Global Health Studies

globalhealthstudies.northwestern.edu

Global health is of concern to individuals working in public and international policy, public health and medical professions, industry, commerce, engineering, disaster management, environmental sustainability and international agencies. Addressing challenging global health issues requires not only financial resources but, more importantly, a deep understanding of context: how cultural, social, economic, historical political, domestic and global realities affect the design and implementation of interventions meant to expand access to health and wellbeing.

The Program in Global Health Studies offers an adjunct major and a minor designed to provide the critical thinking and analytical skills necessary for addressing complex health issues at home and abroad. The curriculum focuses not only on the status of public and clinical health systems, but also on health disparities and inequities that lead to differential health outcomes.

As an inherently interdisciplinary program, Global Health Studies combines insights from history, anthropology, sociology, public health, political science, public policy, demography, epidemiology, engineering, environmental studies, international relations, and psychology to offer students multiple lenses through which to critically reflect upon and learn meaningful means to address some of the world’s greatest challenges.

GBL_HLTH 201-0 Introduction to Global Health (1 Unit)   Introduces students to pressing disease and health care problems worldwide. The course identifies the main actors, institutions, practices, and forms of knowledge production characteristic of what we call "global health" today, and explores the factors that shape patterns and experiences of illness and healthcare across societies. Global Perspectives on Power, Justice, and Equity Social Behavioral Sciences Distro Area Social and Behavioral Science Foundational Discipl

GBL_HLTH 222-0 The Social Determinants of Health (1 Unit)   Advanced introduction to socioeconomic, political, and cultural determinants of health disparities between social groups and categories. Case studies from the United States, South Africa, and Brazil. Social Behavioral Sciences Distro Area Social and Behavioral Science Foundational Discipl

GBL_HLTH 302-0 Global Bioethics (1 Unit)   Global health is a popular field of work and study for Americans, but though entered with the best of intentions, the work is beset with ethical questions, concerns, and dilemmas. In this course, students will assess emblematic ethical challenges in global health and consider approaches to addressing them. Ethical and Evaluative Thinking Foundational Disci Ethics Values Distro Area Global Perspectives on Power, Justice, and Equity

GBL_HLTH 306-0 Biomedicine and Culture (1 Unit)   Comparative exploration of biomedical cultures in different contexts, both in the U.S. and other countries. This course covers how biomedicine intersects with technology, consumerism, politics, economics, culture, power, and place. It further investigates the possibilities and limitations of biomedicine across the globe, particularly regarding how biomedical cultures affect and are affected by patients and health care workers. Global Perspectives on Power, Justice, and Equity Social Behavioral Sciences Distro Area Social and Behavioral Science Foundational Discipl

GBL_HLTH 307-0 International Perspectives on Mental Health (1 Unit)   Cross-cultural and international perspectives on mental health issues and examination of the impact of psychological illness on the global burden of disease. Social Behavioral Sciences Distro Area

GBL_HLTH 309-0 Biomedicine and World History (1 Unit)   Course covers four centuries, focusing especially on the power of disease and the limits of global health governance. It explains how different medical professions became dominant, why drug industries secured monopolies, and what effects these changes had on other medical cultures. GBL_HLTH 309-0 and HISTORY 379-0 are taught together; may not receive credit for both courses. Advanced Expression Global Perspectives on Power, Justice, and Equity Historical Studies Distro Area Historical Studies Foundational Discipline Social Behavioral Sciences Distro Area Social and Behavioral Science Foundational Discipl

GBL_HLTH 310-1 Supervised Global Health Research (1 Unit)   Majors and minors are encouraged to do supervised public health research on campus and abroad. Students receive elective credit for this course only when taught abroad, however.

GBL_HLTH 310-SA Supervised Global Health Research (1 Unit)   Majors and minors are encouraged to do supervised public health research on campus and abroad. Students receive elective credit for this course only when taught abroad, however.

GBL_HLTH 311-SA Health Care Systems in Europe and the United States (1 Unit)   Provides students with an understanding of the various ways in which health care systems are organized in European countries, the problems they face, and the reforms implemented or proposed at the national and EU levels. Restricted to students in Northwestern's Paris program.

