Women, Gender, and Health
The Women, Gender, and Health (WGH) Concentration and Working Group fosters collaborative learning, research, and action to advance gender equity and health justice. Gender, gender inequities, and biology are understood as important and interacting determinants of well-being and disease, affecting persons of all genders and gender identities across the lifecourse.
Why WGH?
The Women, Gender, and Health (WGH) Concentration and Working Group fosters collaborative learning, research, and action to advance gender equity and health justice. Our work is premised on recognizing the intertwined realities of health inequities among people of all genders in relation to racialized groups, ethnicity, nationality, class, sexual orientation, and age—and recognizing that the protection of human rights is fundamental to the advancement of public health.
We promote a learning environment that fosters these ideas and skills via our WGH courses, our WGH events, our WGH Working Group discussions, and our WGH activities (such as Take Action Tuesday, which promotes collective action and solidarity for health equity).
WGH Faculty are based in several departments in HSPH, including the 4 departments that sponsor the WGH concentration (Social and Behavioral Sciences, Epidemiology, Global Health and Population, and Environmental Health Sciences).
The WGH concentration and WGH Working Group enables students, faculty, and staff to engage regarding topics related to gender and health. This includes connecting via:
- Taking our WGH core courses;
- Joining our monthly WGH Working Group meetings;
- Coming to our WGH fall, winter, and spring socials;
- Attending and/or help planning our monthly WGH speaker events;
- Getting involved with the planning and implementation of “Take Action Tuesday” activism;
- Applying for the WGH conference stipend for students, which enable students to attend and report back on conferences they attend regarding gender and health.
Come join us at our monthly WGH Working Group meetings and our WGH events — and sign up for our WGH newsletter to stay up-to-date on WGH and other events focused on gender & health!
Curriculum
- Gender and Health: Introductory Perspectives (WGH 211: Fall 1, 2.5 credits)
- Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice (WGH 201: Fall 2, 2.5 credits)
- The Health of Transgender and Gender Diverse People (WGH 230: Fall 2, 2.5 credits)
- Embodying Gender: Public Health, Biology, And the Body Politic (WGH 250: Winter Session, 2.5 credits)
- Sexuality And Public Health (WGH 220: Spring 1, 2.5 credits)
- Women, Gender, and Health: Critical Issues in Mental Health (WGH 210: Spring 1, 2.5 credits)
- Advanced Topics in Women, Gender, and Health (WGH 207: Spring 2, 1.25 credits)
- Independent Study (WGH 300)
WGH-related publications
History of WGH
The Working Group on Women, Gender, and Health (WGH) was founded in 1996 by Harvard School of Public Health faculty members, postdoctoral fellows, and students interested in advancing the study of women, gender, and health at the School. In 2002, the school-wide faculty approved the Interdisciplinary Concentration on WGH. This concentration is governed by a Steering Committee comprised of faculty members and students who meet monthly to discuss ways to promote curriculum development and public health research and practice regarding women, gender, and health at Harvard Chan School.