Human Biology, Health, and Society

Human Biology, Health and Society Major

HBHS Major

The requirements listed below pertain to all students matriculating in August 2024 and January 2025.

In addition to college requirements , students in the HBHS Major must complete specific requirements listed here.

HBHS Introductory Course

This is a required course for students in the Human Biology, Health, and Society major and will serve as the foundation for many of the subsequent required and elective courses.

NS 1400 - Introduction to Human Biology, Health, and Society  (3 cr)

HBHS Survey Course

HBHS Survey Course (3 credits)

Choose one Survey Course.

NS 1150 - Nutrition, Health, and Society  (3 cr)
NS 1220 - Nutrition and the Life Cycle  (3 cr)

Social Science Perspective on Health Sciences

Social Science Perspective on Health Selectives (6+ credits)

Courses should cover some aspect of health (including nutrition) from a social science perspective. More than half of the course content must be devoted to consideration of health/life course/disease issues from a social science (e.g. sociology, anthropology, psychology, economics, communications, and other social science disciplines). Courses with a focus on public policy related to health or education/counseling related to health are included in this category. See the Requirements for HBHS majors for regular updates to course options and information; new options are available to all class years.

NS 2450 - Social Science Perspectives on Food and Nutrition 
NS 4250 - Nutrition Communications and Counseling 
NS 4450 /AEM 4450 - Toward a Sustainable Global Food System: Food Policy for Developing Countries 
NS 4480 - Economics of Food and Malnutrition 
NS 4500 - Public Health Nutrition 
NS 4570 /ECON 3910 - Health, Poverty, and Inequality: A Global Perspective  

COMM 2850 - Communication, Environment, Science, and Health 
COMM 4760 - Population Health Communication  

LSP 2200 - [Sociology of Health and Ethnic Minorities] 
GDEV 3020 - Political Ecologies of Health  
GDEV 3111 /BSOC 3111 /SOC 3130 /STS 3111 - Social Studies of Medicine 
HD 2180 - Human Development: Adulthood and Aging 
HD 2300 - Cognitive Development 
HD 2600 /PSYCH 2750 - Introduction to Personality 
HD 3290 - Self-regulation Across the Life Span 
HD 3300 - Developmental Psychopathology   
HD 3490 - The Science of Well-Being 
HD 3620 - Human Bonding 
HD 3700 /PSYCH 3250 - Adult Psychopathology  

HD 4600 Professional Development in Geriatric and Palliative Research  
HD 4770 - Psychopathology in Great Works of Literature 
PUBPOL 2350 - [The U.S. Health Care System] 
PUBPOL 3110 - [Pharmaceutical Management and Policy] 
PUBPOL 3280 - Fundamentals of Population Health 
PUBPOL 3870 /PUBPOL 5870 - [Economic Evaluations in Health Care] 
PUBPOL 4280 /ECON 3710 - [The Economics of Risky Health Behaviors]  

Natural Science Perspective on Health Selectives

Natural Science Perspective on Health Selectives (6+ credits)

Courses should cover some aspect of health (including nutrition) from a life science perspective. More than half of the course content must be devoted to consideration of health/life course/disease issues from a life science/biological perspective (e.g. biochemistry, molecular biology, physiology, neuroscience, evolution, animal science, food science, plant sciences, and other natural science disciplines). Courses used to fulfill this requirement must be at teh 2000-level or above. Course work taken for HBHS Selectives may not also count for Biology Electives. See the Requirements for HBHS majors for regular updates to course options and information; new options are available to all class years.
NS 3060 - [Nutrition and Global Health] 
NS 3150 - Obesity and the Regulation of Body Weight 
NS 3310 - Human Nutrition and Nutrient Metabolism 
NS 3320 - Methods in Nutritional Sciences 
NS 3450 - Introduction to Physiochemical and Biological Aspects of Foods 
NS 4200 - Diet and the Microbiome 
NS 4300 - Proteins, Transcripts, and Metabolism: Big Data in Molecular Nutrition 
NS 4410 - Nutrition and Disease  
NS 4420 - Implementation of Nutrition Care 
NS 6310 - Micronutrients: Function, Homeostasis, and Assessment 
NS 6320 - Regulation of Macronutrient Metabolism 
BIOMG 4390 - [Molecular Basis of Disease] 
BIOMI 2500 - Public Health Microbiology 
BIOMI 2600 - Microbiology of Human Contagious Diseases 
BIOMI 2950 - Biology of Infectious Disease: From Molecules to Ecosystems 
BIOMI 3210 - The Gut Microbiome  
BIOMI 4040 Pathogenic Bacteriology  
BIONB 3215 /FGSS 3210 /LGBT 3210 - Gender and the Brain 
BIONB 3920 [Drugs and the Brain]  
BIONB 4560 [Neural Control of Food Intake and Energy Metabolism]  
BIONB 4750 [Sleep - Evolution and Neural Basis]  
ENTOM 4000 [Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases]  

