Global Health (GHL) Courses

GHL-103 Environmental Science

This course surveys major environmental issues and the role of scientific inquiry in understanding and mitigating these problems. The course will explore specific topics including energy generation and use, water quality, agriculture, biodiversity, and climate change. For each topic, students will (1) learn about the causes and consequences of the problem in the context of basic biology and other natural sciences, (2) participate in and critically evaluate the collection and interpretation of data on the problem, and (3) discuss and critique potential responses to the problem. Laboratory activities will include collecting and analyzing environmental samples, exploring data available in public repositories, and visiting local sites to observe environmentally related activities in the area.
Prerequisites: none
Corequisites: BIO-103L
Credit: 1
Distribution: Science Lab,
Equated Courses: BIO-103

GHL-107 Health Psychology

In this course we will discuss the ways in which our thought processes and behaviors affect our health. Some behaviors promote or impair health. Other behaviors influence our willingness to seek medical help. We will discuss topics such as stress, sleep, exercise, diet, smoking, and drinking. We will also discuss health psychology from diverse perspectives, such as culture, race, and gender. The course will consist of lectures, discussion, and reading of primary literature. Health Psychology will be beneficial to pre-health students, and others who want to know more about how to improve and maintain their own health. This course counts for the Psychology major and minor, and for the Global Health minor.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: Behavioral Science
Equated Courses: PSY-107

GHL-110 Philosophical Ethics

Thought about what is good, what is right, and what ought to be done pervades our lives. Philosophy can contribute to this thought by providing ways of organizing it and reflecting on it critically-which is done in this course using both historical and contemporary sources.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: History/Philosophy/Religion

GHL-177 Special Topics

Since the content of this course varies with different offerings, it may be repeated for credit upon the instructor's approval. Topics and descriptions of current offerings can be found on the Registrar's webpage.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1

GHL-201 Sociology & Politics of Health

An examination of the topic of health from the vantage point of the intersection of sociology and political science. Students will learn about key sociological concepts and theoretical approaches, which they will deploy to investigate topics such as societal health disparities, cultural and subcultural attitudes toward healthcare and health professionals, the relationship between governmental processes and health outcomes, and the mobilization and impact of health-related nongovernmental and intergovernmental organizations. The course will feature a community-based service learning component.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: Behavioral Science
Equated Courses: PSC-201

GHL-212 The Poor and Justice

The economic impact of the current global pandemic, including the evictions it will cause, reflects a harsh reality: tens of millions of Americans still live in poverty although this is the richest nation on earth. What should government do about this? From the New Deal to the present, have our federal, state and local poverty initiatives done more harm or good? Have government benefits lifted citizens out of poverty or created dependency that traps them in poverty? Has government integrated citizens or continued to segregate them based upon race or wealth? Or should the focus instead be on our courts? Do they extend equal justice to the poor, or do they favor landlords and others with whom the poor do business? This is a critical time to ask these questions. Even before the pandemic struck, America had one of the highest levels of economic inequality and one of the lowest levels of economic mobility in its own history and among other industrialized nations. In addition, while the poor are participating less in politics, wealthy Americans are participating and funding more and more. Given the importance and difficulty of these issues, we will consider a wide variety of views including those of liberals, conservatives and libertarians. We will ground our study not only in history but also in the present, lived experience of the urban poor as reported in Matthew Desmond's Evicted and the rural poor as reported in JD Vance's Hillbilly Elegy.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1

GHL-215 Environmental Philosophy

Environmental philosophy explores the relationship between human beings and the natural world. It raises questions about the meaning of nature, the place of human dwelling within nature, the moral status of nonhuman animals and ecosystems, human responsibility for environmental challenges such as pollution, climate change, and species extinction, and environmental and intergenerational justice. This course raises such questions from multiple perspectives that may include conventional approaches in environmental ethics like utilitarianism and deontology as well as ecofeminism, deep ecology, and political ecology.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: History/Philosophy/Religion

GHL-219 Special Topics

Refer to the Course Descriptions document on the Registrar's webpage for topics and descriptions of current offerings.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1

GHL-224 Economic and Political Development

A brief survey of problems facing lesser-developed countries and of measures proposed and used for the advancement of political integration and the improvement of living standards and social welfare. Study will be made of the role of capital accumulation, private initiative, representative government, and other factors in economic growth and political modernization.
Prerequisites: ECO-101
Credit: 1
Distribution: Behavioral Science
Equated Courses: ECO-224

GHL-232 Disability and Politics

People with disabilities have been excluded in practice-from buildings, transportation, education, etc.-and also in (political) theory: This class will explore the exclusion of people with disabilities in the history of political thought, from Hobbes and Locke to Rawls, as well as more inclusive political theories, such as those of Martha Nussbaum and Alasdair MacIntyre. It will also explore social movements that work to include people with disabilities, including the Disability Rights movement and the Independent Living Movement, centuries-old foster family care in Geel, Belgium, and L'Arche, where people with disabilities and without disabilities live together in community. This class will include a service learning component-we will be in the community, interacting with people with disabilities.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: Behavioral Science
Equated Courses: PSC-232

GHL-235 Health Economics

This course is an introduction to the study of health care. While we will draw heavily on important ideas in economics, the course is interdisciplinary in nature. Basic questions to be considered include: What roles have nutrition, public health, doctors, hospitals, and drugs played in the dramatic improvement in health since 1800? What role does personal behavior (e.g., eating, smoking, and exercise) play in health? What explains the organization and evolution of the American health care system? In a world of limited resources, how should we decide what medical care ought to be foregone? What is the best way to deal with the major health challenges facing developing countries? Why has spending on health care increased so much over the past 100 years? Why does the United States spend so much more than the rest of the world on health? Why do governments intervene in health care? What kinds of reforms to the health care system might work? Non-majors are encouraged to take the course.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Equated Courses: ECO-235

GHL-277 Epidemiology

Epidemiology is the study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states or events in specified populations, and the application of this study to the control of health problems (M. Porta, A Dictionary of Epidemiology, 5thed. 2008). This course will introduce you to basic epidemiologic concepts including determinants of health and patterns of disease in populations, population health descriptive techniques, use of health indicators and secondary data sources. You will gain an understanding of the role of Epidemiology in developing prevention strategies and policy. Among the topics to be covered are measures of mortality and morbidity, design and analysis of observational studies, community health assessment and program evaluation. Using well-studied case studies, you will learn from one another through selection and presentation of recent public health topics, and discussion of epidemiological principles applied to their study.
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 0.5-1
Distribution: Quantitative Literacy

GHL-310 Special Topics

Various topics at the advanced level may be offered from time to time. Please refer to Student Planning or the Registrar's page for descriptions of current offerings.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1

GHL-400 Capstone in Global Health

This course will cover a synthesis/capstone portfolio mutually agreed upon by the student and instructor. This collection will include presentations and projects generated by the student from his curricular and co-curricular global health experiences (e.g. blogs or newspaper articles authored; education materials or presentations created; research or health surveys to which the student contributed)and a reflective paper that places this content into the larger context of global health. Students should highlight concepts important in leading effectively, acting responsibly, and living humanely. Example components include advocacy and promotion of public health at all levels of society, critical and creative thinking and problem solving skills, cultural contexts affecting community health, ethical decision-making as related to self and society, and research methods.
Prerequisites: BIO-177, PSC-201/SOC-201/GHL-201, and GHL-277/DV1-277.
Credits: 0