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Leadership and Global Health

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• Are you curious about the issue of access to health care both locally and internationally? 
• Would you like to develop the leadership skills necessary to address complex global health challenges?
• Are you interested in understanding how biology, medicine, sociology, economics, politics, and history intersect when analyzing health?
• Do you wonder how you as a young person can influence policy through advocating for basic human rights to health and equality?

Despite world-wide advances in technology and development, providing basic health care to people in resource-poor settings continues to pose enormous challenges. Now more than ever, the global community is focused on overcoming inequities in access to health care and poverty alleviation as a means of curbing the spread of disease and improving people’s livelihoods. Building on this momentum, this course will focus on the important role that young people can play as leaders and innovators in the global health arena.  Students interested in basic science research, medicine, economics, health policy and education, human rights law, business and management, or environmental science and sustainable development will be challenged by this course. Throughout, students will investigate the roles that historical, social, political, and economic factors play in the health of communities both in the United States and internationally.  

Through interactive class discussions, lectures by experts in the field, films, and experiential role plays, students will be challenged to apply their leadership skills while learning about: infectious diseases such as AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis; maternal and child health; nutrition and food security; natural and man-made disaster emergency relief situations; vaccine and drug development and distribution; and nonprofits and international aid organizations.

By connecting international health challenges with local inequalities, students will leave this course with the background knowledge and leadership skills to take action in their own communities on issues of health and social justice.

Who are Leadership and Global Health Students?

Students applying to this course may be interested in public health, medicine, social justice, community development, leadership and international affairs. We look for students with a diversity of experiences, emotional maturity and a track record of interest in collaborative activities.

Curriculum

In this course, students will:

• Develop critical thinking skills to evaluate complex health issues and policy decisions
• Learn and practice effective public speaking skills
• Strengthen their knowledge base of specific health topics in order to develop informed opinions
• Explore how health disparities affect people in the developing world as well as locally in the United States
• Develop leadership skills needed to work collaboratively with students from diverse backgrounds
• Explore career options in global health by interacting with experts and young alumni engaged in a variety of fields
• Develop an action plan for how they can utilize new knowledge and skills in their home environment

Dates

Leadership and Global Health - SO907-2GL