PHS 4050

Quissell is great, definitely an improvement from last year. It can be very basic at times, but hopefully they keep getting better at that as the class adapts.

This was a very interesting class – what you learn is extremely relevant to the topic of public health, and Professor Quissell is so knowledgeable and engages the class. You have a weekly assignment on Collab that consists of 3-4 questions that you answer after reading the assigned passages for the week. My only critique of this class is the amount of readings that are assigned; I often found myself reading 60-100 pages per week, only to need to have read half of them to answer the assigned questions/understand the topic of the week. Other than that, you work on a group project surrounding a public health policy issue around the world, which is fun and pretty easy. Quissell is a great professor and this is a great class, I would just recommend lightening up the reading load. #tCFSpring2021

I am writing this review to give GPH and human biology majors (who are required to take this course) a better understanding of the course expectations to help you decide when to take this class. Prof Q is truly an incredible professor, so get ready for an amazing experience! If you are not a GPH or human bio major, try to convince Prof Q to let you into this course (she is super nice!).

Course Structure:
You complete one assignment with the weekly graded discussion questions before your class starts for the week. This means you do not have to do coursework throughout the week. There is often a lot of reading to be completed to do these questions. Otherwise, the only other outside of class work is the group project assignments toward the end of the semester. I definitely think this course can fit into a busier/harder semester.

Grades:
Attendance and participation (10%), Discussion Questions (30%), in-class activities (5%), Team Project: Worksheet and Sources (5%), Team Project: Policy Brief (20%), Team Presentation (10%), Final Assignment (20%).

This class was super interesting! It was composed of weekly readings to answer discussion questions which felt like a lot, but it actually wasn't too bad and most of the topics were interesting and applicable. I would definitely recommend this class! I had to take it for Human Bio, but if you are passionate at all about healthcare or the world in general, definitely take it. Quissell is funny and nice and seems like she really likes interacting with students. There are group activities each week and then a group project at the end of the semester. You just have to make sure that you are putting in effort and read her comments on writings, etc.