Global Health Courses
This is a listing of courses available Fall 2010 that may be of interest to students pursuing the Graduate
Certificate of Concentration in Global Health. Courses listed for Spring 2011 are provisional; we will update
this list by January 2011.
These courses are divided into two categories:
1. Global Health-related courses. These courses count toward completion of the Certificate.
2. Other possible courses. These courses may count toward the Certificate, pending approval of the course
instructor and Certificate Faculty Adviser to ensure that the student completes relevant Global Health-related
coursework. Generally, these courses are pertinent to Global Health, but do not focus on Global Health to the
degree that the Global Health-related courses do. A course in this category could count toward the student’s
certificate if it is a good fit with the student’s program and if the student’s major project or research paper for
the course (each of these courses has one) focuses on Global Health.
The fall application deadline for the Global Health Certificate program is November 15th, 2010. Students are
encouraged to meet with one of the Certificate Faculty Advisers (Prof. Robert Dubrow or Prof. Kaveh
Khoshnood) before applying to the program. Once accepted, students should meet with the Faculty Adviser to
discuss courses appropriate for their individualized program. Candidates may petition the faculty adviser to
have other relevant courses count toward the Global Health Certificate.
FALL 2010
I. GLOBAL HEALTH–RELATED COURSES
AFST 560, The Political Economy of AIDS in Africa. Nicoli Nattrass
Fall 2010: T 2.30-4.20
The impact of and responses to the AIDS pandemic in Africa examined from a comparative perspective. Focus
on South and southern Africa. Some background in social science and economics desirable.
CDE 508, Principles of Epidemiology I. Robert Dubrow
Fall 2010: MW 10.00-11.20 LEPH WINSL & F 9.00-12.00
This course presents an introduction to epidemiologic concepts and methods. Topics include measurement of
disease occurrence, descriptive epidemiology, ecologic studies, cohort studies, case-control studies, crosssectional studies, measurement validity, screening, causation, random variation, bias, confounding, effect
modification, randomized controlled trials, epidemic investigation, and molecular epidemiology. The couse
utilizes a wide variety of case studies from both chronic and infectious disease epidemiology.
CDE 543, Global Aspects of Food and Nutrition. Debbie Humphries
Fall 2010: MW 1.00-2.20 LEPH 101
This course is designed to develop students’ awareness of the complex web of factors that lead to malnutrition
and to enable a basic understanding of the major diseases of malnutrition, including diseases of both
undernutrition and overnutrition. The course covers nutritional assessment tools; the cultural, economic,
agricultural, and policy context within which malnutrition exists; and approaches to reducing malnutrition.
EMD 557/NURS 713, Global HIV/AIDS: Challenges and Response. Kaveh Khoshnood
Fall 2010
This course provides an overview of the critical issues in the global epidemiology and prevention of HIV/AIDS
among vulnerable populations. The course emphasizes the importance of multidisciplinary approaches to the
comprehension of and response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The course is designed to go beyond the mere
provision of information by encouraging students to develop the ability to critically access and analyze
research, programmatic, policy, and ethical challenges raised by the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
EMD 680/MBIO680, Molecular and Cellular Processes of Parasitic Eukaryotes. Diane McMahon-Pratt,
Christian Tschudi
Fall 2010: MW 10.45-12.00 LEPH 108
An introductory topic-based course in modern parasitology. For each topic there is an introductory lecture
followed by a journal club-like discussion session of relevant papers selected from the literature. This course
provides an introduction to basic biological concepts of parasitic eukaryotes causing diseases in humans.
Topics include strategies used by parasitic eukaryotes to establish infections in the host and approaches to
disease control, through either chemotherapy, vaccines, or genomics. In addition, emphasis is placed on
evaluating the quality and limitation of scientific publications and developing skills in scientific communication.
Prerequisite: permission of the instructor.
EMD 572/F&ES 891, Ecology and Epidemiology of Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases. Maria DiukWasser
Fall 2010: TTh 3:00-4:20 LEPH 102
Diseases transmitted to humans by arthropods (vector-borne) or animal reservoirs (zoonotic) constitute the
majority of globally (re)emerging infectious diseases. The purpose of this course is to explore factors
underlying the risk to humans of acquiring vector-borne and zoonotic diseases (VBZD) like malaria, dengue,
West Nile virus, Lyme disease, rabies, hantavirus, etc. Students learn how human risk for these diseases can
be described and predicted by understanding the ecology of vectors and reservoirs and the factors allowing for
maintenance and transmission of pathogens. The course utilizes a combination of lectures, discussion of
primary literature, practical exercises on risk mapping, and guest speakers.
