Health and Wellness Minor

Declare the Health and Wellness Minor

Ready to join the minor? Click here to submit your application; apply at any time.
Health and Wellness Minor Contact
Emily Cardoza

Overview

The goal of the interdisciplinary minor in health and wellness is for students to have concentrated study in the area that can complement their major with a series of courses from outside their discipline. The minor centers on a three-course core, covering the cultural, psychological, and physiological aspects of health and wellness, respectively, and two upper-division electives, selected from a list of chosen courses from various disciplines across campus for students to tailor a focused course of study in human well-being. After completing the minor, students shall be able to:

  • Analyze health and wellness via a cultural lens with sociocultural factors such as race, class, sex, and gender.
  • Apply different research methods for examining health and wellness issues.
  • Identify the strengths and weaknesses of quantitative and qualitative methods in health and wellness research.
  • Develop sound research skills to be able to read, to interpret, and to implement research in health and wellness.
  • Evaluate cultural systems that give rise to inequities in health and wellness and assess how health and wellness can be constructed culturally and may be potentially biased.
  • Gain knowledge in the dimensions of wellness – physical, occupational, social, spiritual, intellectual, and emotional – and develop strategies within each dimension of wellness to modify lifestyle and to learn, to implement, and to adopt healthy behaviors.
  • Make behavior changes that promote health and well-being; and identify and implement healthy behaviors that enhance the quality of life throughout the lifespan.
  • Promote health and wellness through the implementation of behavioral change and lifestyle medicine.
  • Explore career options in health and wellness, including allied areas such as fitness- and sports-related endeavors.

General Requirements

  1. All upper-division courses taken to fulfill the minor requirements below must be taken for a letter grade. Lower-division courses can be taken pass / no pass. 
  2. A minimum of three of the upper-division courses taken to fulfill the minor requirements must be completed at UC Berkeley.
  3. A minimum grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 is required for courses used to fulfill the minor requirements. Courses used to fulfill the minor requirements may be applied toward the Seven-Course Breadth requirement, for Letters & Science students.
  4. No more than one upper-division course may be used to simultaneously fulfill requirements for a student’s major and minor programs.
  5. All minor requirements must be completed prior to the last day of finals during the semester in which the student plans to be graduated. If the student cannot finish all courses required for the minor by that time, the student must see a College of Letters & Science advisor.
  6. All minor requirements must be completed within the unit ceiling.

Lower-Division Required Courses:

DeptCourseCross listingCourse NameUnits
NUSCTX 10 or 10S Introduction to Human Nutrition 3
PHYS ED 1-5 Various Activity Courses (two 0.5 unit courses) 1
PHYS ED 32 Fitness for Life 3
PSYCH * 1 General Psychology 3
PSYCH * W1 General Psychology 3
PSYCH * 2 Principles of Psychology 3

*Choose one of the PSYCH courses. AP Psychology may also count for the PSYCH requirement.

Upper-Division Courses

Three core courses are required; two courses are electives.

A minimum of five, upper-division courses must be completed that total at least 15 units. Three of the courses must be taken from UC Berkeley. Some courses may have additional prerequisites or require the permission of the instructor.

Upper-Division Required Core Courses

DeptCourseCross listingCourse NameUnits
PHYS ED 121 Health, Wellness, and Culture: A Critical Perspective 3
PHYS ED 177 Wellness for Life 3
*PSYCH 162 or C162 or LS C160V Human Happiness 3

*In the event that PSYCH C162 is unavailable for enrollment, students may substitute one of the following courses for this requirement: ISF 100K "Health, Wealth, Love, and Happiness" or COGSCI 115 "Neuropsychology of Happiness". Other courses may be considered on a case-by-case basis; please contact hwminor@berkeley.edu for more information.

