History, Ethics, and Law

How do the historical relationships between science, industry, and government impact contemporary policy? How have social, political, and ideological forces influenced the resolution of ethical and legal concerns in the public health sphere?

Experts in public health history, ethics, and law offer a necessary perspective that complements and informs research, policy, and planning. The History, Ethics, and Law Certificate will provide MPH students from different disciplines with a historical framework for thinking about central issues in contemporary public health policy. It will also provide them with an understanding of the ways in which the social, cultural, and political context shapes ethical and legal challenges in public health and our options for resolving them.

Individuals with this unique background would be prepared to engage in ethical and policy analysis in governmental and nongovernmental organizations. They would be prepared to be called on by think tanks, policy and advocacy groups, foundations, and international organizations to serve on ethics committees and governing bodies.

Admissions Eligibility

History, Ethics, and Law is open to Columbia MPH students in:

Note that given the required classes, the program may be most compatible for students enrolled in Environmental Health Sciences, Epidemiology, Population and Family Health, or Sociomedical Sciences.

The Competencies for this Certificate are as follows:

Analyze historical evolution of public health thought and practice in the 19th and 20th Century.
Assess the rule of advocacy - both within formal institutions and outside of them - in catalyzing policy reform and change in public health practice and common beliefs.
Justify the fundamental role of autonomy, justice and paternalism in contemporary public health policy.
Assess the ways that social factors such as race, class and gender have affected and continue to affect the application of coercive and persuasive public health approaches.
Analyze key political and legal developments in the history of public health coercion and persuasion.

Learn More

Visit the Certificates Database to learn more about core and credit requirements.

Sample Courses

Ethics of Public Health

Public health policy is always the product of controversy. Most typically such conflicts are played out in terms of a clash among scientific considerations. But even when not explicit, the controversies entail political tensions and ethical concerns. In this course we will examine the political and ethical dimensions of public health policy, focusing on issues of justice and liberty. Four domains of public health will be examined: the prevention of diseases associated with personal behavior, protection against occupational hazard, epidemic control, and access to health care.

Health Advocacy

For anybody who’s spent even a little time in public health circles, it doesn’t take much effort to list the many societal ills that desperately call for action. What’s equally important, though, is answering the classic question that’s bedeviled advocates for centuries: “What is to be done?” This course will help us sharpen our answers to that question through study of recent advocacy efforts around COVID-19; HIV/AIDS; climate change; reproductive rights; environmental justice/racism; mass incarceration and criminal justice reform (particularly in the context of the Black Lives Matter movement), and others. Along the way, we’ll also learn about enduring dilemmas scholars have identified that confront all health advocates. These include: the costs and benefits of working within (versus outside of) formal politics; framing rhetoric to reach wider audiences; the virtues and drawbacks of confrontational direct action; public apathy towards “health” issues; oppositional movements at complete odds with theirs; and more recently, the potential of social media. This course also contains a skills component, where students will learn basic legislative, legal, and media research that can aid advocacy efforts.

Master of Public Health