Today is the first day of classes here at The University of Michigan, and thus I begin my two-year adventure as a Masters of Public Health in the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education. Given my recent work, this may seem a bit contradictory. But I feel that if I'm going to engage in a serious critique of the field, I should get intimately familiar with its teachings.

So here I go! I just wrapped up my first seminar -- at the ungodly hour of 8:30 AM -- on HIV/AIDS. The professor began with the usual epi data, but moved on to a bit of Goffman, Foucault, and stigma. Hey, things are looking up!