SOCY 1078 Sociology of Health and Illness
This is an undergraduate-level course in the sociology of health and illness, an incredibly broad and fragmented field that frequently overlaps with medical anthropology, public health, and other disciplines. The first half of this course focuses on thesocial roots of sickness. The second half concerns thesocial relations of medicine. While well treat these as relatively autonomous topics, well also spend time addressing the mismatches between the forces that make people sick and the organized reactions to sickness. Well also study a number of general structures and processes that simultaneously affect health and care. For example, well study how capitalism, racism, and sexism make people sick. Well then study how these same systems shape, and are shaped by, medicine.
Course overview
- Department
- Sociology
- School
- MCAS
- Credits
- 3
- Level
- Undergraduate
- Offered
- Every Fall
Catalog details
- Satisfies core
- Social Science
Requirements fulfilled
- Environmental Studies: Concentration — Environmental Health: One Social Science Course (Current University Catalog; students should confirm their catalog year)
- Applied Psychology and Human Development: Major electives — any Psychology (PSYC) or Sociology (SOCY) course (no more than two electives from outside LSEHD) (Current University Catalog; students should confirm their catalog year)
- Sociology: Sociology electives (18 credits, generally six courses) (Current University Catalog; students should confirm their catalog year)
- University Core: Social Science (All undergraduates)
Course evaluations
- Course rating
- 4.57 / 5 · Excellent
- Instructor rating
- 4.75 / 5 · Excellent
- Terms evaluated
- 5
| Term | Instructor | Course overall | Instructor overall | Well organized | Clear learning objectives | Intellectually challenging | Helpful assignments | Applicable beyond course | Attendance necessary | Weekly effort | Responses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring 2026 | Joshua Seim | 4.6 | 4.7 | 4.9 | 4.9 | 4.4 | 4.6 | 4.8 | 4.5 | 1–3 hrs/week | 55 of 60 |
| Fall 2025 | Joshua Seim | 4.4 | 4.7 | 4.8 | 4.8 | 4.3 | 4.7 | 4.6 | 4.5 | 1–3 hrs/week | 47 of 59 |
| Spring 2025 | Joshua Seim | 4.6 | 4.7 | 4.8 | 4.8 | 4.4 | 4.6 | 4.7 | 4.5 | 1–3 hrs/week | 54 of 60 |
| Fall 2024 | Snitselaar Sara | 4.5 | 4.7 | 4.6 | 4.6 | 4.2 | 4.5 | 4.7 | 4.8 | — | 24 of 29 |
| Spring 2024 | Joshua Seim | 4.7 | 4.8 | 4.9 | 5.0 | 4.5 | 4.7 | 4.8 | 4.4 | 1–3 hrs/week | 57 of 60 |
Data freshness
Instructors
Sections
- Section 01
- Section 01