Upper-Division Elective Courses

Links to current electives being offered for Summer 2026:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tWsFPXS5-DHqZQBmlBPAUt2IB0szUAZLnwJOd56mbTI/edit?usp=sharing

Links to current electives being offered for Fall 2026:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nayJ7BWE2Ddhyz6C2VYGS0btuINjpBUgOS01l8l1Xgo/edit?usp=sharing

Select two of the following courses, for a minimum of six units. The courses below may be counted in any semester they are offered. One course may be replaced by completing a minimum of three units of thesis, internship (field study), group study, or independent study and research (i.e., 196 Thesis, 197 Field Study, 198 Directed Group Study, or 199 Supervised Independent Study and Research; these courses normally would have a prefix of PHYS ED or PSYCH, but prefixes from other departments are allowed with written approval from the program’s director).*

DeptCourseCross listingCourse NameUnits
AGRS 161 Gender, Sexuality, and Culture in the Ancient World 4
AGRS 180 Ancient Athletics 4
ANTHRO 108 Cross-cultural Mental Health: Biocultural Perspectives 4
ANTHRO 109 Psychoneuroendocrinology: Stress, Disease, and Health Inequalities 4
ANTHRO 112 Special Topics in Biological Anthropology: Evolutionary Medicine 4
ANTHRO 115 Introduction to Medical Anthropology 4
ANTHRO 119 Special Topics in Medical Anthropology 4
ANTHRO 140 The Anthropology of Food 4
ANTHRO 189 Special Topics/Cultural Anthropology: Disability, Ethnography and Design 4
ANTHRO 189 Special Topics - 'Cities and Disease' 4
ANTHRO 196 Undergrad Seminar - 'Human Biology,' 'Art/Cure: Mental Pain and Aesthetic Experience' 4
ANTHRO C119A Health, Medicine, Society and Environment 4
ANTHRO C129F The Archaeology of Health and Disease 4
ART 160 Special Topics in Visual Studies: Art Medicine and Disability 4
ART 165 Art, Medicine, and Disabilities 4
ASAMST 143AC Asian American Health 3
ASAMST 143B Advancing Health Equity for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Communities 4
BIOENG 102 Biomechanics: Analysis and Design 4
BIOENG 110 Biomedical Physiology for Engineers 4
BIOENG 121 BioMEMS and Medical Devices 4
BIOENG 124 Basic Principles of Drug Delivery 3
BIOENG C119 MECENG C176 Orthopedic Biomechanics 4
BIOENG C137 Designing for the Human Body 4
BIOENG C171 NEU C124 Interface Between Neuroethology & Neural Engineering 3
CHICANO 176 Chicanos and Health Care 3
CHMENG 170A Biochemical Engineering 4
CIVENG 187 Emerging Technologies for Public Health 3
CMPBIO 156 Human Genome, Environment and Public Health 4
COGSCI 115 Neuropsychology of Happiness 3
COGSCI 132 Rhythms of the Brain: from Neuronal Communication to Function 4
COGSCI 180 Mind, Brain, and Identity 3
COGSCI C127 PSYCH C127 Cognitive Neuroscience 3
COMLIT 170 SCANDIN 180 Special Topics in Comparative Literature: How to Be Happy: Philosophy, Art, and Politics of Joy 4
CYPLAN 120 Community Planning and Public Policy for Disability 3
CYPLAN 117AC Urban & Community Health 3
DEMOG 130 Demography of Deaths, Diseases, and Disasters 4
DEMOG C126 Sex, Death, and Data 4
EALANG 114 Illness Narratives, Vulnerable Bodies 4
ECON 157 Health Economics 4
ENGLISH 100 The Seminar on Criticism: Crip Theory and Crip-of-Color Critique, or How to Read for the Body 4
ENGLISH 175 Literature and Disability 4
