Public Health

Welcome to the Department of Public Health. This section contains all the information for current students, faculty, and staff.

Welcome from Department Chair Dr. Stanley N. Bernard

Welcome to the Southern Connecticut State University’s Department of Public Health!

According to CEA Winslow, one of the forefathers of our field, public health is “the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private communities, and individuals.” We invite everyone who wants make our communities, state, and nation healthier places to live, grow, and prosper to participate with us in this artful science and become a part of our public health family.

We are in an exceptional moment in time where social change is not only necessary but inevitable. Over the past few years we have been confronted with a pandemic, social movements that have laid dormant more than half a century, and pivotal policy changes in health that many believed would be indisputable. These events have made this a seminal moment in the field of public health, especially here at Southern--a designated social justice university.

Our public health programs are among the first in Connecticut and are fully accredited by our national accreditation organization, the Council on Education for Public Health (CPEH). We offer study abroad programs, practice-based internships, opportunities for working with faculty on research projects, and exciting hands-on and service learning in our health promotion courses. Faculty in our Department are involved in community-based research, practice and service in communities in Connecticut and around the globe.  Many of our graduates stay in Connecticut and New England and you don’t have to go far to find them working in local and state public health departments, as university researchers, community health educators, and program staff of non-profit organizations. 

Take some time and look through our website, see what projects our faculty are engaged in, read our newsletter, follow us on social media and contact us with any questions.

Public Heath Anti-Racism Statement: The public health faculty stands against racism in all forms. As a Department, we are committed to social justice and anti-racism. We believe that the injustices related to the pandemic, the continuing racial violence that has taken the lives of countless Black Americans, the tainted water supply in Flint Michigan and Jackson, Mississippi, and the disproportional disparities in health and healthcare are a result of systemic and structural racism enacted upon Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). We are committed to working with the people within BIPOC communities and everyone who strives to dismantle the systemic and structural racism that suppress communities in Connecticut and everywhere, to ensure conditions for all people to have a fair and just opportunity to thrive across the lifespan.

Program Mission Statement: The mission of the Southern Connecticut State University Public Health Programs is to advance the state of public health practice and to promote and protect the health of the public.
   

Southern Connecticut State University
Public Health Department

College of Health and Human Services Building, Room 341
501 Crescent Street, New Haven, CT 06515
Phone: (203) 392-6950
Fax: (203) 392-6965