HD 2200 - The Human Brain and Mind: An Introduction to Cognitive Neuroscience  

HD 3210 Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience  
HD 3660 - Affective and Social Neuroscience 
MSE 4610 - Biomedical Materials and Their Applications 
PLSCI 2100 - Medical Ethnobotany  

Nutritional Science Perspective on Health Selectives

Nutritional Science Perspective on Health Selectives (3-4 credits)

Courses should cover some aspect of health (including nutrition) from a nutritional science perspective. More than half of the course content must be devoted to consideration of health/life course/disease issues from a nutritional science perspective. Courses used to fulfill this requirement must be at teh 2000-level or above. Course work taken for HBHS Selectives may not also count for Biology Electives. See the Requirements for HBHS majors for regular updates to course options and information; new options are available to all class years.
NS 3060 - [Nutrition and Global Health] 
NS 3150 - Obesity and the Regulation of Body Weight 
NS 4200 - Diet and the Microbiome 
NS 4300 - Proteins, Transcripts, and Metabolism: Big Data in Molecular Nutrition 
NS 4410 - Nutrition and Disease 
NS 4420 - Implementation of Nutrition Care 
NS 4450 /AEM 4450 - Toward a Sustainable Global Food System: Food Policy for Developing Countries 
NS 4480 - Economics of Food and Malnutrition 
NS 4500 - Public Health Nutrition  

Introductory Chemistry

Introductory Chemistry (8 credits)

This fulfills the college distribution natural sciences requirement.

Choose one of the following options:
(a)    CHEM 2070 - General Chemistry I  (4 cr) and CHEM 2080 - General Chemistry II  (4 cr)¹
(b)    (AP Chemistry score of 5 or IB Chemistry score of 6 or 7) and CHEM 2080 - General Chemistry II  (4 cr)²
(c)    (AP Chemistry score of 5 or IB Chemistry score of 6 or 7) and CHEM 2150 - Honors General and Inorganic Chemistry  (4 cr)<sup>3

1</sup>Recommended for nearly all students, especially those on or considering a pre-health (e.g. pre-med) track.
²Students may use an AP Chemistry score of 5 or an IB Chemistry score of 6 or 7 to place out of CHEM 2070. Pre-health (e.g. pre-med) students should not use AP scores to fulfill chemistry requirements. Students who take CHEM 2070 forfeit AP or IB credit.
³Students should only select option (c) if they are very strong in chemistry and are not considering a pre-health (e.g. pre-med) track.

Introductory Biology

Introductory Biology (8 credits)

Choose one of the following labs:
(a)    BIOG 1500 - Investigative Biology Laboratory  (2 cr) OR
(b)    BIOSM 1500 - Investigative Marine Biology Laboratory  (3 cr)

AND choose two out of the three lecture options^1:
(a)    BIOMG 1350 - Introductory Biology: Cell and Developmental Biology  (3 cr)
(b)    BIOG 1440 - Introductory Biology: Comparative Physiology  (3 cr) OR²
BIOG 1445 - Introduction to Comparative Anatomy and Physiology, Individualized Instruction  (autotutorial) (4cr)
(c)    BIOEE 1610 - Introductory Biology: Ecology and the Environment  (3cr) OR²
BIOEE 1780 - An Introduction to Evolutionary Biology and Diversity  (3cr)

^{1 Students may use use AP Biology score of 5 or IB HL Biology score of 7 to place out of one introductory biology lecture. Pre-health (e.g. pre-med) students should not use AP scores to fulfill biology requirements.}

^{2 Cannot take both courses within one category to fulfill this requirement.}

Physics

Physics (4 credits)¹

PHYS 1101 - General Physics I  (4 cr) OR
PHYS 2207 - Fundamentals of Physics I  (4 cr)

Students interested in pre-health tracks should also take PHYS 1102 - General Physics II  OR PHYS 2208 - Fundamentals of Physics II .

Organic Chemistry Lecture

Organic Chemistry Lecture (3+ credits)

Choose one of the following:
(a)    CHEM 1570 - Introduction to Organic and Biological Chemistry  (3 cr, not for pre-health) OR
(b)    CHEM 3530 - [Principles of Organic Chemistry]  (4 cr) OR
(c)    CHEM 3570 - Organic Chemistry for the Life Sciences  (3 cr) AND CHEM 3580 - Organic Chemistry for the Life Sciences  (3 cr) OR¹
(d)    CHEM 3590 - Honors Organic Chemistry I  (4 cr) AND CHEM 3600 - Honors Organic Chemistry II  (4 cr)²

1 Students interested in pre-health tracks should take a two-course sequence of organic chemistry lectures (option c or d above).

2 Students who select options c or d above must take both courses in sequence; one course alone will not fulfill requirement.