ENGLISH 180A Autobiography: Disability Memoir 4
ENVECON 145 Health and Environmental Economic Policy 4
ESPM 130 Food Justice 3
ESPM 150 Bodies, Difference, and the Environment 4
ESPM 162 Bioethics and Society 4
ESPM C162A ANTHRO C119A Health, Medicine, Society and Environment 4
ESPM C167 Environmental Health and Development 4
GEOG 130 Food and the Environment 4
GERMAN 158 In Treatment: Freud and His Cultural Legacies 4
GWS 111 Special Topics: Queer Disability Studies 1 to 4
GWS 112 Reproductive Justice 4
GWS 129 Bodies and Boundaries 4
GWS 130AC Gender, Race, Nation, and Health 4
HISTORY 100AC Special Topics - 'Sports and Gender' 4
HISTORY 103D Proseminar (US) - 'Conscience and Contraception - Religion, Law, and Health in the United States' 4
HISTORY 103F Proseminar (Asia) - 'History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Modern East Asia' 4
HISTORY 183A Health and Disease 4
HISTORY C191 Death, Dying, and Modern Medicine: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives 4
HISTORY N100G Special Topics in History: Study Abroad: Barcelona: Food and Culture in the Mediterranean Basin 3
HISTORY N100G Special Topics in History: Study Abroad: Buenos Aires: The History and Culture of Food in Argentina 3
INTEGBI 114 Infectious Disease Dynamics 4
INTEGBI 123 Exercise and Environmental Physiology 3
INTEGBI 128 Sports Medicine 3
INTEGBI 136 The Biology of Sex 4
INTEGBI 139 The Neurobiology of Stress 4
INTEGBI 140 Biology of Human Reproduction 4
INTEGBI 147 Biology of Aging 3
INTEGBI 152 Environmental Toxicology 4
INTEGBI 164 Human Genetics and Genomics 4
INTEGBI 169 Evolutionary Medicine 4
INTEGBI 123AL Exercise Physiology with Laboratory 5
INTEGBI 127L Motor Control with Laboratory 3
INTEGBI C125L PHYS ED C165 Introduction to the Biomechanical Analysis of Human Movement 4
INTEGBI C129L PHYS ED C129L Human Physiological Assessment with laboratory 3
INTEGBI C143B PSYCH C116 Hormones and Behavior 3
INTEGBI C195 PB HLTH C117 Introduction to Global Health Disparities Research 2
ISF 100K Health, Wealth, Love and Happiness 4
LEGALST 159 Law and Sexuality 4
LEGALST 190 Seminar on Topics in Law and Society: Rhetoric of the War on Drugs 4
LEGALST 190 Seminar on Topics in Law and Society: Sexuality and Social Theory 4
LGBT 146 Cultural Representations of Sexuality 4
LGBT 148 Ethnicity, Gender, and Sexuality 4
MCELLBI 104 Genetics, Genomics, and Cell Biology 4
MCELLBI 120 Therapeutics Discovery and Development 4
MCELLBI 132 Biology of Human Cancer 4
MCELLBI 136 Physiology 4
MCELLBI 140 General Genetics 4
MCELLBI 149 The Human Genome 3
MCELLBI 153 Molecular Medicine 4
MCELLBI 165 Neurobiology of Disease 3
MCELLBI C130 NUSCTX C130 Cell Biology: from Discovery to Disease 4
MECENG 126 The Science and Engineering of Cooking 4
MECENG C178 Designing for the Human Body 4
MEDIAST 168 Cybernetics and Cybercultures: The Psychosocial Impact of Digital Media 4
NEU 123 Psychedelics 3
NEU 128 Cognitive Neuroscience 3
NEU 163 Brain, Behavior, and Environment 4
NEU 165 Neurobiology of Disease 3
NEU C124 BIOENG C171 Interface Between Neuroethology & Neural Engineering 3
NEU C166 INTEGBI C139 The Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience 4
NUSCTX 103 Nutrient Function and Metabolism 3
NUSCTX 104 Food, Culture, and the Environment 2
NUSCTX 105 Mediterranean Nutrition and Food System 3
