Population Health

July 8, 2020

Fall undergraduate course to delve into the impacts of violence

Male Forensic Scientist Holding an Evidence Bag With a Gun InsideThe Population Health Initiative is offering a new General Studies course, “Violence: Approaches to Response and Prevention,” during fall quarter 2020. This is a one-credit, credit/no-credit seminar-style course for undergraduate students, and has been developed in collaboration with the UW’s Harborview Injury Prevention & Research Center.

Violence has been a constant throughout human history, resulting in enormous suffering and broader negative societal consequences. Ongoing cases of police violence and mass shootings in the U.S. have focused attention on the fact that rates of violence in the U.S. remain high relative to those in comparable countries, and other violent acts around the world serve as a constant reminder that there are no simple solutions to this complex and multifaceted problem.

The course, GEN ST 297J (SLN 15706), will offer undergraduate students an overview of the research at the UW related to better understanding, responding to and preventing acts of violence.

The course will meet via Zoom on Wednesdays at 11:30 a.m. Students will be required to attend the lectures, complete short, weekly quizzes based on the lectures and submit a two-to three page final paper to receive credit for the course.

The speakers and topics for the quarter are:

Date Speaker Topic Unit
9/30 Meher Antia
Derek Fulwiler
Course introduction
Overview of violence
Population Health Initiative
10/7 Ali Mokdad Global burden of violence Health Metrics Sciences, IHME
10/14 Ali Rowhani-Rahbar Epidemiology of gun violence Epidemiology
10/21 Mary Fan Recording the police Law
10/28 Bettina Shell Duncan Female genital cutting Anthropology
11/4 Monica Vavilala Stop the Bleed training Pediatrics, Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine
11/11 Holiday No class
11/18 Randal Beam Media framing of suicide Communication
11/25 Kevin Haggerty Preventing violence in youth Social Work
12/2 Susan Graham Physiological responses to violence Global Health, Allergy & Infectious Diseases
12/9 Kiana Swearingen Violence prevention and response training UW SafeCampus

This course is open to all interested faculty, students, staff, alumni and members of the community, although undergraduates who wish to receive course credit must register during the course add period.

Register for the Course >