HIST 903/HSHM 728, The Global Challenge of Malaria. Frank Snowden
Fall 2010: T 1:30-3:20
The global challenge of malaria examined in comparative and historical context. The mosquito theory of
transmission and other developments in scientific understanding of the disease; World Health Organization
strategies to eradicate malaria since 1955; the development of tools such as insecticides, medication, and bed
nets; the attempt to create an effective vaccine.
HPA 591, Global Health Systems. Achyuta Adhvaryu
Fall 2010: T 5.00-7.50pm LEPH 101
This course is designed to provide an understanding of global health systems, particularly as they relate to the
delivery, organization, and financing of health care in developing countries. The course covers three broad
areas. First, it acquaints students with the existing global health architecture, highlighting the roles and
interactions of global health stakeholders, and focusing on critiques of the current architecture. Second, it
analyzes the way health systems in developing countries are organized, financed, and regulated, and how
these policies affect health-related behaviors and health outcomes. Finally, the course highlights the
opportunities and challenges posed by behavioral responses induced by health policy.
INRL 525, Global Health Research: Methodological and Ethical Considerations. Kaveh Khoshnood
Fall 2010: F 9.25-11:15
Recognizing the political, economic, social, and cultural factors that influence health, this course is designed to
prepare graduate and advanced undergraduate students to develop their own short-term global health
research proposals to be conducted in resource-constrained settings. Quantitative, qualitative, and mixedmethod approaches, the ethical aspects of conducting research in resource-constrained settings, and the
process of obtaining human subjects approval are among topics discussed. Designed for those with little or no
prior independent research experience and those who have not previously taken a course on research
methods.
Prerequisite: a course on statistics (may be taken concurrently) or permission of the instructor.
INRL 620/ANTH 519/CDE 593, Research Seminar in Medical Anthropology and Global Health.
Aunchalee Palmquist
Fall 2010: Th 3.30-5.30
This course gives students the opportunity to explore important current global health topics from an
anthropological perspective, with a special emphasis on the ways medical anthropologists study the cultural
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context of disease and health in societies around the world. The course allows students to critically evaluate
the medical-anthropology global health literature, including identifying key theoretical and methodological
approaches, and to articulate this understanding clearly through discourse with other students, written
summaries of the literature, and a final research paper. While a background in medical anthropology is helpful,
it is not a prerequisite. The course is appropriate for graduate students in anthropology, public health, and
international relations, and possibly advanced undergraduate students in medical anthropology.
INRL 527, Comparative and International Bioethics. Stephen Latham
Fall 2010: TTh 9.00-10.15
Approaches in different countries, both developed and developing, to a number of core issues in biomedical
ethics: organ transplants, end-of-life care, human-subject research, and access to health care. Readings in
primary and secondary sources, including international treaties and standards.
INRL 524/PHIL 709/PLSC 594/HPA 599, Global Health Ethics, Politics, and Economics. Thomas Pogge,
Jennifer Ruger
Fall 2010: T 10:10-12:00
Global health inequalities are wide and growing. Such inequalities pose ethical challenges for the global health
community, especially international and domestic health and development institutions. This course features a
series of distinguished visitors from academia as well as a few important representatives of international
organizations (WHO, World Intellectual Property Organization, World Bank), foundations (Bill and Melinda
Gates Foundation), politics, the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, and/or the investor community.
II. OTHER POSSIBLE COURSES
F&ES 842, Cities and Sustainability in the Developing World. Ellen Brennan-Galvin
Fall 2010: MW 1.00-2.20 KRN G01
Most population growth in the twenty-first century will occur in the urban areas of the developing world, which
are expected to increase by two billion inhabitants by 2030. Urban living poses environmental hazards, which
affect the current population and especially the poor, through immediate, local impacts on health and safety. It
also causes environmental degradation, with longer-term, wider-area, and intergenerational consequences.
Variations in the incidence and relative severity of a range of environmental problems across cities at different
levels of development suggest differences in priorities for action. The massive new investment in the capital
stock of cities required for the doubling of urban population by 2030 will be critical to environmental outcomes.
Using a number of city case studies, the course highlights local solutions, as well as new technologies for
monitoring, planning, and managing urban growth. Active student participation is required, including individual
class presentations and a final group project.
