Haverford College seeks pairs of middle and high school educators for a paid project designed to improve understanding of the relationships among structural determinants of inequity, health justice, and health outcomes.

The Bi-College Health Studies Program, located at Haverford and Bryn Mawr Colleges, offers an interdisciplinary minor that integrates social sciences, natural sciences, and humanities perspectives on questions of health, illness, and human flourishing. The program attracts students preparing for careers in medicine, public health, policy, social services, and education, among other fields. Students bring knowledge, methods, and insight from their majors — in Biology, Chemistry, Anthropology, Sociology, History, and more — to the required senior seminar, where they work collaboratively on a project that integrates natural and social scientific perspectives.

In Spring 2021, Health Studies seniors will be paired with two educators to develop interdisciplinary modules that link social studies and science content for middle and high school students. Case studies will be built around topics to be determined jointly by the Haverford/Bryn Mawr students and participating educators. Regardless of topic, all case studies must address health inequities and health justice and must build health literacy. With the educators’ guidance and support from Haverford faculty leading the seminar, students will develop content, create classroom activities and assignments, and prepare a teacher’s guide. Sample pairings of subject areas and case studies in the following table are for illustrative purposes and are not intended to limit the types of collaboration or topics addressed:

5-12 subject areas & Potential case studies

• US history + biology: 1918 flu pandemic; redlining and neighborhood determinants of health
• Civics or US history + environmental science or chemistry: Flint water crisis; housing segregation and lead paint; environmental racism and environmental justice
• World history + biology: British empire and 19th C cholera epidemics; American empire and hookworm; Industrial Revolution, globalization, and workers’ health

Participating educators are not expected to be able to integrate the curriculum into their classrooms immediately; rather, their guidance will help Health Studies students develop relevant, accessible, and engaging materials that can be made available online to teachers in Philly and beyond. The anticipated time commitment is 10-12 hours per month, February through May 2021. Each selected teacher will receive a one-time $1,000 stipend for their work over the course of one semester.

How to apply

Educators should apply as a team, which must include one science instructor and one social science instructor. Applications will be considered from all science and social science fields, with the exception of psychology and physics. Please submit one application per team, with information contributed by both educators.

• Click here to complete the APPLICATION FORM by January 10, 2021.
• Preview the application questions here.