GBL_HLTH 312-SA Public Health in Europe: Issues and Policies (1 Unit)   Examines issues and debates on health policy in France and the EU, including primary health issues, health insurance, health inequalities, HIV/AIDS, SARS, elderly care, and genetically modified organisms. Lectures are supplemented by visits to relevant sites. Restricted to students in Northwestern's Paris program.

GBL_HLTH 313-SA International Organizations and Health: A Research Seminar (1 Unit)   Students design team research projects, learn about research methodology, discuss their research progress, and present findings. Restricted to students in Northwestern's Paris program.

GBL_HLTH 314-SA Health and Community Development in South Africa (1 Unit)   Health-related issues confronting South Africa, their social and economic impact, efforts to address them. Apartheid and post-transition policies. Demographics, prevention, and treatment of both infectious and chronic non-communicable diseases. Restricted to students in Northwestern's South Africa program.

GBL_HLTH 315-SA Public Health in South Africa (1 Unit)   Context of and responses to public health issues in South Africa, including HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malnutrition and poverty, psychosocial rehabilitation, and environmental and occupational health. Lectures are supplemented by visits to relevant sites. Restricted to students in Northwestern's South Africa program. Social Behavioral Sciences Distro Area

GBL_HLTH 316-SA Development Perspectives on Health in South Africa Through Community Engagement (1 Unit)   Reflection on service-learning experiences at community organizations in relation to theories of international development and global health. Focus on how health-related issues, including HIV/ AIDS, malnutrition, poverty, the environment, occupational health, and gender, impact development. Restricted to students in Northwestern's South Africa program. Social Behavioral Sciences Distro Area

GBL_HLTH 318-0 Community-based Participatory Research Course (1 Unit)   Oftentimes we hear of research done on communities. Community-based participatory research (CBPR) is a research paradigm that challenge researchers to conducted research with communities. In this reading intense discussion-based course, we will learn the historical and theoretical foundations, and the key principles of CBPR. Social Behavioral Sciences Distro Area Social and Behavioral Science Foundational Discipl U.S. Perspectives on Power, Justice, and Equity

GBL_HLTH 319-0 Trauma and its Afterlives (1 Unit)   This course draws on perspectives from anthropology, related social scientific fields, and the humanities to provide a critical introduction to psychological trauma and its increasingly significant place in contemporary global health discourses and agendas. Social Behavioral Sciences Distro Area Social and Behavioral Science Foundational Discipl

GBL_HLTH 320-0 Qualitative Research Methods in Global Health (1 Unit)   This course emphasizes research skills acquisition in a practical manner. Topics include how to design, conduct, analyze and write up qualitative ethnographic research. The course covers research methodologies, ethics and Institutional Review Boards, and ethnographic field methods such as participant observation, qualitative interviewing, life histories, focus groups, data coding and analysis. Students acquire research skills while receiving significant feedback throughout. Social Behavioral Sciences Distro Area Social and Behavioral Science Foundational Discipl

GBL_HLTH 321-0 War and Public Health (1 Unit)   Comparative overview of the impact of armed conflict on public health and healthcare delivery worldwide. Historical and contemporary case studies. Specific health needs of refugees and vulnerable populations. Ethics Values Distro Area Global Perspectives on Power, Justice, and Equity Interdisciplinary Distro - See Rules Social Behavioral Sciences Distro Area Social and Behavioral Science Foundational Discipl

GBL_HLTH 323-0 Global Health from Policy to Practice (1 Unit)   Examines global health and development policy, from the politics of policy-making to the impacts of policy on global health practice and local realities. This course highlights the histories and material, political, and social realities of policy and its application. The course draws on case studies of policy makers, economists, public officials, health care workers, and aid recipients. Global Perspectives on Power, Justice, and Equity Social Behavioral Sciences Distro Area Social and Behavioral Science Foundational Discipl

GBL_HLTH 324-0 Volunteerism and the Ethics of Help (1 Unit)   Explores the ethics of altruism through the discourses and practices that make up volunteering, from the perspectives of volunteers, hosts, and a range of others both promoting and critiquing volunteerism. What motivates people to volunteer among strangers or in unfamiliar contexts? What are the implications for volunteers, and communities and institutions where foreign volunteering takes place? Ethical and Evaluative Thinking Foundational Disci Ethics Values Distro Area Global Perspectives on Power, Justice, and Equity