F&ES 848, Climate Change: Impacts, Adaptation and Mitigation. Robert Bailis
Fall 2010: Th 1.00-3.50 KRN 319
This is an interdisciplinary graduate course designed for students who are familiar with the basic science of
climate change and the international negotiations that have occurred since the drafting of the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1992. The course draws on diverse fields ranging
from economics to international relations and energy systems analysis. We examine climate change from an
international perspective, with particular emphasis placed on the world's developing countries. The course
opens with a brief review of the latest scientific findings, the most recent developments in climate change
policy, and an overview of common tools that analysts use to examine the climate question. We then devote
roughly half of the term to examining climate change impacts and adaptation and half to mitigation. In looking
at impacts and adaptation, we examine social and biophysical vulnerabilities to environmental change and
explore the policies and measures that have been proposed to minimize the impacts of climate change. In
examining mitigation, we discuss technological options, policies, and socioeconomic impacts of mitigative
measures. The course has a mixed lecture-discussion format. Participation during discussion is strongly
encouraged and is incorporated in student evaluations. In addition, there are several guest speakers and
potentially one field trip to the United Nations. Course enrollment limited to 25.
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HPA 510, Health Policy and Health Systems. Mark Schlesinger
Fall 2010: MW 1.30-2.50 LEPH WINSL
This course provides an introduction to the making and understanding of health policy. The various goals of
policy making and the alternative means of achieving those goals are examined. Health issues are placed in
the context of broader social goals and values. The current performance of the health care system is
assessed, with particular emphasis on shifting needs, rising costs, and changing institutional arrangements.
The course provides an overview of the important actors in the health care and political systems and
introduces students to methods for understanding their behavior. Students apply these methods to a set of
concrete policy issues.
INRL 686 01, Sexual Rights: Perspectives from International and Comparative Law. Alice Miller
Fall 2010: W 10.10-12.00 SLB 113
The seminar explores the legal and political aspects of sexual rights claims in contemporary international,
regional, and selected national forums. The term "sexual rights" has been increasingly used in national and
international settings to encompass an expanding universe of claims relating to sexuality; these include
freedom and equality of sexual orientations and behaviors, freedom from sexual violence, conditions for sexual
health, rights to sexual expression and association, rights to marry and form families, as well as rights to
sexual relationships without marriage, and freedom to determine the relation between sexuality and
reproduction. These claims are grounded in legal guarantees that are found in many different legal
instruments, such as those relating to privacy, health, nondiscrimination, information, expression, association,
and freedom from torture and arbitrary detention. Judicial, activist, and scholarly arguments for sexual rights
(particularly those outside the United States) often borrow heavily across borders, invoking international,
regional, and comparative standards. The status of sexual rights claims varies widely in national and regional
courts, however, and political and doctrinal approaches are often inconsistent or inapplicable across claimants.
Complications in building national and transnational coherence stem from cross- and intracultural differences
of gender, racial and age-based social organization and norms, as well as the diversity of national legal
doctrines and advocates' interests. Key questions guiding the seminar include: How does sexual rights
advocacy fit with other justice claims in debates about globalization and justice? What role does sexual rights
claiming and attendant legal challenges play in national and global politics? What are the tensions between the
push for transnational rights advocacy and local specificity? What impact does the turn to law have on these
debates?
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SPRING 2011
I. GLOBAL HEALTH–RELATED COURSES
CDE 591, Epidemiology and Control of Disease in Low and Middle Income Countries. Jhumka Gupta
Spring 2011
This course is designed to introduce public health graduate students to a broad range of critical global health
issues, with a particular emphasis on understanding global health through a social epidemiology lens. Global
health topics to be considered will include data sources/measurement, global burden of disease, HIV / AIDS,
tuberculosis, reproductive health, cancers, obesity, mental health, complex humanitarian emergencies, human
trafficking, gender-based violence against women, and road traffic injuries. The health of immigrant and
refugee populations within the United States will also be discussed. This course will use a range of formats
(lectures, group discussion, videoclips, and classroom exercises). Examples from diverse regions will be
covered in the readings and in lecture. Through individual and group assignments, students will have the
opportunity to explore global health issues in the context of a particular country/region in greater depth.
