Cornell University Registrar

Program Description

The Human Biology, Health, and Society (HBHS) major permits students to combine their interests in the biological sciences while exploring human health issues from the perspectives of both the biological and behavioral sciences. HBHS majors select the issues they want to explore in depth from Human Ecology courses that address health and the broad range of factors that influence human well-being. Issues that can be explored include biology and behavior; metabolism, genetics, and health; biology, growth, and development; and food and health policy and health promotion. Most students in this program will proceed to programs of advanced study to pursue careers related to health. This major is offered by the Division of Nutritional Sciences in Cornell Human Ecology.

Academic Standards

• DNS students may not use courses to fulfill more than one requirement.
• All major requirements must be taken for a letter grade.
• A passing grade must be earned to meet major requirements within a course.
• A maximum of 15 credits of AP credit and in absentia credit can count towards the 120 total credits. 
• A maximum of 15 credits of Study Abroad/Exchange, Cornell-In-Washington or Capital Semester can count towards total electives.

Program Information

• Program Mode of Delivery: In Person
• Program Location: Ithaca, NY
• Minimum Credits for Degree: 120

Program Requirements

In addition to college distribution requirements, students in the Human Biology, Health, and Society Major must complete a minimum of 71 credits as listed below.

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.

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
NS 1400	Introduction to Human Biology, Health, and Society	3

Survey Course

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Select one of the following:
NS 1150	Nutrition, Health, and Society	3
NS 1220	Nutrition and the Life Cycle	3

Social Science Perspective on Health Sciences (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 Requirements for HBHS majors for regular updates to course options and information; new options are available to all class years.

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
NS 2450	Social Science Perspectives on Food and Nutrition	3
NS 4250	Nutrition Communications and Counseling	3
NS/AEM 4450	Toward a Sustainable Global Food System: Food Policy for Developing Countries	3
NS 4480	Economics of Food and Malnutrition	3
NS 4500	Public Health Nutrition	3
NS 4510	Nutrition and Health Equity	3
NS 4570/ECON 3910	Health, Poverty, and Inequality: A Global Perspective	3
COMM 2850	Communication, Environment, Science, and Health	3
COMM 4760	Population Health Communication	3
GDEV 3020	Political Ecologies of Health	3
GDEV 3111	Social Studies of Medicine	3
HD 2170	Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood	3
HD 2180	Human Development: Adulthood and Aging	3
HD 2250	Introduction to Psychopathology	3
HD 2300	Cognitive Development	3
HD 2510	Social Gerontology: Aging and the Life Course	3
HD 2600/PSYCH 2750	Introduction to Personality	3
HD 3290	Self-regulation Across the Life Span	3
HD 3300	Developmental Psychopathology	3
HD 3490	The Science of Well-Being	3
HD 3620	Human Bonding	3
HD 4110	Advanced Seminar in Psychopathology	3
PUBPOL 2350	The U.S. Health Care System	3
PUBPOL 3110	Pharmaceutical Management and Policy	3
PUBPOL 3280	Fundamentals of Population Health	3
PUBPOL 3320	Mental Health Care Delivery and Policy	3
PUBPOL 3780	Global Comparative Health Care Systems	3
PUBPOL 3870	Economic Evaluations in Health Care	3
PUBPOL 4280/ECON 3710	The Economics of Risky Health Behaviors	4

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 the 2000-level or above. Course work taken for HBHS Selectives may not also count for Biology Electives. See Requirements for HBHS majors for regular updates to course options and information; new options are available to all class years.

