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Minor Requirements

The Minor in Human Biology

A minor in Human Biology provides an introduction to the relationship between the biological and social aspects of humanity's origin, development, and future. Many of the serious problems facing humans today involve both biological and social aspects. Scientific approaches to these problems are essential, but they must be broadly conceived and thoughtfully implemented with regard to the social and cultural contexts. Students with a minor in Human Biology are expected to develop a strong content background and the skills to integrate the biological and social aspects of human beings.

The Human Biology minor requires three core courses to ensure coverage of the field disciplines, while offering flexibility for students pursuing specific subplans in the fields of Global Health, Epidemiology, or Health Policy.

  • The Global Health subplan introduces students to critical social perspectives, policy, and applications in global health.
     
  • The Epidemiology subplan introduces students to epidemiological constructs and applies these methods to the study of real world public health challenges.
     
  • The Health Policy subplan introduces students to population-level problems, interventions, and policy in public health.

The HumBio minor and subplan can be declared on Axess. Upon declaration, please select your subplan and complete the minor plan form to humbioadvising [at] lists.stanford.edu (subject: HumBio%20Minor) (HumBio Student Services.)

HumBio Minor Plan Form


In order to graduate with a minor in Human Biology, undergraduates must complete the minor program of study as described in the Stanford Bulletin, for a total of at least 25 units, with a minimum of six courses. A summary of the requirements is below:

1. Three HumBio Core courses (at least one A-side and at least one B-side class) for a total of at least 15 units.

Students completing a major that requires some of the HumBio Core or equivalent may submit a petition to substitute the Core requirement; contact humbioadvising [at] lists.stanford.edu (subject: HumBio%20Minor) (HumBio Student Services )for more information. 

2. Three (3) elective courses, each 3 or more units, totaling 10 or more units, within the chosen subplan. Here is a comprehensive list of suitable elective courses.

3. Course work completed for the Human Biology Minor must meet the following criteria:

  • All courses must be taken for a letter grade. 
  • All courses must be completed with a minimum 'C-' grade. 
  • Courses used to fulfill the minor may not be used to fulfill any other department degree requirements (major or minor).
  • All courses must be taken at Stanford University.

For the full list of minor requirements and policies, please visit the Stanford Bulletin. Be sure to expand the fields to see the full elective course lists in the Bulletin.

Human Biology Minor in the Stanford Bulletin