This course will provide a brief background on historical disparities surrounding mental healthcare and equip you with the tools to help yourself and others around you who may be struggling. We will define some common mental health terms and discuss the different types of resources that exist for finding support. We will also work to unpack the ways that technology is contributing to the mental illness crisis facing teenagers today and brainstorm ideas together for using social media in ways that are less likely to harm your mental health.

Through this course, students will learn about the emergence, patterns, and history of drugs and alcohol in the United States. By looking at key drug policies and the politicization of drugs in the 20th & 21st Century, we will take a closer look at how certain communities are disproportionately affected. Additionally, we will take a bio-psychological approach on the addictive nature of drugs and alcohol. Students will walk away with harm reduction strategies along with a clearer historical, social, and biological context of drug and alcohol use in the US.

Why does New Haven have one of the state's highest rates of illnesses like asthma, diabetes, heart disease, and obesity? Looking closer, there are huge health differences based on inequalities rooted in racism and poverty. Learn about how societal factors like racial and ethnic discrimination, economic inequality, and a lack of basic resources cause some of the biggest health issues we see in New Haven today.