NUSCTX 110 Toxicology 4
NUSCTX 120 Eating Behavior and Disordered Eating 2
NUSCTX 145 Nutrition Education and Counseling 2
NUSCTX 160 Metabolic Bases of Human Health and Diseases 4
NUSCTX 166 Nutrition in the Community 3
NUSCTX 108A Introduction and Application of Food Science 3
NUSCTX 108B Application of Food Science Laboratory 1
NUSCTX 161A Medical Nutrition Therapy 4
NUSCTX 161B Medical Nutrition Therapy II 4
NUSCTX C130 MCELLBI C130 Cell Biology: from Discovery to Disease 4
NUSCTX C159 Human Diet 4
NUSCTX W104 Food, Culture, and the Environment AC 3
PBHLTH 103 Drugs, Health, and Society 2
PBHLTH 107 Violence, Social Justice, and Public Health 2
PBHLTH 112 Global Health: A Multidisciplinary Examination 4
PBHLTH 116 Seminar on Social, Political, and Ethical Issues in Health and Medicine 3
PBHLTH 126 Health Economics and Public Policy 3
PBHLTH 129 The Aging Human Brain 3
PBHLTH 181 Poverty and Population 3
PBHLTH 182 Sexual Health and Sexuality 3
PBHLTH 110A Introduction to Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health (MCAH) 3
PBHLTH 150B Human Health and the Environment in a Changing World 3
PBHLTH 155B Women's Global Health and Empowerment 3
PBHLTH 155C War and Public Health 4
PBHLTH 162A Public Health Microbiology 4
PBHLTH 177A GIS and Spatial Analysis for Health Equity 3
PBHLTH C150E CYPLAN C117 Urban and Community Health 3
PBHLTH C155 SOCIOL C115 Sociology of Health and Medicine 4
PBHLTH C160 Environmental Health and Development 4
PBHLTH W108 Women's Health, Gender, and Empowerment 3
PHYSED 130 History and Philosophy of Sport and Physical Activity 3
PHYSED 165 INTEGBI 125L Introduction to Biomechanical Analysis of Movement 4
PHYSED C129 INTEGBI C129 Human Physiological Assessment 3
PSYCH 110 Intro to Biological Psychology 3
PSYCH 114 Biology of Learning 3
PSYCH 117 Human Neuropsychology 3
PSYCH 124 The Evolution of Human Behavior 3
PSYCH 125 The Developing Brain 3
PSYCH 130 Clinical Psychology 3
PSYCH 133 Psychology of Sleep 3
PSYCH 134 Health Psychology 3
PSYCH 135 Treating Mental Illness: Development, Evaluation, and Dissemination 3
PSYCH 136 Human Sexuality 3
PSYCH 137 Mind-Body and Health 3
PSYCH 138 Global Mental Health 3
PSYCH 156 Human Emotion 3
PSYCH 169 Love and Close Relationships 3
PSYCH 173 Lens on Mental Health: Diversity and Intersectional Approaches 3
PSYCH 166A Cultural Psychology 3
PSYCH C113 Biological Clocks: Physiology and Behavior 3
PSYCH C116 INTEGBI C143B Hormones and Behavior 3
SOCIOL 117 Sport as a Social Institution 4
SOCIOL 135 Sexual Cultures 4
SOCIOL 190 Seminar and Research in Sociology: Sociology of Mental Health and Illness 4
SOCIOL 115G Health in a Global Society 4
SOCIOL 139H Selected Topics in Social Inequality: Health & Wealth 4
SOCIOL 169-002 Special Topics in Sociology of Culture: Disability, Culture, and Society 4
SOCIOL 169F Cultural Perspectives of Food 3
SOCIOL 190-006 Seminar and Research in Sociology: Reproductive Health, Politics, and Inequalities 4
SOCIOL C115 Sociology of Health and Medicine 4
SOCIOL C126 DEMOG C126 Sex, Death, and Data 4
SOCIOL N100 Special Topics in Sociology: Happy Class 2
SOCWEL 148 Substance Abuse Treatment 2
THEATER 114 Performance Research Workshop 4
THEATER 144 Sources of Movement 3
THEATER 148 Movement Improvisation 3
UGIS 110 Introduction to Disability Studies 3
UGIS 112 Women and Disability 3