GLOBAL PUBLIC HEALTH
10-832-440
Spring 2014
Day and Time:
Location:
Instructor:
Thursday 4:30 pm to 7:30 pm
Hardenbergh A4 College Ave. Campus
Elizabeth Amaya-Fernandez, MPH
Health Education Specialist
Health Outreach, Promotion and Education
Course Assistant: Nicole Hernandez
E-mail: niki84.nh@gmail.com
Credits:
3 credits, and additional 1 credit for Alternative Spring Break
Instructor’s Contact Information:
8 Lafayette Street
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
Phone: 848-932-1965
E-mail: eamayafe@echo.rutgers.edu
Office hours by appointment on Tuesday 12:00 p.m.- 3:00 p.m.
REQUIRED TEXTBOOK/READING
Global Health 101 by Richard Skolnik, MPA; ISBN-13: 978076379751
Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure
the World by Tracy Kidder; ISBN: 0812980557
Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas
D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn; ISBN: 9780307267146
Additional required readings as assigned will be posted on the course SAKAI site.
COURSE OBJECTIVE
At the end of this course students will be able to:
1. Identify, understand, and incorporate the global health vocabulary, the basic methods
used to assess global health, and the tools to locate and understand additional global
health information.
2. Understand the wide range of global public health issues and the various approaches
nations adopt to deal with them.
3. Identify the public health problems facing low- and middle-income countries today, and
identify their greatest challenges
4. Demonstrate knowledge of population groups that are at increased risk of poor health and
familiarity with policies and programs designed to reduce health inequalities.
“charity, vertical, humiliates.
solidarity, horizontal, helps.” – Eduardo Galeano
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Each class will contain several components: lecture, discussion, group activities and the
occasional guest speaker.
CLASS ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION: Students in the class are crucial to shaping
the course - identifying topics, engaging in critical discussion, researching information and
perspectives, and designing strategies for action. Therefore, it is critical that each student
attends and participates in every class.
Student responsibilities include:
 Prompt attendance
 Completion of assignments and readings
 Active participation in class sessions
 Participation in online component
 Communication in timely manner regarding any concerns/difficulties related to the
course
 Frequent and regular visits to the course SAKAI site at http://sakai.rutgers.edu.
Instructor responsibilities include:
 Respect for students as co-learners in course
 Adapting the course framework to needs, interests and concerns of students
 Availability by appointment for meetings with students; availability by phone and e-mail
 Maintaining the SAKAI course website to accurately reflect the requirements of the
course
SAKAI
This class utilizes SAKAI to manage the course, its assignments, requirements,
announcements, and readings. All students are REQUIRED to log into SAKAI in order to
access these functions from the beginning of the course until the end. Important updates,
announcements and other useful information will be posted to the SAKAI site on a regular
basis. All written assignments are to be submitted through the SAKAI Assignment function as
a word document. No hard copies will be accepted and will be considered late submissions.
PARTICIPATION & ATTENDANCE
Students are expected to arrive promptly and attend every class. Classes missed without a
valid excuse (illness or family emergency) will result in points deducted from the Attendance
& Participation portion of your grade. Late arrivals will also affect the
Attendance & Participation portion of the grade.
In the event of an emergency or illness requiring you to miss class or if you expect to miss
one or two classes, please use the University absence reporting website
https://sims.rutgers.edu/ssra/ to indicate the date and reason for your absence. Do not
e-mail the instructions. An email is automatically sent to us. If you miss class, it is your
responsibility to obtain notes or handouts and other updates from a classmate, not the
instructors. Assignments due on the date of a missed class are still due and should be
submitted through the SAKAI site.
Each student is encouraged to participate fully in all class discussions, especially in
discussions related to the weekly reading. A lack of class participation will negatively impact
your grade.
ASSIGNMENTS
The course will be a process in which the goal is to stimulate your thinking through
readings, experiential exercises and through the interchange of ideas. Students are
expected to do:

READINGS - Complete readings before class. The textbook chapters should be read
by the date of the assigned reading. Supplemental readings posted on Sakai will also
be required for certain topics. Half the Sky should be read by February 27th,
Mountains Beyond Mountains should be read by April 10th.

CLASS PARTICIPATION - Participate fully by asking questions, providing appropriate
comments/opinions, and participating in the class/group discussions about your
countries.
