Philip A. Belcastro
Professor
Health Education
EMAIL: pbelcastro@bmcc.cuny.edu
Office: N-799P
Office Hours:
Phone: +1 (212) 220-1455
Professor Philip A. Belcastro is Chair of the Borough of Manhattan Community College, City University of New York (BMCC/CUNY) Health Education department. He has published over 26 refereed professional articles, rendered 39 professional presentations at national and international health and medical conferences and amassed 39 years of teaching, administration and curriculum development experience at the primary, secondary, undergraduate and graduate level.
Professor Belcastro has also held administrative roles in two state education departments, served as an elected School Board Trustee in Rockland County, New York and co-authored a widely used college textbook, Connections for Health, which is now in its fourth edition.
“The personal reward in being a health educator,” Belcastro says, “is making life more satisfying, promising and healthy for every person you encounter.” His research in the field is documented most recently in an article he co-authored, “Investigating the Association of Health Literacy with Health Knowledge and Health Behavior Outcomes in a Sample of Urban Community College Undergraduates,” which appears in the American Journal of Health Education.
Belcastro’s higher education service has included membership in external CUNY committees including the CUNY/University Faculty Governance Leaders Council (2008 to 2012), and the CUNY Council of Chairpersons of Health Disciplines, 2006 to present.
Within BMCC, Belcastro has served as chairperson of the Academic Senate and was appointed chairperson of both the Middle States Evaluation Committee and BMCC Curriculum Committee. He holds a New York State Education Department Permanent Teaching Certification in Health Education and has advised doctoral and master’s degree candidates in their research ranging from stress reduction programs to attitudes about abortion.
Expertise
Human Sexuality
Degrees
- Ph.D. Ohio State University, Health Education,
- M.A. Western Kentucky University, Health Education,
- B.A. Brooklyn College, CUNY, Health Education,
- A.A. Kingsborough Community College, CUNY, Liberal Arts,
Courses Taught
- This course examines the use of licit and illicit drugs across cultures within the context of personal health and wellness. The historical, pharmacodynamics, psychological, emotional and social aspects of licit and illicit drug use, as well as drug abuse, will serve as the foundation for this examination.
- This course deals with the physiological, psychological and social aspects of human sexual development and functions.
- Historical events and contemporary factors affecting the availability, control, and monitoring of American Health Care products and services are explored. Such factors include: the private and public financing of health care, public and private monitoring of health care; and the ethical issues of medical care in America. The purpose of the course is not to advocate any particular health care philosophy, product or service, but to provide the student with the skills and factual base for making informed decisions in the health care marketplace.
Research and Projects
Publications
Textbooks
Mullen, K., Gold, R., Belcastro, P., & McDermott, R. (1996) Connections for health. Dubuque: W.C. Brown. Fourth Edition.
Mullen, K., Gold, R., Belcastro, P., & McDermott, R. (1993) Connections for health. Dubuque: W.C. Brown. Third Edition.
Mullen, K., Gold, R., Belcastro, P., & McDermott, R. (1990) Connections for health. Dubuque: W.C. Brown. Second Edition.
Mullen, K., Gold, R., Belcastro, P., & McDermott, R. (1986) Connections For Health. Dubuque: W.C. Brown.
Belcastro, P.A. (1986). The birth-control book. Boston: Jones and Bartlett Publishers, Inc.
Book Chapters
Belcastro, P.A., & Hansen, H.R. (2020). Acculturation contradictions in the health and sexual behavior of US. immigrant populations. In A. Bonsaint (Ed.). Immigrant students: perspectives, opportunities and challenges (pp. 109-127). Nova Science Publishers. ISBN: 978-1-53618-451-8.
Refereed Articles In Professional Journals
Belcastro, P.A. (2022), Rethinking three decades of ascribing offspring’s precocious and high-risk sexual behavior to absentee father parenting households. Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health, 6(250). DOI: 10.29011/2577-2228.100250
Belcastro, P.A. (2022). Reexamining the risk of offspring sexual assault in households parented exclusively by biological fathers. Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health, 6(249). DOI: 10.29011/2577-2228.100249
Belcastro, P.A. (2021). Divergence in the fecundation intent and pregnancy outcome experience of undergraduate men. Reports on Global Health Research, 4(134). DOI: 10.29011/2690-9480.100134
Belcastro, P.A. (2021). An examination of sexual practice experience of female sexual assault victims. Reports on Global Health Research, 4(133). DOI: 10.29011/2690- 9480.100133
Belcastro, P.A. (2020). Reconciling female homoerotism in sexual orientation paradigms. Reports on Global Health Research, 3(111). DOI: 10.29011/RGHR-111.100011
Belcastro, P.A., & Hansen, H.R. (2018). Examining the sexual enigma of the immigrant paradox. Journal of International Students, 8(4), 1783–1814.
Belcastro, P.A., & Hansen, H.R. (2017). Addressing the antinomy between health education and health literacy in advancing personal health and public health outcomes. Journal of School Health, 46(5), 968-974.
Hansen, H.R., Shneyderman, Y. & Belcastro, P.A. (2015). Investigating the association of health literacy with health knowledge and health behavior: Outcomes in a sample of urban community college undergraduates. American Journal of Health Education, 46(5), 274-282.
Belcastro, P. A., Gramlich, T., Nicholson, T., Price, J., & Wilson, R. (1993). A review of data-based studies addressing the affects of homosexual parenting on children’s sexual and social functioning. Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, 20(1-2), 105-122.
Belcastro, P.A. (1991). Pedagogical patronizing of the pharmacodynamic promises of illicit drugs. Journal of Drug Education, 22(1), 9-13.