Organic Chemistry Lab

Organic Chemistry Lab (2-4 credits)

(a)    CHEM 2510 - Introduction to Experimental Organic Chemistry  (2 cr) OR
(b)    CHEM 3010 - Honors Experimental Chemistry I  (4 cr)

Physiology

Physiology (3-4 credits)¹

Choose one of the following:
(a)    NS 3410 - Human Anatomy and Physiology   (4 cr) OR
(b)    BIOAP 3110 - Principles of Animal Physiology   (3 cr)

1 Pre-health students might also consider taking NS 3420 - Human Anatomy and Physiology Laboratory   (2 cr), which also counts toward advance biology elective requirement.

Biochemistry

Biochemistry (4-6 credits)

Choose one of the following:
(a)    NS 3200 - Introduction to Human Biochemistry  (4 cr) OR    
(b)    BIOMG 3300 - Principles of Biochemistry, Individualized Instruction  (4 cr) OR    
(c)    BIOMG 3310 - Principles of Biochemistry: Proteins and Metabolism  (3 cr) AND BIOMG 3320 - Principles of Biochemistry: Molecular Biology  (2 cr) OR
(d)    BIOMG 3310 - Principles of Biochemistry: Proteins and Metabolism  (3 cr) AND BIOMI 2900 - General Microbiology Lectures  (3 cr) OR    
(e)    BIOMG 3330 - Principles of Biochemistry: Proteins, Metabolism, and Molecular Biology  (4 cr) OR
(f)    BIOMG 3350 - Principles of Biochemistry: Proteins, Metabolism, and Molecular Biology  (4 cr)

HBHS Biology Electives

Biology Electives (6 credits)

6 additional credits selected from courses that relate require one year of introductory biology (or above) as a pre-requisite fulfills this category. Course work taken for Biology Electives may not also count for Biochemistry or HBHS Selectives.  May not include Special Studies or independent research credits (e.g., NS 4000 , 4010 , 4020 , 4030 , or 4990  or non-DNS equivalent). Suggested areas of study include genetics, microbiology, neurobiology, cell biology, physiology, biochemistry, nutrition, and areas of study with impact on human health, such as ecology, environment and sustainability, agriculture and food science.

•    Genetics, recommended (including BIOMG 2800  and BIOMG 2820 )
•    Microbiology (including BIOMI 2900 , if not used for Biochem req.)
•    Neurobiology (including BIONB 2210 , BIONB 2220  and BIONB 4280 )
•    Cell Biology (including BIOMG 4320 )
•    Physiology (including BIOAP 4890 . May use NS 3410  or BIOAP 3110  if both are taken)
•    Biochemistry (may not include BIOMG 3300 , BIOMG 3310 , or BIOMG 3320 , BIOMG 3350 , or NS 3200 )
•    Nutrition (may use NS 3030 , NS 3310 , NS 3420 , NS 4200 , NS 4300 , or NS 4410  – if these are not used as a HBHS Selective)

Social Sciences

Social Sciences (6 credits)

This fulfills the college distribution social sciences requirement.

Choose one course in any two of the following four areas:

Anthropology

ANTHR 1400 - Introduction to Sociocultural Anthropology  (3 cr)

Economics

ECON 1110 - Introductory Microeconomics  (3 cr)   
ECON 1120 - Introductory Macroeconomics  (3 cr)  

Psychology

HD 1130 - Introduction to Human Development  (3 cr)   
PSYCH 1101 - Introduction to Psychology  (3 cr)

Sociology

SOC 1101 - Introduction to Sociology  (3 cr)

Calculus/Advanced Math

Calculus/Advanced Math (3-4 credits)

This fulfills the college distribution quantitative and analytical courses requirement.

Choose one of the following Calculus/Advanced Math courses:
(a)    MATH 1105 - Finite Mathematics for the Life and Social Sciences  (3 cr)
(b)    MATH 1106 - Modeling with Calculus for the Life Sciences  (3 cr)
(c)    MATH 1110 - Calculus I  (4 cr)
(d)    MATH 1120 - Calculus II  (4 cr)
(e)    A score of 4 or 5 on the AB or BC Calculus AP Exam¹

1 See below under Statistics.

Statistics

Statistics (3-4 credits)

This fulfills the college distribution quantitative and analytical course requirement.

Choose one of the following:
(a)    STSCI 2150 - Introductory Statistics for Biology  (4 cr) (recommended) OR
(b)    PUBPOL 2100 - Introduction to Statistics  (4 cr) OR
(c)    AEM 2100 - Introductory Statistics  (4 cr) OR
(d)    BTRY 3010 - Statistics I  (4 cr) OR
(e)    ILRST 2100 /STSCI 2100 - Introductory Statistics and Data Science  (4 cr) OR
(f)    MATH 1710 - Statistical Theory and Application in the Real World  (4 cr) OR
(g)    PSYCH 2500 - Statistics and Research Design  (3-4 cr) OR
(h)    SOC 3010 - Statistics for Sociological Research  (4 cr)
(i)    A score of 4 or 5 on the Statistics AP Exam*

Unless a student scored a [4 or 5] on both the Statistics and the BC Calculus AP Examinations, they must take either Statistics or Calculus at Cornell.