Courses
Spring 2025: SPHSB747, Gun Violence and Community Health Equity
Course Description: Gun violence is a public health crisis in the U.S. that disproportionately affects communities of color. Why is this, what can be done, and how will we know whether efforts are working? This course brings students to the frontlines of community-based efforts to prevent gun violence and address its traumatic aftermath. We will focus on the case study of Massachusetts, where firearm death rates are low overall, but racial and ethnic disparities are vast. The course will review the epidemiology of gun violence and its legal and structural underpinnings, including segregation, disinvestment, and mass incarceration. Students will hear directly from community organizations who are working to improve services for the individuals and families most exposed to gun violence, as well as advocacy organizations working to change punitive policies that reinforce cycles of harm. Along the way, students will gain a critical understanding of the study designs that inform our current scientific knowledge on community gun violence interventions, including methodological skills in causal inference and quantitative program evaluation (no prior background required). As their final deliverable, students will draft proposals for community-engaged research projects to develop and test new interventions to reduce gun violence disparities in Massachusetts.
Spring 2024: PH782, Gun Violence and Community Health Equity
Registration opens 10/21 for this brand new course. Prospective students can find a preliminary syllabus here.
Spring 2023: SB820, Community Health Needs Assessment
MPH students in SB820 conducted an assessment of health and safety needs at the intersection of Franklin Park and the Shattuck Hospital Campus in Boston. This Franklin Park Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) was an exercise conducted at the Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) in the Spring of 2023. Dr. Jonathan Jay, assistant professor of Community Health Sciences at BUSPH, and Naomi Gross, teaching assistant, provided students with guidance, mentorship, supervision throughout the duration of the process.
Spring 2022: SB820, Community Health Needs Assessment
MPH students in SB820 conducted an assessment of the social services needs of older adults in Brookline, MA. The students worked under the supervision of Dr. Jonathan Jay, an assistant professor of Community Health Sciences at BUSPH, and teaching assistants Walae Hayek and Chioma Mbonu. This assessment was conducted in collaboration with the Brookline Council on Aging, the Brookline Senior Center, and BUSPH Professor Harold Cox. Topics of the assessment included transportation and the built environment, healthcare access, housing, and personal and legal rights.
