Global Health Studies Adjunct Major

Students must also complete the Undergraduate Registration Requirement and the degree requirements of their home school.

NOTE: This Catalog describes Weinberg College BA requirements that pertain to students who matriculated at Northwestern after spring quarter 2023. Refer to the Archives if you are following BA requirements described in the 2018-2019 through 2022-2023 editions.

Course Title
Adjunct Major Requirements (11 units)
4 core courses:
GBL_HLTH 201-0
Introduction to Global Health
GBL_HLTH 302-0
Global Bioethics
GBL_HLTH 222-0
The Social Determinants of Health
or GBL_HLTH 309-0
 Biomedicine and World History
or GBL_HLTH 322-0
 Global Epidemics
or GBL_HLTH 325-0
 History of Reproductive Health
or GBL_HLTH 327-0
 Infectious Disease Eradication
choice of one methods core course (one of these three, or see footnote): 1
GBL_HLTH 320-0
Qualitative Research Methods in Global Health
or GBL_HLTH 303-0
 (Re)mixing Qualitative Methods
or GBL_HLTH 318-0
 Community-based Participatory Research Course
3 additional GBL_HLTH courses, no more than 1 at the 200-level 2
4 elective courses, no more than 1 at the 200-level. Elective credits can be fulfilled by pre-approved health-related courses from various departments, as listed on the GHS major page and program website. Up to two courses taken abroad can be counted as electives provided they are NU or NU-affiliated study abroad programs and the courses have been pre-approved for GHS elective credit. Study abroad courses taken that are not NU-affiliated need prior approval from the DUS.
1

The methods course requirement can be fulfilled by GBL_HLTH 390-0 when offered as Quantitative Methods: Turning numbers into a Story. If Community Based Participatory Research was taken prior to Spring 2023 as a topic under GBL_HLTH 390-0 rather than GBL_HLTH 318-0, that may also be applied. So too if (Re)mixing Qualitative Methods was taken prior to Fall 2024 as a topic under GBL_HLTH 390-0 rather than GBL_HLTH 303-0, that may also be applied.

2

GBL_HLTH 399-0 Independent Study and courses taken abroad (GBL_HLTH 3XX-SA) may not be counted toward this requirement.

Note:

  • Students may elect to study abroad as part of their Global Health Studies curriculum.  
  • All adjunct majors require completion of a stand-alone major as well.

Approved elective courses (students may take courses from more than one subject area)

Anthropology

Course Title
ANTHRO 221-0Social and Health Inequalities
ANTHRO 306-0Evolution of Life Histories
ANTHRO 312-0Human Population Biology
ANTHRO 314-0Human Growth & Development
ANTHRO 315-0Medical Anthropology
ANTHRO 332-0The Anthropology of Reproduction
ANTHRO 359-0The Human Microbiome and Health
ANTHRO 386-0Methods in Human Biology Research

Biological Sciences

Course Title
BIOL_SCI 310-0Human Physiology
BIOL_SCI 327-0Biology of Aging
BIOL_SCI 337-0Biostatistics
BIOL_SCI 341-0Population Genetics
BIOL_SCI 355-0Immunobiology
BIOL_SCI 377-0The Human Microbiome
BIOL_SCI 380-0Biology of Cancer

Chemistry

Course Title
CHEM 306-0Environmental Chemistry
CHEM 316-0Medicinal Chemistry: the Organic Chemistry of Drug Design and Action
CHEM 393-0Green Chemistry

Communications

Course Title
COMM_ST 246-0Intro to Health Communication
COMM_ST 339-0Health Communication and Precision Medicine

Economics

Course Title
ECON 307-0Economics of Medical Care

Engineering

Course Title
BMD_ENG 304-0Quantitative Systems Physiology
BMD_ENG 325-0Introduction to Medical Imaging
BMD_ENG 343-0Biomaterials and Medical Devices
BMD_ENG 380-0Medical Devices, Disease & Global Health
CHEM_ENG 373-0Biotechnology and Global Health
CHEM_ENG 382-0Regulatory Sciences in Biotechnology
CIV_ENV 361-2Public & Environmental Health
IEMS 385-0Introduction to Health Systems Management

English

Course Title
ENGLISH 381-0Literature & Medicine

Field Studies

Course Title
CFS 391-0Field Studies in Social Justice
CFS 392-0Field Studies in Public Health
CFS 397-0Field Studies in Civic Engagement

French

Course Title
FRENCH 309-0French For Professions (Healthcare)

Gender Studies

Course Title
GNDR_ST 331-0Sociology of Gender and Sexuality (Gender, Health, & Medicine)

History

Course Title
HISTORY 275-1History of Early Modern Science and Medicine
HISTORY 275-2History of Modern Science and Medicine
HISTORY 352-0A Global History of Death and Dying

Humanities

Course Title
HUM 220-0Health, Biomedicine, Culture, and Society
or SOCIOL 220-0 Health, Biomedicine, Culture, and Society

International Studies

Course Title
INTL_ST 393-0Development in the Global Context: Participation, Power, and Social Change

Neuroscience

Course Title
NEUROSCI 303-0Molecular Mechanisms of Neuropsychopharmacology

Philosophy

Course Title
PHIL 269-0Bioethics
PHIL 326-0Topics in Philosophy of Medicine

Psychology

Course Title
PSYCH 303-0Psychopathology
PSYCH 341-0Positive Psychology: The Science of Well-Being

Public Health

Course Title
PUB_HLTH 302-0Introduction to Biostatistics
PUB_HLTH 304-0Introduction to Epidemiology
PUB_HLTH 391-0Global Health Care Service Delivery

SESP

Course Title
SOC_POL 333-0Economics of Health, Human Capital, and Happiness

Sociology

Course Title
SOCIOL 220-0Health, Biomedicine, Culture, and Society
or HUM 220-0 Health, Biomedicine, Culture, and Society
SOCIOL 320-0Gender, Health, and Medicine

Spanish

Course Title
SPANISH 205-0Spanish for Professions: Health Care

Additional info

A maximum of two Chicago Field Studies credits can used for Global Health Studies elective credit.

Global Health Studies classes may not be used for elective credit towards a GHS adjunct major.

Depending on the topic, other occasional courses may also be used as electives including AMER_ST 310-0, ANTHRO 390-0, ASIAN_AM 303-0, ASIAN_AM 360-0 , COMM_ST 395-0, GNDR_ST 332-0, GNDR_ST 390-0, HISTORY 300-0 , HUM 370-5 , MENA 390-3, NEUROSCI 390-0 , RELIGION 345-0, and RELIGION 349-0. For more details and an up-to-date listing of courses, consult the Global Health Studies website or email the program.