Global Health & Social Justice MSc
Core Module 2: Global Health Ethics (Draft - Subject to change)
Educational aims of the module
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To introduce students to theoretical, conceptual and analytic work related to global
health ethics
To develop students’ critical understanding of different theories in social science and in
political philosophy, and how these are related to global health ethics
To develop students’ ability to apply justice theories to diverse challenges in the global
health field
To develop students’ skills in integrating empirical and analytic approaches to global
health concerns
To help students understand the multi-tiered network of stakeholders, organizations,
and lay actors in the field of global health ethics
To develop students’ skills in the complexities of case analysis and practical ethical
application by providing detailed case-focused seminars
To support students in developing accounts in global health ethics that point a way to
practical and policy implications
Learning outcomes of the module (these need to take account of the generic level
descriptors)
At the end of this module, students are expected to be able to:
1. Critically appraise the complex and sometimes contradictory conceptual and theoretical
approaches in global health ethics
2. Elucidate key justice theories as these have been developed in political philosophy and
applied in the global health field
3. Advance approaches that integrate social science and analytic approaches to global
health challenges
4. Apply this integrated approach to case studies in global health
5. Demonstrate critical awareness and systematic understanding of the ways in which
specialist knowledge is constructed, deployed and represented in the interrelated fields
of ethics, science, medicine, international law and policy.
6. Demonstrate a level of conceptual understanding of research and theoretical knowledge
at the forefront of global health ethics that enables the student to critically evaluate
research and argue for alternative innovative approaches
7. Act as an independent and self-critical learner who manages his/her own requirements
for continuing academic and professional development
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Recommended books
Appadurai, A. (Ed). (2005). Globalization. Durham, NC: Duke UP.
Bauman, Z. (2008). Does ethics have a chance in a world of consumers? Cambridge, USA: Harvard.
Benatar, S. & Brock, G. (Eds.) (2011). Global health and global health ethics. Cambridge, UK: CUP
Daniels, N. (2008). Just Health: Meeting Health Needs Fairly. Cambridge, UK: CUP
Farmer, P. (2003). Rethinking health and human rights. Time for a paradigm Shift. In Pathologies of
Power. Health, Human Rights and the New War on the Poor. Paul Farmer, ed. Pp. 213-246.
Berkeley: University of California Press.
Farmer, P. (2004). An anthropology of structural violence. Current Anthropology 45(3), 305-325.
Farmer, Paul (2003) Rethinking Health and Human Rights. Time for a Paradigm Shift. In Pathologies
of Power. Health, Human Rights and the New War on the Poor. Paul Farmer, ed. Pp. 213246. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Lavery, J.V., Grady, C., Wahl, E.R., Emanuel, E.J. (Eds.). (2007). Ethical Issues in International
Biomedical Research: A Casebook. New York: OUP
Macklin, R. (2012). Ethics in Global Health: Research, Policy and Practice. New York: OUP
Millum, J. & Emanuel, E. (Eds.) (2012). Global justice and bioethics. Oxford, UK: OUP.
Nussbaum, M. (2011). Creating capabilities. Cambridge, USA: Harvard Belknapp.
Nussbaum, M. (2000). Women and human development. Cambridge, UK: CUP.
Lock, M. & Vinh-Kim, N. (2010). An anthropology of biomedicine, Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
Parker, M. (2012). Ethical problems and genetics practice. Cambridge, UK: CUP
Pogge, T. & Moellendorf, D. (Eds.). (2008). Global Ethics: Seminal Essays. Saint Paul, MN: Paragon
House Publishers.
Pogge, T. & Horton, K. (Eds.). (2008). Global Justice: Seminar Essays. Saint Paul, MN: Paragon House
Publishers.
Pogge, T., Rimmer, M., & Rubinstein, K (Eds.). (2010). Incentives for Global Public Health. Cambridge,
UK: CUP.
Powers, M. & Faden, R. (2008). Social Justice: The Moral Foundations of Public Health and Public
Health Policy. New York: OUP
Ruger, J. P. (2010). Health and Social Justice. Oxford, UK: OUP
Sandel, M. (2006). Public philosophy: Essays on morality in politics. Cambridge, USA: Harvard.
Sen, A. (2010). The idea of justice. London: Penguin.
Wolff, J. (2012). The human right to health. New York: Norton.
Wolff, J. (2012). An introduction to political philosophy. Oxford, UK: OUP.
Venkatapuram, S. (2011). Health justice. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
Useful websites
World Bank on Health: http://data.worldbank.org/topic/health
Global Health Facts: http://www.globalhealthfacts.org/index.jsp
UN AIDS http://www.unaids.org/en/
Gapminder World: http://www.gapminder.org/world/
The Global Fund – to fight AIDS, tuberculosis & malaria: http://www.theglobalfund.org/en/
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