Minors

Enhance your skills and stand out in the job market by adding a minor, giving you a cross-disciplinary perspective and a more well-rounded view of the world.

Broaden Your Knowledge and Boost Your Marketability With a Minor

Pursuing a minor is a great way to broaden your knowledge and strengthen your resume by exploring another discipline. It connects you to new ideas, expands your worldview, and offers valuable context for applying your skills in different settings.

Requirements to Complete a Minor

  • A minor at ACPHS requires a minimum of 18 credit hours of coursework.
  • At least half of the required credits for the minor must be at an advanced level (300 level or above) as defined by the minor.
  • Coursework for an academic minor is presented with the same intellectual rigor as that expected of courses that fulfill requirements of a major.
  • To successfully complete an academic minor, a cumulative minimum GPA of 2.0 must be achieved in the courses required for the minor. (Some minors require higher minimum GPAs, as noted below.)
  • A minimum of six credits must be provided by non-required courses of the program (free electives/professional electives/bioselectives/directed electives/liberal arts electives are not considered required courses for the purposes of completing a minor).
  • A student may not minor in a subject area in which that student is also completing a major.
  • A minor cannot be completed after graduation.
  • One course (three to four credits) required for the minor may be taken outside ACPHS with approval from the chair of the department that houses the minor.
  • All courses for the minor must be taken for a grade unless P/F is the only option.

Minors at ACPHS

Learn about specific courses and credit requirements for each minor. If you have any questions or need additional information, reach out to the faculty members listed as contacts for each minor.

The Medical Humanities minor at ACPHS gives you a strong foundation in the methods and themes of the medical humanities. By applying elective credits, you’ll explore the human side of health, illness and care practices through a humanities lens, enriching your education beyond the basic and social sciences.

Minor in Medical Humanities Required Courses
Students will take two required courses to complete a total of 18 credit hours divided between foundational (six credits) and topic-oriented (12 credits) courses. At least nine credit hours must be at an advanced level (300 or higher).

Foundational Courses: six required credits

  • HUM 220: Medical Humanities (3)
  • ETH 310: Bioethics (3)

Topics Courses: 12 required credits chosen from:

  • ART 105: Introduction to Drawing (3)
  • ART 215: Figure Drawing (3)
  • ART 220: Museum Experience (3)
  • ENG 300: Illness in Words: The Language of Pain, Storytelling, Suffering, and Healing (3)
  • ETH 305: Special Seminar for Dean’s Honors Circle
  • ETH 306: Special Seminar for Dean’s Honors Circle
  • ETH: 315: Health, Disease and Authority in Medicine (3)
  • ETH 410: Special Topics in Bioethics (3)
  • ETH 510: Health Care and Human Values (3)
  • HIS 100: History of Nursing (3)
  • HIS 325: History of the Plagues (3)
  • HIS 330: History of Public Health and Medicine (3)
  • HIS 335: The History of the Insanity Defense (3)
  • HUM 245: Human Rights in the Age of Genocide (3)
  • HUM 285: Culture and Customs of Senegal (3)
  • HUM 320: Graphic Medicine (3)
  • HUM 332: Her Body, His Science: How Medicine Has Overlooked Women (3)
  • HUM 300: Night Visions: The Medical and Cultural Legacy of Sleep and Dreams (3)
  • HUM 345: Race and Health (3)
  • HUM 386: Culture, Customs and Health of Belize (3)
  • LIT 220: Suicide and/as Literature: East-West (3)
  • LIT 230: The Epic (3)
  • LIT 260: Aging in Film and Literature (3)
  • PHI 245: Introduction to Buddhism and Meditation (3)
  • PHI 260: Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (2)
  • PHI 280: The Philosophy and Practice of Yoga (1)
  • PHI 345: LGBQ Philosophy and Health (3)
  • PHI 350 Nature and Wellness (3)
  • PHI 360: Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (3)
  • PHI 370: Contemplative Studies (3)
  • PHI 380/PSC 380: Brain, Mind and Meditation (3)
  • *PSY 440: Death and Dying (3)
  • *SOC 332: Restorative Justice (3)
  • *SOC 335: Global Health (3)

*Substitutions: Up to three credits (one course) may be taken in the psychology or social sciences (PSY or SOC), with advance permission of the chair of Public Health.

Note: A total of nine credits can be used towards your major subject.

Contact
Dan Smith and Maria Rovito, Co-coordinators.

The Microbiology minor gives you a strong foundation in the field, exploring the biology of disease-causing microorganisms with an emphasis on microbial physiology and genetics. You’ll also build valuable lab skills through hands-on work in microbiology techniques, gaining confidence in handling and characterizing microbes.

Minor in Microbiology Required Courses
The minor is available to students in all degree programs. However, students are advised to discuss their course load and schedules with their program directors and/or faculty advisors. To successfully complete the minor, students must achieve a net minimum GPA of 2.75 in minor coursework. The minor is a collection of three required courses (10 credits) and three elective courses (nine credits) in the discipline.

