Certificate Programs

The Global Health Certificate provides students with broad-based knowledge in global health, and can serve as a valuable qualification and differentiator in an increasingly competitive job market. Awarded through the UCLA Center for Global and Immigrant Health, the certificate is open to any graduate or professional student at UCLA. In conferring the certificate, UCLA Fielding recognizes a student’s capacity to work as a public health or health care professional with a global health perspective.

To earn the certificate, students:

• Take courses related to global health
• Complete an international fieldwork experience
• Complete a departmental project on a global health topic
• Attend two global health seminars at UCLA

The UCLA Center for Global and Immigrant Health will award a certificate in Global Health to any graduate or professional student who meets all of the following requirements:

• Completes CHS 200 or HPM 240 (see global health courses for course descriptions)
• Completes Certification from the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) Program [or EPI 273 for previous cohorts]
• Completes at least 12 additional units with global health content (see global health courses for a list of electives). Students can also submit electives not included in this list for approval.
• Completes an international experience (at least 10 weeks in a lower/middle income country) and a five-page analytical paper on this experience 
• Completes a five-page capstone paper describing how the Global Health Certificate program integrates with the student’s graduate studies, how it amplifies their understanding of one or more of the global health competencies, and how these competencies are likely to influence their professional career
• Attends at least two Global Health lunchtime lectures or other lectures sponsored by the UCLA Center for Global and Immigrant Health, UCLA Fielding, or the UCLA Center for World Health

The Global Health Certificate is only available to graduate or professional students who are currently enrolled in study at UCLA. 

To Apply 

Once all requirements for the certificate have been completed, the following must be submitted:

• Completed application 
• Transcript (unofficial is OK)
• Copy of Global Health Departmental Project
• Two signed Global Health Lecture forms

Contact

Learn more and submit an application: globalhealth@ph.ucla.edu

The UCLA Bixby Center on Population and Reproductive Health awards certificates to graduating Master's students at the Fielding School of Public Health who develop expertise via coursework and fieldwork focused on population, sexual, and reproductive health.

• A person certified as a Registered Environmental Health Specialist works to improve the quality of life and health through environmental education, consultation, and enforcement.  
• Students interested in completing the requirements for REHS take specific electives and core requirements while in the program.
• This certification program is open to students in the MPH program in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at UCLA Fielding.

The Leaders in Sustainability certificate program is aimed at graduate students (master's and doctoral) who will:

• Become decision-makers in various types of organizations (businesses, non-profits, governmental, etc.) and
• Address the three dimensions of sustainability  

The emphasis is open to all graduate students at UCLA.

"Food is our common ground, a universal experience."
— James Beard

Food is integral to life. In addition to playing a role in human health and development, food relates to the environmental, economic, and cultural aspects of our society. As a result, it has become a subject of interest and inquiry in multiple disciplines including agriculture, anthropology, geography, humanities, law, nutrition, psychology, public health, public policy, and other natural and social sciences.

With food security and environmental sustainability becoming increasing global concerns, there is an urgency to educate the next generation of leaders. The Food Studies Graduate Certificate Program offers UCLA PhD, MA, MS, and professional school students the opportunity to investigate this growing field through an interdisciplinary curriculum. The program will prepare students from diverse disciplines to address complex topics in food cultures and histories, nutrition and public health, food policy and food justice, and urban planning and the environment.

Now Accepting Applications

All graduate and professional school students currently enrolled at UCLA with a cumulative GPA of at least 3.5 are eligible to apply for participation in this certificate program. Admission is based on academic and professional performance and a statement of interest in food issues and interdisciplinary learning approaches. The application period is open now! The extended deadline to apply is March 31, 2023 at 5:00 PM PT. On average, about 20 students will be admitted to the program each year.

Application Steps:

1. Complete the UCLA Food Studies Graduate Certificate Program Application Form
2. Gather your resume/CV and unofficial transcript(s)
3. Submit your application form, resume/CV, and unofficial transcript(s) as PDFs through this portal.

Certificate Requirements

Course Requirements

Students must complete 16 units of graduate coursework to earn the certificate: the food studies core course, COM HLT M217/URBN PL M216, and three additional four-unit courses selected from at least two of the three subject areas below. Students must obtain at least a B in all courses that will be used to satisfy the certificate requirements.

