 |
|
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
||||
 |
|
 |
||
 |
||||
|
||||
 |
||||
|
||||
 |
||||
 |
||||
 |
||||
|
||||
 |
||||
|
||||
 |
||||
|
||||
 |
||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
|||||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||
Health and Community
Intro Page Itinerary
CURRICULUM
16 CREDITS / COURSES:
• Globalization and Health
• Health, Culture and Community
• Public Health: From Biology to Policy
• Community Health Research Methods
Globalization and Health
(four credits)
Syllabus
Nations at all levels of development vary in their commitment and capacity to define health care as a human right and provide health care to their citizens equitably. Some have created systems to provide basic health care, yet struggle with other factors that influence health, while others position health care as an economic commodity subject to market forces, This course provices a framework for comparing the organization and financing of health systems and health policy-making across the countries visited. It examines the political economy of health, with special attention to the impact of international governance, economic and trade policies. Students gain skills in critical thinking, policy analysis and debate, supported by research, observation and exposure to varied perspectives among in-country experts.
back to top
Health, Culture and Community
(Previously referred to as "Culture and Health Care: Systems and People")
(four credits)
Syllabus
Medical anthropology serves as the theoretical foundation for this course. It seeks to strengthen students' ability to understand, interpret, and compare how personal and community identity, health and well-being, illness, and healing are understood within diverse cultural contexts. The course examines the philosophy and practices characteristic of biomedicine and a wide range of traditional and other systems of health and healing, as well as the reality of medical pluralism in the lives of individuals. In so doing, the course covers themes of health and healing pertinent across the life span—from birth to death. Throughout, students are encouraged to support their comparative understanding with an exploration of their own assumptions and practices related to identity, health and healing.
back to top
Public Health: From Biology to Policy
(Previously referred to as "The Stuff of Life: Biology, Behavior and Society")
(four credits)
Syllabus
This course begins with an overview of global and national health trends in the context of demographic shifts and development. In each country visited, a significant health condition will be addressed: What are the biologic mechanisms of disease? How is the disease distributed in the country's populations? What public health interventions are supported by empirical evidence? In light of social, cultural, economic and political conditions, how can such evidence be applied in the local context? Specific considerations studied will range from infectious to "lifestyle" and chronic illnesses, e.g., diarrheal diseases of early childhood, adult mental health, cervical cancer, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis.
back to top
Community Health Research Methods
(four credits)
Syllabus
This course seeks to strengthen students' competence in inquiry-guided learning through field-based case studies. The course begins with an introduction to the philosophic traditions of ethnography, epidemiology, and health services research—complementary and sometimes conflicting. It then teaches and gives students the opportunity to apply the chief tools of each tradition (e.g., participant observation, in depth interviewing, community surveys, mapping, interpreting data analyses, and oral presentation of findings.) In each country, students will choose from a range of available field case study topics/sites as the primary venue for demonstrating their field research and presentation skills.
back to top
