Contemporary Issues in Global Health

Catalog description

This course focuses on how social, political, and economic forces--increasingly global in nature-- influence how biomedical diseases are experienced, understood, and treated. The course covers topics such as structural violence, narratives of illness, and global pharmaceuticals. The larger approach in the course is that of medical anthropology, where disease, health, and treatment are understood in their social contexts. As we explore how people in different global contexts confront and are affected by disease, poverty, and unequal access to treatment and information, students will gain an understanding of the interconnectedness of the issues that the larger "global health project" seeks to uncover and address. Specifically, students will: 1.) learn some of today's most pressing global health issues; 2.) learn how to explain the connections between social, economic, and political systems and health outcomes for individuals and groups; and 3.) develop their own toolkit for engaging with global health issues. All readings will be available in the course site.