Overview

The goal of Global Public Health is to foster the capacity to understand and address the complex cultural, social, political, economic, and environmental conditions and pathways that affect health, health care access, and quality of life around the world; to increase knowledge about the causes and distribution of global health burdens; and to catalyze innovative approaches for improving the health of populations and achieving health equity.

Questions & Problems

How should global public health professionals and institutions monitor, measure, analyze, and evaluate responses to the global burden of disease, injury, and disability? 

How are health and health disparities related to geography, social class, race, gender, etc.? 

What are the cultural, social, political, and economic dimensions and determinants of health that affect quality of life and health equity?

What is the role of international institutions in global health, and what are some recurrent challenges in building, sustaining, and collaborating with such institutions?

What are the ethical frameworks or philosophical traditions, such as human rights and health, which guide decision making and policy making in global health?

Knowledge & Skills

Students will explore fundamental global health burdens, determinants of health, and health measures from the perspective of different disciplines, including public health, anthropology, sociology, politics, history, and cultural studies.

Students will explore basic global and public health approaches to understanding the cultural beliefs, political and social arrangements, and economic conditions that provide the important context for understanding and addressing global health issues.

Students will be introduced to quantitative data analysis skills, including basic knowledge of research and evaluation methods, as well as qualitative analysis skills, including the capacity to undertake community-based research, public health interventions, and respectful community engagement. 

Students will develop an appreciation of the roles of international institutions, for-profit and not-for-profit organizations, and global systems, including health systems and global networks that focus on particular diseases or conditions, such as HIV prevention and treatment, tuberculosis, or malnutrition and obesity.