Required Courses
10 required credits

  • BIO 210: Microbiology (4)*
  • BIO 370: Microbial Physiology (3)
  • BIO 340: Microbial Genetics (3)

*BSBT students only may substitute CLS 327, CLS 328, CLS 329, and CLS 330 (total of eight credits) for BIO 210 and an elective (total of 7 credits). 

Elective Courses
Nine required credits selected from the following courses:

  • BIO 240: Virology (3)
  • BIO 365: Medical Parasitology and Mycology (3)
  • BIO 315: Public Health Microbiology (3)
  • BIO 348: Microbial Fermentation (3)
  • BIO 410: Pharmaceutical Microbiology (3)
  • BIO 627G: Innate Immunology (3)
  • BIO 631G: Mammalian Cell Culture (3)
  • BIO 680G: Bacterial Pathogenesis (3)
  • BIO 690G: Viral Pathogenesis (3)
  • CLS 327: Clinical Microbiology I (3)
  • CLS 329: Clinical Microbiology II (3)
  • PBH 350: Epidemiology (3) or PAD 693: Epidemiology I (3)
  • PSC 315: Immunology (3) or CLS 337: Clinical Immunology (3)
  • Other courses by approval of the Minor Coordinator

Students can declare this minor as soon as the semester during which they are enrolled in their first 200-level or higher course towards the minor, and should declare it no later than the end of the add-drop period of the last semester before graduation. Prior credit transferred to ACPHS at the time of admission may be used to satisfy minor requirements.

Contact: Bowen Meng, Coordinator

The Pre-Med minor at ACPHS (24-25 credits) helps you build a strong foundation across biomedical sciences, behavioral and social sciences, and humanities/communications. With six required courses plus two electives, you’ll develop key competencies for health-care careers while exploring opportunities to gain hands-on experience. This minor prepares you for medical school and strengthens your application for future studies in medicine.

Pre-Med Minor Required Courses (18 credits):

  • PPP 380: Preparation for Health Professions (2)
  • PPP ###: Experiential Learning in Healthcare (2)
  • PSC 311 or CHE 311: Biochemistry (3)
  • PHY 222: College Physics II (4)
  • CHE 202 or 212: Organic Chemistry II (4)
  • Literature/ English Course (3)

Must take at least one of the following courses (three to four credits) in each of the two areas:

Biomedical Sciences:

  • BIO 225: Genetics (3)
  • BIO 235: Cell Biology (3)
  • BIO 210: Microbiology (4)
  • BIO 213: Anatomy and Physiology I (3)
  • BIO 215: Anatomy and Physiology  II (3)
  • PSC 315: Immunology (3)
  • PSC 312: Molecular Biology (3)

Behavioral and Social Sciences:

  • SOC 335: Global Health (3)
  • HIS 330: History of Public Health and Medicine (3)
  • COM 330: Intercultural Communication in Healthcare (3)
  • COM 320: Patient-Provider Communication (3)
  • ETH 310: Bioethics (3)
  • SOC 350: Determinants of Health (3)
  • PBH 325: Human Trafficking (3)
  • SOC 325: Medical Sociology (3)
  • PSY 353: Health Psychology (3)
  • PSY 440: Death and Dying (3)
  • ETH 315: Health Disease and Authority in Medicine (3)
  • HUM 325: Culture and Health in Asia (3)
  • HUM 320: Graphic Medicine (3)
  • ETH 410: Special Topics in Bioethics (3)

Contact: Betsy Brookins, Coordinator

The field of psychology contains a variety of subdisciplines, providing students with an opportunity to develop a minor that best suits their interests and career goals. One of the strengths of the 18-credit Psychology minor is that it can be tailored to the needs of each individual student. For example, students whose career plans involve considerable interaction with others might opt for courses such as Social Psychology, Motivation, Learning, Prejudice & Discrimination, and Personality. Students with interests in general health-related fields might opt for courses such as Health Psychology, Abnormal Psychology, Human Sexuality, and any of the many Developmental Psychology courses offered. Students interested in brain-behavior relationships might opt for courses such as Biopsychology, Neuropsychology, Introduction to Psychopharmacology, and Sensation & Perception.

The minor is available to students in all degree programs. However, students are advised to discuss their course load and schedules with their program directors and/or faculty advisors. To successfully complete the minor, students must achieve a net minimum GPA of 2.0 in minor coursework. The minor is a collection of one required course (three credits) and five elective courses (15 credits) in the discipline. One course for the minor may be completed at an institution other than ACPHS with approval from the Minor Coordinator.

Psychology Minor Required Course: (three credits)

  • PSY 101: General Psychology OR
  • PSY 110: Foundations of Psychology 1 OR
  • PSY 111: Foundations of Psychology 2

Elective Credits: (15 credits)

  • Students may select from any of the PSY course offerings.
  • At least nine credits must be at the 300-400 level.