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
NS 3060	Nutrition and Global Health	3
NS 3150	Obesity and the Regulation of Body Weight	3
NS 3310	Human Nutrition and Nutrient Metabolism	4
NS 3320	Methods in Nutritional Sciences	3
NS 3450	Introduction to Physiochemical and Biological Aspects of Foods	3
NS 4140	Maternal and Child Nutrition and Health	3
NS 4200	Diet and the Microbiome	3
NS 4300	Proteins, Transcripts, and Metabolism: Big Data in Molecular Nutrition	3
NS 4330	Nutrition and the Brain	3
NS 4410	Nutrition and Disease	4
NS 4420	Implementation of Nutrition Care	3
NS 4430	Applied Anatomy and Physiology	2
NS 6310	Micronutrients: Function, Homeostasis, and Assessment	2-4
NS 6320	Regulation of Macronutrient Metabolism	4
BIOMG 4390	Molecular and Cellular Basis of Human Disease	3
BIOMI 2500	Public Health Microbiology	3
BIOMI 2600	Microbiology of Human Contagious Diseases	3
BIOMI 2950	Biology of Infectious Disease: From Molecules to Ecosystems	3
BIOMI 3210	The Gut Microbiome	3
BIOMI 4040	Pathogenic Bacteriology	2-3
BIONB 3215	Gender and the Brain	3
BIONB 3920	Drugs and the Brain	4
BIONB 4560	Neural Control of Food Intake and Energy Metabolism	3
BIONB 4750	Sleep - Evolution and Neural Basis	3
ENTOM 4000	Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases	3
ENTOM 4520	Biology of Disease Vectors	3
FDSC 4220	Foods, Dietary Supplements, and Health	3
HD 2200	The Human Brain and Mind: An Introduction to Cognitive Neuroscience	3
HD 3210	Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience	3
HD 3660	Affective and Social Neuroscience	3
MSE 4610	Biomedical Materials and Their Applications	3
PLSCI 2100	Medical Ethnobotany	3

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 the 2000-level or above. Course work taken for HBHS Selectives may not also count for Biology Electives. See Requirements for HBHS majors for regular updates to course options and information; new options are available to all class years.

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
NS 3060	Nutrition and Global Health	3
NS 3150	Obesity and the Regulation of Body Weight	3
NS 4140	Maternal and Child Nutrition and Health	3
NS 4200	Diet and the Microbiome	3
NS 4210	Precision Nutrition and Health	3
NS 4300	Proteins, Transcripts, and Metabolism: Big Data in Molecular Nutrition	3
NS 4330	Nutrition and the Brain	3
NS 4410	Nutrition and Disease	4
NS 4420	Implementation of Nutrition Care	3
NS 4450	Toward a Sustainable Global Food System: Food Policy for Developing Countries	3
NS 4480	Economics of Food and Malnutrition	3
NS 4500	Public Health Nutrition	3
NS 5510	Nutrition Assessment	3

Introductory Chemistry

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Select one of the following:
OPTION A:
CHEM 2070 & CHEM 2071 & CHEM 2080 & CHEM 2081	General Chemistry I and General Chemistry I Laboratory and General Chemistry II and General Chemistry II Laboratory 1
OPTION B:
AP Chemistry score of 5 or IB Chemistry score of 6 or 7 and
CHEM 2080 & CHEM 2081	General Chemistry II and General Chemistry II Laboratory (or) 2
OPTION C:
AP Chemistry score of 5 or IB Chemistry score of 6 or 7 and
CHEM 2150	Honors General and Inorganic Chemistry 3

¹

Recommended for most students, especially those on or considering a pre-health (e.g. pre-med) track.

²

Students may use an AP Chemistry score of 5 or an IB Chemistry score of 6 or 7 to place out of CHEM 2070 + CHEM 2071. Pre-health (e.g. pre-med) students are not recommended to use AP scores to fulfill chemistry requirements. Students who take CHEM 2070 + CHEM 2071 forfeit AP or IB credit.

³

Students 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

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Select one of the following:
BIOG 1500	Investigative Biology Laboratory
BIOSM 1500	Investigative Marine Biology Laboratory
Select two of the following: 4
BIOMG 1350	Introductory Biology: Cell and Developmental Biology
BIOG 1440	Introductory Biology: Comparative Physiology 5
or BIOG 1445	Introduction to Comparative Anatomy and Physiology, Individualized Instruction
BIOEE 1610	Introductory Biology: Ecology and the Environment 5
or BIOEE 1780	An Introduction to Evolutionary Biology and Diversity

⁴

Students may 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.

⁵

Cannot take both courses within one category to fulfill this requirement.