Core Course (required)

• COM HLT M217/URBN PL M216: Current Issues in Food Studies (Food Studies Graduate Certificate Colloquium)

Food Policy and Food Systems

• COM HLT 448: Nutrition Policies and Programs: Domestic and International Perspectives
• ENV HLT 216: Planetary Health: Consequences of Environmental Change for Human Health
• LAW 308: Animals and the Law
• LAW 440: Introduction to Food Law and Policy
• LAW 508: Food Law and Policy Seminar LAW 615: Ocean and Coastal Law and Policy
• LAW 693: Food Litigation: Consumer Protection, Regulation, and Class Actions
• LAW 775: Food Law and Policy Clinic
• LAW 912: City Food Policy
• URBN PL 262: Urban Environmental Problems: Water Resources
• URBN PL 265C: Food Systems
• URBN PL 269: A Percent Solution: The Making of a Modern Food System
• URBN PL 269: A Good Food System: Movement or Moment?
• PUB PLC X 478: Sustainable Food and Agriculture (Offered through UCLA Extension only)

Nutritional Science

• COM HLT 231: Maternal and Child Nutrition
• COM HLT 276: Complementary and Alternative Medicine
• COM HLT 444: Assessment of Family Nutrition
• COM HLT 444: Anthropometric and Dietary Aspects of Nutritional Assessment
• COM HLT 449: Nutrition and Chronic Disease
• HLT POL M255/COM HLT M234: Obesity, Physical Activity, and Nutrition Seminar
• EPI 241: Epidemiology of Obesity and Diabetes
• EPI M254/COM HLT M251: Nutritional Epidemiology I

Social and Cultural Aspects of Food

• COM HLT 224: Social Determinants of Nutrition and Health
• COM HLT M264/LATN AM M264: Latin America: Traditional Medicine, Shamanism, and Folk Illness
• ANTHRO M233R/COM HLT M260: Health and Culture
• OB 229B: Anthropological Perspectives on Global Health
• ENGL 260: Studies in Literature and its Relationship to Arts and Sciences
• HIST C201H: Asian American Culture, Cuisine, and Economy
• HIST 596 (w/ HIST 101): Cultural History of Food in Atlantic World
• LAW 960: Rights to Food and Global Food Justice

2022-2023 Schedule of Classes

Check back soon!

Exit Survey

The exit survey is for current students in the UCLA Food Studies Graduate Certificate Program who intend to graduate in Spring 2023. The exit survey is mandatory and used to confirm that current students have met all of the program requirements. The exit survey will become available in April 2023.

FAQ

1. May I apply courses that were taken before being admitted to the certificate program?
   Yes. Any course, on the approved list, that is taken before admission to the certificate program may be counted towards the certificate.
    
2. May I use a course that is not on the approved list
   Possibly. You may petition to use a course that is not on the approved list. To submit a petition send the course syllabus to foodstudies@ph.ucla.edu.
    
3. Will I be able to use the certificate courses towards my degree requirements?
   Generally yes. According to University policy, courses used towards a certificate program may also be applied to degree requirements. Department policy may vary so please check with your departmental staff or faculty adviser.
    
4. Are certificate students required to take 4 classes or 16 units?
   Students are required to take a minimum of 16 units worth of coursework to earn the certificate.
    
5. Can I take the core class or electives pass/no pass
   Students enrolled in the certificate program must take the core and elective classes for a letter grade (unless the class is only offered pass/no pass) and receive a B or better.
    
6. Will completion of the Food Studies Graduate Certificate Program appear on my UCLA transcript?
   No. After graduation from the program, you will receive an official certificate recognized by UCLA. However, completion of the certificate program will not appear on your UCLA transcript.

If you have additional questions, the program is happy to help. Please contact foodstudies@ph.ucla.edu.

Food Studies Events & Opportunities

Upcoming Events

• None, but check back soon!

Past Events

• Panel: Careers in Food Studies (5/13/2021). See the recording of the panel here.
• Gather: Documentary Screening + Panel Discussion (2/26/2021). See the recording of the panel discussion here.
• Guest Lecture with Dr. Kevin Yelvington: Wine Capitalism: Accumulation Through Tourism, Social Metabolism, Fetishism, and the State in Southern California Wine Country (12/1/2020). See the recording here.
• Guest Lecture with Dr. Brian J. Griffith: Wine, Politics, and Identity in Fascist Italy (11/17/2020). See the recording here.
• Networking Event: Careers in Food Studies (2/25/2020).
• Documentary Screening: Rotten: A Netlfix Original Series (1/22/2020).

Food Studies Resources

UCLA On-Campus Resources

• Semel Healthy Campus Initiative Center
• Healthy Campus Initiative: EatWell
• Resnick Program for Food Law & Policy
• Food Law Society at UCLA
• GSA – Sustainable Resource Center
• UCLA Community Supported Agriculture Pick Up
• Public Health Nutrition Club
• Built Environment and Public Health Council
• HCI Community Garden

Research Resources

• Food Studies Certificate Resource Guide
• Food Studies Online

Additional Resources

• University of California Global Food Initiative
• Los Angeles Food Policy Council
• Berkeley Food Institute