 COUNTRY CURRENT EVENTS/SOCIAL MEDIA—(100 Points) (Begins January
31st) You are required to read and bring to class an current event (past 18 months)
article from a newspaper, weekly magazine, website related to the country you
chose or were assigned. It must be relevant to the topic that will be discussed in
class that week. You will also be required to create a Twitter account and follow
this class at Twitter.com/Ruglobalhealth. Your account must be set up by January
31st. Every week starting on January 31st, you must “tweet” your current event by
putting up a link for your article and briefly explaining how and why you think your
article relates to the topic that will be discussed in the upcoming lecture. All
“Tweets” must be in by 6pm EST before every lecture on Thursday. Come to class
with your article prepared to discuss it. Twitter account must be made by
January 30 as the first tweet is due before class on January 30.
 POLICY MEMO-(75 Points) write a policy memo as the Minister of Health
requesting assistance for your country’s greatest need addressed to the World
Health Organization. No more than 3 pages typed. (Instructions are posted on
Sakai)—Due April 3, 2014.
 ONLINE QUIZZES- (two quizzes, 50pts each)
o Quiz 1 - Skolnick Chapters 1,2,3,5,6 ; Sakai Readings
o Quiz 2 – Mountains Beyond Mountains
GRADING PHILOSOPHY & OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
Your grades are assigned following the Grading Philosophy of the Edward J. Bloustein
School of Planning & Public Policy. Final grades are not negotiable, each student
receives the grade s/he has earned.
A Excellent, shows initiative, synthesizes and integrates assigned material with external
sources and own thinking; 92-100%
B+ Very good work, innovative thinking or excellent integration of work of others, 88-91%
B Exceeds minimum requirements, either shows own thinking or synthesizes and integrates
assigned material with external sources; 81 - 87%
C+ Good understanding of assigned material, but no effort to integrate own thinking or that of
others; 78 - 80%
C Average work that meets the minimum requirements but does not show consistent
understanding of material, poor quality; 70-77%
D Meets minimum requirements but does not show understanding of material, poor quality;
60-69%
F Unacceptable, does not meet minimum requirements; 0-59%
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
 Students requiring accommodation due to a disability (learning, physical,
emotional) must present proper documentation at the beginning of the semester.
 Cell phones, PDAs, MP3 players and other mobile communication devices must be
turned off or silenced during class. Out of respect to your classmates and
instructor, no texting or phone calls are permitted during class.
 If issues arise that impact your class attendance or work or if you have a grade
dispute, you must make an appointment to meet with the instructor in person
during office hours. These issues will not be discussed or resolved via phone or email.
 Laptops or other electronic devices are permitted in class for taking notes and
accessing pertinent information related to the lecture. Students found working on
other assignments, checking e-mail, or doing anything else not related to the
course will be forbidden from utilizing laptops in class and will have points
deducted from the Participation portion of their grade.
Helpful University Resources
At some point in the semester, you may require assistance for a variety of issues. Following
is a brief list of helpful University resources.
Rutgers Health Services
http://health.rutgers.edu
 Medical http://rhsmedical.rutgers.edu
 Counseling, Alcohol & Other Drug Assistance Program & Psychiatric Services (CAPS)
http://rhscaps.rutgers.edu
 Pharmacy http://rhspharmacy.rutgers.edu
 Health Outreach, Promotion & Education (H.O.P.E.) http://rhshope.rutgers.edu
Learning Centers
http://lrc.rutgers.edu/
Writing Centers
http://wp.rutgers.edu/tutoring/writingcenters
Math & science Learning Centers
http://mslc.rutgers.edu/
Office of Violence Prevention & Victim Assistance
http://sexualassault.rutgers.edu/
Office of Disabilities Services for Students
http://disabilityservices.rutgers.edu/
Public Safety
 RUPD http://publicsafety.rutgers.edu/rupd/
 Department of Transportation Services http://rudots.rutgers.edu/
ASSIGNMENTS
All assignments are to be submitted via SAKAI.
Assignments submitted late will lose points. Each day an assignment is late, points will be
deducted from the total points awarded. All written work must be spell-checked and edited
for correct grammar and syntax. Points will be deducted for poor spelling, grammar and
syntax.
MIDTERM EXAM: The midterm exam will take place during class on Thursday March 6, 2014
FINAL EXAM: The final exam will take place on Thursday May 1, 4:30-7:30pm
GRADING
Everyone has the opportunity to build his/her grade. Each assignment has a designated
number of points. The number of points awarded for each assignment depends upon whether
or not the requirements of the assignment are met. Note that issues such as spelling,
grammar and syntax are important and points will be deducted for poor spelling, grammar
and syntax on all written work. Points will be deducted for late assignments.