Physics

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Select one of the following: 6
PHYS 2207	Fundamentals of Physics I
PHYS 2208	Fundamentals of Physics II

⁶

Students interested in pre-health tracks should take both PHYS 2207 Fundamentals of Physics I and  PHYS 2208 Fundamentals of Physics II.

Organic Chemistry Lecture

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Select one of the following options:
OPTION A:
CHEM 1570	Introduction to Organic and Biological Chemistry
OPTION B: 7,8
CHEM 3570 & CHEM 3580	Organic Chemistry for the Life Sciences and Organic Chemistry for the Life Sciences
OPTION C: 7,8
CHEM 3590 & CHEM 3600	Honors Organic Chemistry I and Honors Organic Chemistry II

⁷

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

⁸

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

Organic Chemistry Lab

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
CHEM 2150	Honors General and Inorganic Chemistry
or CHEM 3010	Honors Experimental Chemistry I

Physiology

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Select one of the following:
NS 3410	Human Anatomy and Physiology
BIOAP 3110	Principles of Animal Physiology

Biochemistry

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Select one of the following:
NS 3200	Introduction to Human Biochemistry
BIOMG 3300	Principles of Biochemistry, Individualized Instruction
BIOMG 3310 & BIOMG 3320	Principles of Biochemistry: Proteins and Metabolism and Principles of Biochemistry: Molecular Biology
BIOMG 3310 & BIOMI 2900	Principles of Biochemistry: Proteins and Metabolism and General Microbiology Lectures
BIOMG 3350	Principles of Biochemistry: Proteins, Metabolism, and Molecular Biology

First Year Writing Seminars (6 Credits)

Must be completed during the first two semesters at Cornell.

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Select one of the following options:
OPTION A:
Two FWS Courses
OPTION B:
AP Literature or Language score of 5 or IB Literature or Language score of 7 (AND)
One FWS Course

Biology Electives (6 Credits)

Calculus/Advanced Math

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Select one of the following:
MATH 1105	Finite Mathematics for the Life and Social Sciences 9
MATH 1106	Modeling with Calculus for the Life Sciences
MATH 1110	Calculus I
MATH 1120	Calculus II
AB or BC Calculus AP Exam score of 4 or 5 10

⁹

Not for pre-health.

¹⁰

Unless a student scored a [4 or 5] on the BC Calculus AP Examination, they must take Calculus at Cornell.

Statistics

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Select one of the following: 11,12
STSCI/ILRST 2100	Introductory Statistics and Data Science
STSCI 2150	Introductory Statistics for Biology (recommended)
STSCI 2200	Statistics I
PUBPOL 2100	Introduction to Statistics
AEM 2100	Introductory Statistics
PSYCH 2500	Statistics and Research Design
SOC 3010	Statistics for Sociological Research

¹¹

AP Statistics credit is not accepted; statistics must be completed at Cornell or another higher education institution. No dual credit allowed unless accepted as transfer credit.

¹²

Students planning to take NS 3600 Epidemiology must take either STSCI 2150 or STSCI 2200.

Outside of Human Biology, Health, and Society Requirement (11 Credits)

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Students must complete a minimum of 11 total credits from the subject areas listed below: 13,14
Design and Environmental Analysis (DEA)
Fiber Science & Apparel Design (FSAD)
Human Development (HD)
Human Ecology non-departmental (HE) at the 1500 level or higher
Public Policy (PUBPOL)

¹³

FWS, PUBPOL 2100, PUBPOL 3120, DEA 3550, HD 2830, HE 3400, and Special Studies (4000, 4010, 4020, 4030) do not count.

¹⁴

Courses in this section may also double count with the following requirements: Social Science Perspective on Health Selective, Natural Science Perspective on Health Selective, and Humanities.

University Graduation Requirements

Requirements for All Students

In order to receive a Cornell degree, a student must satisfy academic and non-academic requirements.

Academic Requirements

A student’s college determines degree requirements such as residency, number of credits, distribution of credits, and grade averages. It is the student’s responsibility to be aware of the specific major, degree, distribution, college, and graduation requirements for completing their chosen program of study. See the individual requirements listed by each college or school or contact the college registrar’s office for more information.

