摘要：The University of Massachusetts Amherst is part of Five-Colleges Inc, a consortium that includes the university and four liberal arts colleges. Consortium faculty from the School of Public Health and Health Sciences at the university and from the colleges are working to bridge liberal arts with public health graduate education. We outline four key themes guiding this effort and exemplary curricular tools for innovative community-based and multidisciplinary academic and research programs. The structure of the consortium has created a novel trajectory for student learning and engagement, with important ramifications for pedagogy and professional practice in public health. We show how graduate public health education and liberal arts can, and must, work in tandem to transform public health practice in the 21st century. In recent years, there has been a surge of student interest in global health, public health, and health disparities. Universities are responding with an increase in the number of accredited schools of public health, and universities and colleges, including liberal arts colleges, are creating new undergraduate majors and minors in public health. Recognizing the importance of culture, social structure, and politics to health issues, major research entities such as the National Institutes of Health, graduate programs in public health, and new undergraduate programs are seeking integrative and multidisciplinary approaches to research and education that take into account the social and behavioral sciences and the humanities. The School of Public Health and Health Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass) has actively taken up the challenge to create vital links between the liberal arts and public health graduate education and practice. The School of Public Health and Health Sciences offers a Bachelor of Science degree in public health in addition to Master of Public Health, Master of Science, and doctorate degrees. UMass is also part of the Five Colleges Inc (Five Colleges), a consortium that includes four liberal arts colleges: Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, and Smith. Consortium faculty based in the undergraduate Five College Culture, Health, and Science (CHS) Program received Mellon Foundation support to further develop and promote an innovative academic and research program that bridges liberal arts and professional and graduate public health education. Consortium bridging efforts are an exemplary platform for innovation at all levels of higher education and practice. We articulate core themes and provide examples of curricular tools that substantiate linkages between public health and the liberal arts.
