Global Public Health: Climate Change and Public Policy

Catalog description

This interdisciplinary course explores the global intersection of climate change, environmental degradation, and public health. Using case studies from countries and regions with contrasting climates, wealth, politics, and health systems—including India, Bangladesh, Peru, Nigeria, the United States, and island nations—students will examine how environmental stressors differentially impact health and what policy and health system responses look like in diverse settings. Quantitative skills are developed through low-level data analysis and statistics: students practice interpreting global datasets, calculating health and climate indicators, and critiquing data-driven arguments in climate-health policy debates. Through theory, case comparison, and practical analysis, the course advances students’ quantitative and global public health literacy.