POINT BREAKDOWN:
ITEM
Attendance
Participation
Assignments
Country Current Event/Social Media
POINTS
50
75
100
Policy memo
75
Online Quiz 1
25
Online Quiz 2
25
Midterm Exam
Final Exam
TOTAL POINTS
100
150
600
COURSE SYLLABUS
Required readings are to be completed for the class date listed.
Assignments are to be turned in on Sakai the day of the class that is listed.
Week/Date
Reading
Assignment
Principles and Goals of Global
Health; Determinants,
Measurements, and Trends in
Health
Skolnick: Chapters 1 and 2
Country
Current Event
Tweet 1
Class 3
Thursday
February 6
Health, Education, Poverty, and
the Economy; Globalization
Skolnick: Chapters 3 and
additional readings on Sakai
Country
Current Event
Tweet 2
Class 4
Thursday
February 13
Culture and Health and Health
Systems
Skolnick: Chapter 5 and 6
Quiz 1 Opens
Class 1
Thursday
January 23
Class 2
Thursday
January 30
Topic
Introductions, syllabus &
course review, expectations and
twitter tour
Country
Current Event
Tweet 3
Class 5
Thursday
February 20
Ethical and Human Rights
Concerns in Global Health
Skolnick: Chapters 4 &
additional readings on Sakai
Half the Sky: chapters 1-7
should be done by now
Quiz 1 Closes
before Class
starts
Country
Current Event
Tweet 4
Class 6
Thursday
February 27
Women’s Health and Children’s
Health
Skolnick: Chapter 9-10 &
additional readings on Sakai
Half the Sky should be done
by now
Class 7
Country
Current Event
Tweet 5
Thursday
March 6
Class 8
Thursday
March 13
Class 9
Thursday
March 20
Class 10
Thursday
March 27
Class 11
Thursday
April 3
Midterm Exam
Class Cancelled
Country
Current Event
Tweet 6 (topic
of your choice)
Have a safe & fun spring break!
Nutrition and Global Health; The
Environment and Health
Skolnick: Chapter 7 and 8
Country
Current Event
Tweet 7
Communicable and NonCommunicable Diseases
Skolnick: Chapter 11-12 &
additional readings on Sakai
Country
Current Event
Tweet 8
Policy memo
Online Quiz 2
Opens
Class 12
Thursday
April 10
Unintentional Injuries; Natural
Disasters and Complex
Humanitarian Emergencies
Skolnick: Chapters 13-14
Mountains Beyond Mountains
should be finished by now
Country
Current Event
Tweet 9
Online Quiz 2
Closes Before
Class
Class 13
Thursday
April 17
Class 14
Thursday
April 24
Science, Technology, and
Global Health and Working
Together to Improve Global
Health
Skolnick: Chapter 15-16
Final Exam Review
Final exam on Thursday May 1, 2013 from 4:30-7:30 pm
Country
Current Event
Tweet 10
Academic Misconduct: A Bloustein School Perspective
Academic misconduct includes cheating, plagiarism, failure to cite sources, fabrication and
falsification, stealing ideas, and deliberate slanting of research designs to achieve a preconceived result. We talk about misconduct and ethical behavior in classes and expectations
are set forth in student handbooks and catalogues. For example, it is presented on pages
545-547 in the New Brunswick Undergraduate Catalogue for the years 2003 through 2005
and on pages 16-18 of the Edward J. Bloustein catalogue for the years 2003 through 2005.
We are not repeating that material here. Note, however, that penalties for misconduct can
range from failing an assignment/exam or dismissal from the university.
The Bloustein School is appending this memorandum to your course syllabus because we
recently have detected obvious cases of plagiarism. We have found far fewer cases of other
forms of academic misconduct, but we find several every year. It is imperative that you
understand that unethical academic conduct is intolerable, and it is completely preventable.
Academic misconduct almost always happens for two reasons. One is ignorance of academic
rules and practices. For example, in virtually every recent plagiarism case in the School,
material has been taken from an Internet site and placed in text without appropriate note or
attribution. You must learn the proper rules for attribution. If you are not sure, ask your
instructor! If you do not know the rules that govern the use of data sets, attribution, analysis
and reporting of these sets, the faculty will help you. There is no such thing as a stupid
question regarding this subject.
Pressure is the second common reason for academic misconduct. Students, faculty, and
every one of us are subject to deadline, financial, self-worth, peer, and other pressures. If you
are potentially allowing pressure to drive you to misconduct, please step back and resist that
urge. You can cope with pressure in a positive way by reaching out to friends, counselors,
and faculty members. Within the Bloustein School community, you will find understanding
people and positive direction.
The Bloustein School plays an important role in the planning and public policy agenda. Our
work and our students must be above reproach.