Building a healthier world starts with how we communicate the ideas of public health. When we speak, does the public listen? Or do we sometimes communicate in ways that can cause the public to tune us out? We aspire to moral clarity in what we say and do. But moral clarity can tip into scolding […]
We are at a pivot point for public health. Although public health has been responsible for extraordinary gains in population health over the past two centuries, it finds itself facing a backlash in public esteem that threatens to undermine work the field has done, and that it can do in coming decades. There are many […]
This discussion was March 27, 2025, in Cupples Hall I, Room 207, on the Danforth Campus. The problem of bad behavior At some instinctive level we all understand that health emerges from some combination of personal agency and choice, biology and genetic determinism, and the world we live in. And yet, this observation makes us, […]
Truth? We are in the business of science and scholarship. Our job is to uncover fundamental truths about nature, to document these truths, and to advance them so that we can better understand the world, and, in so doing, make the world better. Core to our ability to do so is confidence that we can […]
In this session of Thinking Public Health, we will reflect on the recent political violence. Our discussion will consider the broader forces that drive individuals and groups toward violence, the specific role of firearms in escalating conflict, and how health — as a shared value and collective good — can serve as a bridge to unite […]
Topic: Public health in the age of MAHA Public health is going through a period of unprecedented upheaval, catalyzed by policies wrought by the Trump administration, and spurred by the MAHA movement. Long-standing approaches are being reconsidered, with renewed debates around vaccines, shifting attention to unconventional areas of nutritional policy — for example, proposals to […]
Decolonizing global health Global health is in the midst of a re-examination of its roots and future, driven by calls to “decolonize” the field. Advocates have argued that longstanding patterns of power, authorship, and agenda-setting—often dominated by institutions in high-income countries—have constrained equity and innovation. The movement seeks to shift decision-making, funding, and recognition toward […]
Agency and vulnerability Public health often centers the notion of vulnerability as a fixed state: Populations are “at risk,” “marginalized,” or “exposed.” Yet human experience also includes agency — the capacity to act, adapt, and shape one’s circumstances even under constraint. The tension between these two ideas is central to public health. Overemphasizing vulnerability can […]