E&EB (Graduate number to be assigned), Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases. Paul Turner
Spring 2011: TTh 10.30-11.20
Overview of the ecology and evolution of pathogens (bacteria, viruses, protozoa) and their impact on host
populations. Topics include theoretical concepts, ecological and evolutionary dynamics, molecular biology, and
epidemiology of ancient and emerging diseases. Prerequisite: E&EB 122b or permission of instructor.
EMD 583, Public Health Surveillance. Amanda Durante
Spring 2011
This course is intended to provide students with a strong foundation in public health surveillance of both
infectious and noninfectious disease. The course teaches the theory and practice of surveillance, supported by
many examples of surveillance systems from the developing world. The class builds on and reinforces basic
epidemiological concepts. Students are given the opportunity to design and evaluate a surveillance system.
ENAS 805, Biotechnology and the Developing World. Anjelica Gonzalez
Spring 2011
Recent advances in the medical sciences have led to innovative new therapies and diagnostics for improving
global health. While many of these new resources have been motivated by health problems in the developed
world, there has been an increasing push to bring relevant technology to the third world. Beyond the specific
scientific barriers to develop a given therapy, additional creativity is required to address the unique challenges
(cost, distribution, heat stability, and follow-up) associated with bringing a successful therapy to the third
world. This course will focus on five areas in which biotechnology advances are having a direct impact in third
world nations: 1) vaccines, 2) drug therapy, 3) molecular diagnostics, 4) non-invasive imaging, and 5)
transgenic crops. In addition to describing the specific technologies, significant classtime will be devoted to
exploring anthropological, cultural, and ethical issues attributed to introducing these technologies to a
developing country. Non-government organizations (NGOs) and funding agencies aimed at using existing and
new advances in biotechnology to improve health of the global south will be surveyed in one session of the
course. The course will conclude with presentations in which students will identify a specific health burden in a
world region, survey local challenges, and propose opportunities in which new techniques in biotechnology
would be used to contribute to a solution. A written report will complement the presentation as part of the final
project.
HIST 906/HSHM 647, Medicine and Public Health in Latin America, 1820-2000. Mariola Espinosa
Spring 2011: TTh 10:30-11:20
Survey of the history of medicine in Latin America from Independence to the present, focusing on the
relationships of disease and public health with the construction of state and nation in the countries of the
region. Themes include medicine's role in the production and reproduction of race and ethnicity, the treatment
of indigenous medical traditions, the sources and consequences of international disease-control efforts, and
persisting inequalities in health and health care.
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HPA 588, Health and Human Rights. Michael Bochenek, Marianne Mollmann
Spring 2011
This course provides a basic understanding of human rights core principles and practices while concentrating
on the complex linkage between health and human rights. The course emphasizes the implications of human
rights for public health practitioners and introduces them to the framework and methodologies for analysis of
human rights and public health interactions. Students are expected to become familiar with a human rights
impact assessment tool and use it throughout the course. Such topics as women’s rights, children’s rights,
AIDS and human rights, violence, and health literacy are explored.
HPA 592/INRL 528, Strategic Thinking in Global Health. Elizabeth Bradley, Leslie Curry, Michael
Skonieczny
Spring 2011: M 3:30-5:20
Core principles for the development and implementation of grand strategy in addressing common global health
problems. Application of these principles and of strategic problem solving at both conceptual and practical
levels. Political and policy analysis, organizational theory, and leadership skills central to addressing global
health issues in low- and middle-income countries.
INRL 623, Food, Health, and Society in Global Perspective. Aunchalee Palmquist
Spring 2011
INRL 713, Critical Issues in Development Policy. Pia Britto
Spring 2011: Th 3:30-5:20
The focus of the course is on national policy development. Students are exposed to the relationship among
international agencies, international development frameworks, human rights instruments, and national
governments in formulating national social and public policies with respect to economic and social
development. The course uses early childhood, an epoch of human development, as an example to study
national policy making. A policy laboratory methodology is employed to demonstrate application of policy
development knowledge learned in class to a real-world setting. Selected students are offered the opportunity
to travel, during spring break, to a developing country to observe and participate in policy development
meetings with high-level policy makers and international development partners.