GBL_HLTH 325-0 History of Reproductive Health (1 Unit)   This course concerns the history of human reproduction from multiple vantage points. Since reproduction is often about power, the course is framed around the distribution of power in matters of reproduction; as such we will pay particular attention during this class to struggles over matters of reproduction as we explore historical changes and continuities in reproduction globally since 1900. Global Perspectives on Power, Justice, and Equity Historical Studies Distro Area Historical Studies Foundational Discipline

GBL_HLTH 332-SA Public Health in China (1 Unit)   Examination of China's public health system. Focus on role of government, emerging environmental problems, food safety, and prevalent communicable and non-communicable diseases. Restricted to students in Northwestern's China program. Social Behavioral Sciences Distro Area

GBL_HLTH 333-SA Traditional Chinese Medicine (1 Unit)   Introduces traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) principles and methods as they relate to Chinese culture and philosophy, including TCM diagnostics and therapies. Compares and discusses integration of TCM and Western medicine. Restricted to students in Northwestern's China program. Social Behavioral Sciences Distro Area

GBL_HLTH 337-0 Hazard, Disaster and Society (1 Unit)   This course examines how socioeconomic and environmental factors work together to cause hazards and disasters in human society. In this course, we learn the main concepts about disasters, such as preparedness, vulnerability, resilience, response, mitigation, etc. We learn that a disaster does not have the same effect on everyone, and factors of social inequality such as race, ethnicity, class, and gender make people more vulnerable to the impacts of disasters. ENVR_POL 337-0 and GBL_HLTH 337-0 are taught together; students may not receive credit for both. Global Perspectives on Power, Justice, and Equity Social Behavioral Sciences Distro Area Social and Behavioral Science Foundational Discipl

GBL_HLTH 338-0 Environmental Justice (1 Unit)   This course examines how environmental problems reflect and exacerbate social inequality. In this course, we learn the definition of environmental (in)justice, the history of environmental justice and discuss examples of environmental justice. We will learn about environmental movements and local resistance to protect natural resources. ENVR_POL 338-0 and GBL_HLTH 338-0 are taught together; students may not receive credit for both. Global Perspectives on Power, Justice, and Equity Social Behavioral Sciences Distro Area Social and Behavioral Science Foundational Discipl

GBL_HLTH 340-0 Mental Health and the Arts (1 Unit)   This course explores the role of the arts in shaping experiences of mental health and illness around the world. We will consider forms of storytelling across eras and cultures, tracking shifts in perspectives on normality and their consequences. What role can the arts play in healing? Where is the line between positive and exploitative representation of trauma and mental illness? Advanced Expression Social Behavioral Sciences Distro Area Social and Behavioral Science Foundational Discipl

GBL_HLTH 357-0 Biocultural Perspectives on Water Insecurity (1 Unit)   Explore many ways that water impacts humans around the world through the lens of anthropology, religion, biology, environment, and politics. Why do individual’s experiences with water differ? How does water insecurity manifest? How do we measure it? How do we solve it? ANTHRO 357-0 and GBL_HLTH 357-0 are taught together; students may not receive credit for both. Social and Behavioral Science Foundational Discipl

GBL_HLTH 390-0 Special Topics in Global Health (1 Unit)  

Advanced work in areas of developing interest and special significance. Can be repeated for credit with a different topic. Offered on campus and on Northwestern programs abroad. Recent courses include Ecology of Infant Feeding, Native American Health, and Public Health and Mental Health in Serbia.

GBL_HLTH 390-SA Special Topics in Global Health (1 Unit)   Advanced work in areas of developing interest and special significance. Can be repeated for credit with a different topic. Offered on campus and on Northwestern programs abroad. Recent courses include Ecology of Infant Feeding, Native American Health, and Public Health and Mental Health in Serbia.

GBL_HLTH 399-0 Independent Study (1 Unit)   Advanced work under faculty supervision. May be taken twice for credit but does not count toward the core or elective requirements. Prerequisite: department consent.