalized.
Note: For information about Fall 2025 and Winter 2026 course offerings, please check back on May 8, 2025. Until then, the "Terms offered" field will appear blank for most courses while the class schedule is being finalized.
Required Courses (12 credits)
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| GEOG 201 | Introductory Geo-Information Science. | 3 |
Introductory Geo-Information Science. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. An introduction to Geographic Information Systems. The systematic management of spatial data. The use and construction of maps. The use of microcomputers and software for mapping and statistical work. Air photo and topographic map analyses. | ||
| GEOG 221 | Environment and Health. | 3 |
Environment and Health. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. This course introduced physical and social environments as factors in human health, with emphasis on the physical properties of the atmospheric environment as they interact with diverse human populations in urban settings. | ||
| GEOG 303 | Health Geography. | 3 |
Health Geography. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Discussion of the research questions and methods of health geography. Particular emphasis on health inequalities at multiple geographic scales and the theoretical links between characteristics of places and the health of people. | ||
| GEOG 403 | Global Health and Environmental Change. | 3 |
Global Health and Environmental Change. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Major themes and contemporary case studies in global health and environmental change. Focus on understanding global trends in emerging infectious disease from social, biophysical, and geographical perspectives, and critically assessing the health implications of environmental change in different international contexts. | ||
Complementary Courses (6 credits)
3 credits from:
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| ENVR 200 | The Global Environment. | 3 |
The Global Environment. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. A systems approach to study the different components of the environment involved in global climate change: the atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere. The interactions among these components. Their role in global climate change. The human dimension to global change. | ||
| ENVR 201 | Society, Environment and Sustainability. | 3 |
Society, Environment and Sustainability. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. This course deals with how scientific-technological, socio-economic, political-institutional and behavioural factors mediate society-environment interactions. Issues discussed include population and resources; consumption, impacts and institutions; integrating environmental values in societal decision-making; and the challenges associated with, and strategies for, promoting sustainability. Case studies in various sectors and contexts are used. | ||
| GEOG 203 | Environmental Systems. | 3 |
Environmental Systems. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. An introduction to system-level interactions among climate, hydrology, soils and vegetation at the scale of drainage basins, including the study of the global geographical variability in these land-surface systems. The knowledge acquired is used to study the impact on the environment of various human activities such as deforestation and urbanisation. | ||
| GEOG 210 | Global Places and Peoples. | 3 |
Global Places and Peoples. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Introduction to key themes in human geography. Maps and the making, interpretation and contestation of landscapes, 'place', and territory. Investigation of globalization and the spatial organization of human geo-politics, and urban and rural environments. | ||
| GEOG 217 | Cities in the Modern World. | 3 |
Cities in the Modern World. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. An introduction to urban geography. Uses a spatial/geographic perspective to understand cities and their social and cultural processes. Addresses two major areas. The development and social dynamics in North American and European cities. The urban transformations in Asian, African, and Latin American societies that were recently predominantly rural and agrarian. | ||
3 credits from:
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| GEOG 503 | Advanced Topics in Health Geography. | 3 |
Advanced Topics in Health Geography. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. A critical review of current themes and trends in health geography, with emphasis on geographical perspectives in public health research. Topics include the social and environmental determinants of chronic and infectious disease, health and health-related behaviours. Seminars focus on critical appraisal of conceptual and methodological approaches in health geography research. | ||
| PPHS 501 | Population Health and Epidemiology. 1 | 3 |
Population Health and Epidemiology. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. This course presents concepts and methods of epidemiology at the introductory level. The use of epidemiologic methods for population and public health research and practice will be illustrated. A review of selected population health questions such as the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the cardiovascular disease epidemic, cigarette smoking, or screening for disease will be presented. | ||
| PPHS 511 | Fundamentals of Global Health. 1 | 3 |
Fundamentals of Global Health. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. This exciting and interactive course aims to give students the opportunity to broaden their understanding and knowledge of global health issues, including global burden of diseases, determinants of health, transition in health and drivers of such transition, challenges in healthcare delivery in resource-limited settings, and the variety of agencies and actors engaged in addressing global health challenges. The course consists of lectures, case studies, debates, discussions and small group work. | ||
| PPHS 525 | Health Care Systems in Comparative Perspective. 1,2 | 3 |
Health Care Systems in Comparative Perspective. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Comparative perspective to illustrate processes involved in the development and evolution of health care systems around the world. Countries examined will represent different welfare state regimes, health care system typologies, levels of development and wealth. | ||
| PPHS 529 | Global Environmental Health and Burden of Disease. 1 | 3 |
Global Environmental Health and Burden of Disease. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. This course presents the grand challenges in global health from environmental and occupational risks along with the multi-disciplinary methods used to identify, control, and prevent them. It will introduce students to knowledge and skills in core disciplines of environmental health and approaches to environmental risk recognition, control and prevention in a global context. | ||
| SOCI 309 | Health and Illness. | 3 |
Health and Illness. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Health and illness as social rather than purely bio-medical phenomena. Topics include: studies of ill persons, health care occupations and organizations; poverty and health; inequalities in access to and use of health services; recent policies, ideologies, and problems in reform of health services organization. | ||
| SOCI 365 | Health and Development. 1 | 3 |
Health and Development. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Main concepts and controversies linking health to broader social and economic conditions in low income countries. Topics include the demographic and epidemiological transitions, the health and wealth conundrum, the social determinants of health, health as an economic development strategy, and the impact of the AIDS pandemic. | ||
| SOCI 525 | Health Care Systems in Comparative Perspective. 1,2 | 3 |
Health Care Systems in Comparative Perspective. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Comparative perspective to illustrate processes involved in the development and evolution of health care systems around the world. Countries examined will represent different welfare state regimes, health care system typologies, levels of development and wealth. | ||