Key Topics in Political Economy:
Global Health
Sophie Harman
Queen Mary University of London
What I teach and Who I teach
• Undergraduate: Global Governance, International Organisations,
Theories of Global Politics
– Lectures and Seminars
– YouTube and Lecture Capture
• Postgraduate: Global Governance, International Financial
Institutions and Global Politics of Health and Disease
– Lectures and Seminars
• Global Politics of Health and Disease
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MSc Global Public Health and Policy
MSc Health Systems and Global Policy
MA International Relations
MA Globalisation and Development
MSc Public Policy
The Topics I Cover
• History and Context
• Understanding Health and Disease (inequality, right to
health, security)
• Global Governance of Health
• HIV/AIDS
• Addiction: Tobacco and Drugs
• Obesity and Malnutrition
• Age and overpopulation
• Neglected Disease
Where’s the political economy in all this?
Challenges
• Teaching Political Economy to Health students
• Teaching Political Economy to Public Policy
students
• Teaching health to IR/political economy students
– Beyond states and markets
– Relearning language (and acronyms!) of health
• Fear of Maths and Economics
• Emerging field
– Synthesising health and political economy literature
– No core syllabus to go off
• Sensitive issues
Overcoming these challenges
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Mixing health and politics students
Drawing on students experience and own lives
Balance of humour and sensitivity
Highlighting contemporary topics and issues in the
media
Including non-academic texts on reading list
Inviting students to relevant workshops, lectures
outside of University
Additional office hours and one-one feedback on
assessment
Seminar structure
How I teach
• 2/3 part seminars
– Clear outline in the beginning
– Reading feedback
– Student-led discussion
– Presentations
– Wrap up mini lectures (handouts and moodle)
• Reading Lists
– Required reading – 2/3 academic + 1 policy
– Picking on students
Assessment
• City
– 4000 word essay (Students create own question)
• QMUL
– 4000 word essay
– 2000 word critical text analysis
– Presentation
• Sample Questions
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How has economism impacted on the mandate of the WHO?
To what extent can the state govern childhood obesity?
Has the WTO’s amendment to TRIPs had any impact on access to health?
Do the opium wars have contemporary significance for the global war on
drugs?
– Is it politics or innovation that limits progress towards malaria eradication?
– What role does ownership have in the reconstruction of health systems in
South Sudan?
– Is tobacco the triumph of neoliberalism over health?
Concluding thoughts and tips
• Learn and share with colleagues in same field
• Develop networks among colleagues and
students
• Challenging students is not a bad thing
• Tap into individual student interests
• Include your research and experience in teaching
• Situate learning with students own experiences
• Interdisciplinary teaching may come with new
challenges but most rewarding teaching I’ve done