American University
School of International Service
Global Public Health
Online Seminar, Summer 2016
Course Description
This online course approaches health care as much more than an individual- or local-level
activity. Rather, it is embedded in a complex global system of health threats and responses. This
arena, global public health, brings together scientific, economic, social, and political issues, and
the outcomes eventually affect billions of lives. The course will explore these varied dynamics of
public health in an interactive, small-group setting. We will discuss the state of public health
around the world, prospects for combating current and future health threats, and contemporary
debates consuming the field and public space. The politics surrounding prominent health crises
recently in the news (like Ebola) will be a particular focus of the course, as will be introducing
students the many, many, many different types of actors (and thus potential future professions!)
involved in global public health! Finally, this course is designed to be a college experience and
will emphasize the critical analysis and other skills that are required for university-level work.
Course Objectives – In this course we will…
✓ Explore the wide range of public health challenges facing “global public health” and how
these very and overlap across different countries;
✓ Analyze specific diseases with an eye to their crucial social and political context;
✓ Study the major institutions involved in global public health and their approaches;
✓ Discuss key debates in the field and practice of global public health;
✓ Appreciate the diverse professional paths possible in this dynamic field!
Learning Outcomes – Students will be able to…
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✓
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Discuss health issues of relevance to countries around the world;
Locate current health issues in political, historical, economic and societal contexts;
Critically evaluate attempts to solve global health problems;
Connect personally with professionals working in the field of global public health.
Assignments (Note: Assignments may vary, by professor)
All assignments are due no more than 30 days after the end of your program.
1. Reading quizzes (15% of final grade): Weekly readings will be posted on blackboard.
You will take three short, timed, open-note and open-book quizzes based on the readings.
The quizzes highlight key takeaways from the articles and reports.
2. Discussion boards (20% of final grade). On the course discussion board, you will (1)
write a short reflective response to one the assigned readings and (2) post a news article
of video on a current event in GPS. Additionally, you will provide a thoughtful comment
on at least one other student’s posted response.
SIS 102 Global Public Health
3. GPH Professional Interview (35% of final grade): For this assignment, you must
identify a global public health professional that you would like to interview about their
work. This might be someone at the local hospital who goes on medical service trips
abroad; the representative at a local church who organizes medical mission trips; a
researcher (or research assistant!) working on vaccines; a city council member or public
servant in charge of health emergency preparedness and response… remember, the GPH
field is large and you can get creative! Before the interview, you will post 10 questions
you intend to ask the professional on the course discussion board to receive (and give)
feedback from (and to) your peers. You must then post the recorded interview and a
short reflection on the experience.
4. Epidemic Briefing or Country Report (30% of final grade): For this assignment, you
can choose between two assignments. You can either “brief” the Secretary of Health on t
recent outbreak of an infectious disease (real or imagined), outlining the threat,
challenges, and opportunities. Or, you can write a brief report on the status of public
health in a country of your choice, similar to the reports that are regularly published by
the World Health Organization and national governments.
SIS 102 Global Public Health