Community and Behavioral Health, PhD

This is the first version of the 2026–27 General Catalog. Please check back regularly for changes. The final edition and the historical PDF will be published during the fall semester.

The Doctor of Philosophy in community and behavioral health prepares students to become independent scholars who conduct social and behavioral research in collaboration with a variety of partners. Graduates are prepared to conduct research in both academic and nonacademic settings, to assess and monitor community health, and to plan, implement, and evaluate interventions. The curriculum provides rigorous training in quantitative, qualitative, and mixed public health methods and addresses timely topics from an interdisciplinary perspective. Although each student’s experience is highly individualized, the doctoral program emphasizes learning in the department’s four research interest areas: rural health, community engagement, culturally informed interventions, and health equity. The department is committed to deep reflection and interrogation of public health methods as it contributes to building health equity in the field.

Learning Outcomes

Graduates of this PhD program will be able to:

  • evaluate and apply social and behavioral science theories and conceptual frameworks in public health research;
  • define the principles of community-engaged research and practice;
  • demonstrate proficiency in quantitative and qualitative research methods;
  • identify a public health problem and develop a culturally informed intervention to address it that specifies outcomes and includes an evaluation plan;
  • develop foundational skills for professional success in social and behavioral science research;
  • explain the principles of research ethics and demonstrate them in social and behavioral science research;
  • design a research study that includes well-focused research questions, testable hypotheses, and rigorous analytic methods; and
  • communicate a research study’s aims, methods, results, limitations, and conclusions to academic and lay audiences.