Non-academic Requirements

Conduct Matters. Students must satisfy any outstanding sanctions, penalties or remedies imposed or agreed to under the Student Code of Conduct (Code) or Policy 6.4. Where a formal complaint under the Code or Policy 6.4 is pending, the University will withhold awarding a degree otherwise earned until the adjudication process set forth in those procedures is complete, including the satisfaction of any sanctions, penalties or remedies imposed.

Financial Obligations. Outstanding financial obligations will not impact the awarding of a degree otherwise earned or a student’s ability to access their official transcript. However, the University may withhold issuing a diploma until any outstanding financial obligations owing to the University are satisfied.

Additional Requirements for Undergraduate Students

The University has two requirements for graduation that must be fulfilled by all undergraduate students: the swim requirement, and completion of two physical education courses. For additional information about fulfilling University Graduation Requirements, see the Physical Education website.

Physical Education

All undergraduate students are required to take two credits (two courses) of Physical Education prior to graduation. It is recommended they complete the two courses during their first year at Cornell. Credit in Physical Education may be earned by participating in courses offered by the Department of Athletics and Physical Education and Cornell Outdoor Education, by being a registered participant on a varsity athletic team, or performing in the marching band.

Students with medical concerns should contact the Office of Student Disability Services. 

College of Human Ecology Graduation Requirements

Students are responsible for monitoring their progress toward graduation by regularly reviewing degree requirements and their official transcript. Official transcripts may be requested through the Office of the University Registrar.

Students are expected to plan their course selections carefully to ensure all major, college, and university graduation requirements are completed within eight semesters. Once all requirements have been satisfied, the College will confer the degree; students should therefore monitor their progress closely.

Minor programs, honors programs, research, and other enrichment opportunities are not considered degree requirements. Students who complete all university, college, and major degree requirements will have their degree conferred in the term in which those requirements are satisfied and may not extend enrollment solely to complete non‑degree requirements or activities.

Transfer students may be allotted fewer semesters depending on the number of transferable credits awarded at admission. Students who require additional time to complete degree requirements must meet with a Human Ecology College Advisor (1210 MVR Hall) and be approved through the formal petition process.

Credit Requirements

Cornell Credit Requirements

• To graduate, a student must earn a minimum of 120 academic credits. Physical education credits and 10XX courses do not count toward the 120 required credits.
• Of the 120 credits required to graduate, at least 60 credits must be earned at Cornell University (applicable to transfer students).
• Students who matriculate as first-years may apply a maximum of 15 non-Cornell credits earned prior to matriculation (including AP, IB, and approved college-level coursework) toward the 120 credits required for graduation.
• Transfer students may apply up to 60 non-Cornell credits earned prior to matriculation, as awarded at the time of admission. After matriculation, all students (both first-year and transfer) may apply a maximum of 15 extramural credits (coursework taken outside of Cornell) toward the 120 credits required for graduation.
• No college credit earned before matriculation and used to meet Cornell's minimum admission requirements may be counted in the 120 credits required for graduation. This policy does not apply to transfer students.
• Courses taught by a college in the high school setting or counted toward high school graduation are not allowed to count for either credits or fulfillment of requirements.
• Strict limitations exist on the number of credits that can be applied toward the 120-credit minimum for special studies courses (including but not limited to 4000, 4010, 4020), for 4030 courses, and for courses taken with an optional S–U grade. Details follow.

Human Ecology Core Requirement^1,2

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Core Courses
HE 1800	Blazing Your Trail in Human Ecology (Required in the first fall semester of matriculation to Human Ecology) 1
HE 1850	Introduction to Human Ecology (Required in the first spring semester of matriculation to Human Ecology)
HE 2000	Social Justice, Thriving, and the Human Experience 2

¹

Internal and external transfer students are exempt from HE 1800.

²

Internal and external transfer students must complete HE 2000 in their first fall semester in Human Ecology.

Human Ecology Distribution Requirement

Students must complete the college distribution requirements listed below. Each course applied to a distribution category must be a minimum of 3 credits, and the total credits in each category must meet the specified requirement (3 or 6 credits).  A list of courses that fulfill each Distribution Requirement code can be found on the College of Human Ecology Distribution Requirement Course List page of this catalog.

