Graduate Certificate Program in
Culture, Health and Human Development

The Graduate Certificate in Culture, Health and Human Development (CHHD) was approved by the Board of Trustees of the University of Connecticut in 1998 in order to encourage interdisciplinary training for doctoral and post-doctoral students interested in the connections among these three academic domains.  The CHHD Graduate Certificate Program is administered through the Center for the Study of Culture, Health and Human Development, directed by Professor Sara Harkness (Director) and Professor Charles Super (Co-Director) and a Faculty Coordinating Committee representing the CHHD-affiliated academic units.  Participation in the Graduate Certificate Program brings a number of benefits to students including:

• Participation in seminars and other events with a cohort of students from diverse backgrounds who share an interest in health and development in cultural context;
• Access to CHHD faculty advisors from participating departments at the University of Connecticut as well as other universities in the US and elsewhere;
• Opportunities to learn about and work on CHHD Affiliated Research Projects;
• Guidance in carrying out a research project of publishable quality;
• The CHHD Graduate Certificate itself, which will be noted on the student's academic transcript.

The requirements for the CHHD Graduate Certificate Program include the CHHD Seminar, offered each spring semester and featuring a series of speakers from several disciplinary perspectives, as well as the CHHD research project and three other courses as approved by the Director of the program and the student’s CHHD faculty mentors.  The Seminar is the beginning of the sequence and serves as an introduction to basic concepts and current research in the interdiscipline.  Students may request admission to the program before or following the seminar.  Upon admission, the student develops a CHHD plan of study and research project in consultation with the Director and faculty mentors.  The project, which extends the student’s research experience beyond the home department, should be designed to be completed within one or two consecutive semesters, during which the student enrolls in the CHHD Project Seminar.  The Certificate is awarded at the end of the semester in which the student has completed all requirements, including presentation of the project to CHHD students and faculty.  Funding to help support travel to present the project at a scientific meeting is available, with consent of the Director, normally for any time within 12 months of receiving the CHHD Graduate Certificate.