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Dear Online MPH Student Community,
Given the current political division, I’ve turned my attention to Yuval Noah Harari, the historian who describes history as the “study of change,” informing us about the past while also providing a glimpse into the future.
The central thread throughout his best-selling books—from Sapiens through his latest, Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI—is the power of stories, which ultimately separate humans from other species. Stories shape life’s key domains: religion, nation-states, wars, politics, culture, social classes, race, science, law, and public health.
In Nexus, he argues that information represents a reality, but it derives its power from being able to connect people, facilitating large-scale cooperation that can lead to concentrated power.
However, more information does not necessarily lead to truth. In fact, truth is difficult to uncover—it’s often complex and full of nuance. In contrast, compelling stories—even those that are largely fictional—drive humans to act for good or for ill.
In the Online MPH Program, a key goal is to help you transform information into truth, starting with the core courses that provide you the foundation to specialize:
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Health and Social Behavior and Environmental Health Sciences show how social and environmental exposures affect community- and individual-level health, equipping you with approaches to address multi-level health needs;
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Epidemiologic Methods describes methods to measure health events and assess risk, while Probability and Statistics prepares you to formulate and test hypotheses based on those measures; and
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Health Policy and Management provides tools in strategy, organization, finance, and policy to help you implement that knowledge, recognizing the economic tradeoffs involved.
But the truth alone is not enough to drive change; it must be packaged into a compelling story. This fall, we will be offering Health Policy Advocacy, a new course that will help you transform truths into stories that inspire action.
Keep persisting, seek truth, and develop and tell your stories about public health.
Best,
Brent Fulton
HPM Faculty Lead
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