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Natural Sciences 3		6
Courses that carry any of the following distribution codes will count toward the Natural Sciences requirement:
BIO-AG, BIO-AS, BSC-AG, PBS-HE, PHS-AS, PSC-AG
Social Sciences		6
Courses that carry any of the following distribution codes will count toward the Social Sciences requirement:
ETH-AG, ETM-AS, KCM-AG, KCM-HE, SBA-AG, SBA-HE, SSC-AAP, SSC-AS, SSC-HA
Humanities		3
Courses that carry any of the following distribution codes will count toward the Humanities requirement:
ALC-AAP, ALC-AS, ALC-HA, CA-AG, CA-HE, HA-AG, HA-HE, HST-AS, LA-AG
Quantitative Analysis		3
Courses that carry any of the following distribution codes will count toward the Quantitative Analysis requirement:
DLG-AG, DLS-AG, MQL-AG, MQR-AAP, MQR-HE
First-Year Writing Seminar (FWS) - Must be completed during the first two semesters at Cornell 4		6
Select one of the following options:
Two Knight Program First-Year Writing Seminar (FWS) courses
One Knight Program First-Year Writing Seminar course and a score of 5* on AP English Language or AP English Literature
One Knight Program First-Year Writing Seminar course and a score of 7* on IB English Literature or IB English Language

³

Courses with exam credit may not count.

⁴

Juniors, seniors, and transfer students may use ENGL 2880 Expository Writing to satisfy one First-Year Writing Seminar (FWS) requirement. For additional information on FWS courses and guidelines, please visit the John S. Knight Institute for Writing in the Disciplines.

45 Human Ecology Credit Requirement^4,5,6

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Students must complete a minimum of 45 credits from the following Human Ecology subject areas:		45
Design and Environmental Analysis (DEA)
Fiber Science & Apparel Design (FSAD)
Human Development (HD)
Human Ecology non-departmental (HE) at the 1500 level or higher
Nutritional Sciences (NS)
Public Policy (PUBPOL)

⁴

Courses that fulfill College Distribution or Major Requirements may not be taken S–U unless S–U is the only grading option available.

⁵

Courses taken S–U that count toward Electives may also be applied to the 45-credit requirement.

⁶

Students should refer to the S–U grading section for complete policy details.

Minimum Semester Requirements

Students enrolling in the college as first‑years must enroll in a minimum of one 3‑credit course each semester in HE for their first four semesters, excluding winter and summer sessions (i.e., fall and spring semesters only). Students must carry 12 credits each semester, excluding physical education.

Grade Point Average (GPA) Requirement for Graduation

Students must earn a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 (C) or better to graduate.

Degree Requirements by Catalog Year

 All degree requirements are based on the term in which the student matriculated to Human Ecology with no exceptions. If a student changes majors within Human Ecology, they should speak with the Human Ecology College Advisor or Registrar to discuss options. 

Special Studies

• A maximum of 12 credits of special study course work from Human Ecology or other colleges will count towards the 120 overall credits. Courses will be indicated on the class roster with a Component of either IND or RSC. Additional special study credits may be taken but will not be applied toward the student’s major, college, or university degree requirements.
• A maximum of 12 credits of 4000-4030 may count toward the 45 HE credit requirement.

10XX Courses

10XX‑numbered courses do not count toward graduation requirements but do count toward full‑time enrollment status.

S-U Grade Options

The S‑U grading option may not be used for College Distribution courses or required major courses unless it is the only grading option available for the course. S‑U grading may be applied to courses taken to fulfill the Outside‑of‑Major requirement and to elective courses.

Students may apply no more than 12 credits of S‑U graded coursework toward the 120 credits required for graduation. Required courses that are offered only on an S‑U basis do not count toward this limit. In addition, Honors Research (4990) taken S‑U is excluded from the 12‑credit maximum. Students may enroll in additional S‑U courses beyond this limit; however, those credits will not be applied toward graduation requirements.

Advanced Placement and Advanced Standing Credit