Pre-Health
Pre-health students interested in taking psychology courses or completing the Psychology minor should consider the following:

  • PSY 250: Developmental Psychology: Childhood (3)
  • PSY 252: Developmental Psychology: Adolescence & Emerging Adulthood (3)
  • PSY 254: Developmental Psychology: Adulthood & Aging (3)
  • PSY 291: Psychological Perspectives of Death and Dying (3)
  • PSY 310: Social Psychology (3)
  • PSY 320: Biopsychology (3)
  • PSY 352: Health Psychology (3)
  • PSY 363: Psychopathology (3)
  • PSY 364: Psychopathology in Childhood & Adolescence (3)
  • PSY 440: Death & Dying (3)

Contact: Dan Schoenfeld, Coordinator

The Forensic Psychology minor at ACPHS (21 credits) gives you an interdisciplinary look at how psychology and criminal justice intersect in community, legal and criminal-justice settings. You’ll gain valuable insights into situations you may encounter professionally or personally, developing skills that will serve you well beyond graduation.

Open to students in all degree programs, this minor includes two required courses (six credits) and four electives (12 credits), with the option to complete one course at another institution with approval. Be sure to discuss your plans with your program director or faculty advisor, and note that a minimum GPA of 2.0 is required in the minor coursework.

Forensic Psychology Minor Required Courses: (six credits)

  • FPY 262: Forensic Psychology (3)
  • FPY 400: Advanced Forensic Psychology (3)

Elective Credits: (12 credits)
At least one course must have a FPY prefix, and nine or more credits must be at the 300 or 400 level.

  • CJS 111: Criminal Behavior (3)
  • CJS 112: The Court Systems (3)
  • CJS 232: Policing (3)
  • CJS 234: Probation, Prison, & Parole (3)
  • CJS 239: Juvenile Delinquency (3)
  • CJS 242: Victimology (3)
  • FPY 300: Forensic Mental Health Law (3)
  • FPY 320: Forensic Neuroscience (4)
  • FPY 325: Child & Adolescent Forensic Psychology (3)
  • FPY 450: Prejudice & Discrimination in the Legal System (3)
  • PSY 310: Social Psychology (3)
  • PSY 363: Abnormal Psychology (3)

Public Health is an interdisciplinary field that integrates knowledge and skills from a wide range of academic disciplines to promote the health and safety of communities. The minor in Public Health at ACPHS complements an education in clinical or biomedical sciences by emphasizing the broader sociocultural, structural and economic contexts in which individuals and populations experience health and illness. The minor introduces students to the core perspectives and competencies of public health, including the central role of research, while retaining flexibility to personalize the program around students’ interests and plans.

Public Health Minor Required Courses
This 18-credit-hour minor in Public Health is open to all ACPHS students. To complete this minor successfully, a minimum GPA of 2.5 across all minor coursework is required.

Foundations of Public Health (nine total credit hours):

  • PBH 120 Intro to Public Health (3)
  • Foundations in Public Health Selectives (six credit hours). Two courses chosen from:
    • ETH 310: Bioethics (3)
    • COM 312: Health Promotion (3)
    • COM 315: Health Campaigns (3)
    • PSY 352: Health Psychology (3)
    • SOC 325: Medical Sociology (3)
    • HIS 330: History of Public Health and Medicine (3)
    • SOC 335: Global Health (3)
    • PBH 345: Community Health Practice
    • SOC 350: Determinants of Health (3)
    • SOC 420: Health and Social Policy (3)
    • PAD 451: US and Global Health Care Systems (3)
  • Health Care Selectives (nine total credit hours)
    • Research Selective (three credit hours)
    • One course chosen from:
      • PBH 210/211: Introduction to Data (3)
      • SOC 301: Research Methods (3)
      • PBH 320: Geography of Health (3)
      • PBH 345: Survey Research Methods (3)
      • COM 350: Qualitative Methods (3)
      • PBH 350: Epidemiology (3)
      • PAD 393: Epidemiology (3)
      • Independent Research with a Public Health Faculty Member (prior approval by Minor Coordinator required)
  • Community Engagement Selective (three credit hours). One course chosen from:
    • COM 315: Health Campaigns (3)
    • COM 330: Intercultural Communication in Healthcare (3)
    • SOC 330: Cultures of Disabilities (3)
    • PBH 345: Community Health Practice (3)
    • SOC 350: Determinants of Health (3)
    • PHI 350: Nature and Wellness (3)
    • HUM 386: Culture, Customs and Health of Belize (3)
  • Health Care Systems Selective (three credit hours). One course chosen from:
    • ECN 317: Health Economics (3)
    • COM 320: Patient-Provider Communication (3)
    • SOC 325: Medical Sociology (3)
    • HIS 330: History of Public Health and Medicine (3)
    • ETH 415: Health, Disease, and Authority (3)
    • PSY 440: Death and Dying (3)
    • PAD 451: US and Global Health Care System (3)

Contact: Maggie Doll, Coordinator