INRL 627/HPA 531, Health in Societies in Transition: Eastern Europe and Former Soviet Union. Teresa
Janevic
Spring 2011: T 3:30-5:20
The collapse of the socialist regimes of Eastern Europe and Former Soviet Union (EE/FSU) following 1989 has
had a profound effect on both health care systems and population health in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
The unique social and economic transition this region has experienced has resulted in public health challenges
distinct from those of many low-income and high-income countries, along with some marked successes. This
course will critically review these issues, using a multi-level conceptual framework of the determinants of health
that incorporates macro-level factors (e.g., public policy, conflict, and political economy); community level
factors (e.g.,social cohesion and stress); and individual-level factors (e.g., health behaviors). While each
session is designed to explore a particular topic in depth, a number of cross-cutting issues will be addressed
throughout the semester; for example: human rights, inequalities in health, health and development, political
and economic transition and health, demographic transition and health, and health system decentralization. A
multi-disciplinary perspective will be welcomed in class discussion and class assignments.
INRL (number not yet assigned), Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Humanitarian Settings.
Wietse A. Tol
Spring 2011
This course provides an outline of multidisciplinary theoretical approaches, empirical research and
interventions for populations in the field of mental health and psychosocial support in humanitarian settings.
Our main focus will be on humanitarian settings, including political violence and disasters, in low- and middleincome countries. The course will consist of classes in 5 blocks, (definitions, assessment, intervention
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approaches, monitoring and evaluation, and contemporary issues respectively), ending with a simulated
research/ donor conference. In each class, I will start with a succinct discussion of the week’s reading from my
perspectives, but the dominant focus will be on the discussion of the material among seminar participants.
This course is relevant for those interested in an overview of academic perspectives, as well as those
interested in bridging the gap between academicians and practitioners in this field. Throughout the course,
readings will be complemented with real life examples from field settings. We will focus both on child and
adolescent as well as adult populations. The course is relevant for students in international area studies, public
health, mental health, (clinical) psychology, (medical) anthropology/ sociology and related disciplines.
MCDB 861, Global Problems of Population Growth. Robert Wyman, Fabian Drixler
Spring 2011: TTh 2:30-3:45
The worldwide population explosion in its human, environmental, and economic dimensions. Sociobiological
bases of reproductive behavior. Population history and the cause of demographic change. Interactions of
population growth with economic development and environmental alteration. Political, religious, and ethical
issues surrounding fertility; human rights; and the status of women.
SOCY 543, Demography, Gender, and Health. Vida Maralani.
Spring 2011: T 9:25-11:15
The course explores the interplay of population processes, socioeconomic development, investments in
women's status, and health outcomes such as maternal and child mortality and infectious and chronic disease
burdens, and examines how key health outcomes differ across regions and change over time in response to
investments in women's education and changing women's roles. The course includes readings across several
literatures including demography, sociology, economics, epidemiology, and public health.
WGSS 730/HIST 943/HSHM 736, Health Politics, Body Politics. Naomi Rogers
Spring 2011: W 1:30-3:20
A reading seminar on struggles to control, pathologize, and normalize human bodies, with a particular focus on
science, medicine, and the state, both in North America and in a broader global health context. Topics include
colonialism and prostitution; repression and regulation of birth control; the teaching of sex education; the public
celebration and denial of sexual difference; politics of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS; public
health and legal efforts to define and restrict abortion; the pathologizing and identity politics of transgendered
people; and the development and regulation of artificial insemination and other methods of reproductive
technology.
WGSS 662, HIV and AIDS in Africa. Graeme Reid
Spring 2011: MW 11:35-12:50
The social and cultural context in which the AIDS epidemic emerged and spread in southern Africa. How
people and organizations experience, conceptualize, and respond to AIDS, and how AIDS is constructed
through discourse and representation.
II. OTHER POSSIBLE COURSES
ANTH 572, Disaster, Degradation, Dystopia: Social Science Approaches to Environmental Perturbation
and Change. Michael Dove
Spring 2011: Th 2:30-5:20
An advanced seminar on the long tradition of social science scholarship on environmental perturbation and
natural disasters, the relevance of which has been heightened by the current global attention to climate
change. Topics covered include the academic literature on the social dimension of natural disasters, illustrated
with a case study of volcanic hazard; the discursive dimensions of environmental degradation, focusing on
deforestation and other case studies; climate change, including discursive dimensions at the global level; the
current debate about the relationship between resource wealth and political conflict, focusing on the "green
war" thesis, and the case of tropical forest commodities; and alternative perspectives on sustainable
environmental relations, based on interdisciplinary work and work in the humanities. Three-hour
lecture/seminar. Enrollment limited to twenty.
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MGT 526, Doing Business in the Developing World. A. Mushfiq Mobarak
Spring 2011: M 1:00-3:50
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