PROGRAM IN GLOBAL HEALTH STUDIES

This course introduces students to pressing disease and health care problems worldwide and examines past and current efforts to address them. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, the course identifies the main actors, institutions, practices and forms of knowledge production characteristic of what we call “global health” today, and explores the environmental, social, political and economic factors that shape patterns and experiences of illness and healthcare across societies. We will scrutinize the value systems that underpin specific paradigms in the policy and science of global health and place present-day developments in historical perspective. 

Biomedicine (aka "Western" or allopathic medicine) is often represented as neutral and 'scientific', the opposite of culture. In contrast, this course begins with the premise that biomedicine is produced through social processes, and therefore has its own inherent culture(s). The aim of this course is to expose students to the social and cultural aspects of biomedicine within a variety of contexts and countries throughout the world. Focusing on the interrelations between technology, medicine, science, politics, power and place, topics covered will include: colonialism and biomedicine, learning biomedical cultures at medical school, experiences of health practitioners and patients, medicine in resource rich and resource-poor health systems, and biomedicine and inequality.

This seminar explores global health and development policy ethnographically, from the politics of policy-making to the impacts of policy and on health practice, and on local realities both abroad and at home. Going beyond the intentions underlying policy, this course highlights the histories and material, political, and social realities of policy and its application. Drawing on case studies of policy makers, government officials, data collectors, health care workers, aid recipients, and patients, the course asks: how do politics inform which issues become prioritized or codified in health and development policy, and which do not? How do policies affect (global) health governance? In what ways are policies adapted, adopted, innovatively engaged, or outright rejected by various actors, and what does this mean for the challenges that such policies aim to address? Ultimately, what is the relationship between health policies and health disparities, abroad and at home?

Food security is one of the wicked problems of our time, an issue so complex that it seems to defy resolution. One camp suggests that if only the world could produce more food, everyone could be fed. The other camp claims that we already produce more than enough food to feed the world's growing population, and that food insecurity arises from unequal access to resources. At the crux of these perspectives are different understandings of how we might achieve social and environmental sustainabilityshould we produce more or consume less? In this class, we'll approach these complex issues from a social and historical perspective rooted in anthropology. The first half of class will examine how chronic and severe food shortages arise by searching for their historical roots. The second half of class will focus on the different kinds of solutions that have been proposed to ameliorate food insecurity and achieve long-term food sustainability.

The immune system is the primary defense mechanism of vertebrates against invading pathogenic organisms. This cellular system has the remarkable ability to recognize as foreign any material which is not normally a constituent of an individual's own tissues. This includes not only bacteria, viruses, and tumor cells when they express modified or new proteins, but nearly all compounds from a chemist's shelf - natural and synthetic. The immune system confronts this vast universe of foreign materials, referred to as antigens, by synthesizing an equally vast array of proteins each of which can bind to one antigen, and by so doing eliminate it. How this array of antigen-receptors is generated, how the genes which encode these are organized, the strategies adopted by the immune system to specifically activate the cells which bear the receptors and fastidiously eliminate self recognition are addressed in this course.

Field Studies in Public Health was developed for students interested in health-related fields, including public health, medicine, and health policy. In this course, students will learn the broad definition of Public Health and its history, and will explore the complexity of this field by examining current public health issues such as food safety, gun violence, and healthcare reform. The course will provide students an opportunity to consider how the theory and ideology of public health square up with the practice of this field at their internship sites.

Explores current problems in public and environmental health, such as the worldwide burden of major infectious diseases; the emergence of new pathogens, environmental reservoirs of infectious organisms, transport of microorganisms in the environment, and evaluating the combined effects of land use modification, water abstraction, and global climate change on ecosystems. Prerequisite: 361-1 or consent of department

Among the questions examined in this course are: Why is the NP sector growing so rapidly? Why is it more important in the U.S. than in other countries? Why are NPs concentrated in particular industries and totally absent in others? In institutionally-"mixed" industries, how, if at all, does the behavior of NP, for-profit (FP), and governmental organizations differ, and why? How do nonprofits finance themselves? Why does volunteer labor go predominantly to NPs? How does tax policy affect NPs? How should, "good performance" of a NP be (a) defined, (b) measured, and (c) rewarded, and how effective is public policy in encouraging good performance?

This new university-wide course in humanitarian and non-profit logistics will explore the challenges and opportunities of achieving social good in the age of analytics. Students will work on interdisciplinary teams on a series of case studies that range in topic from advanced technology for disaster response and preparedness to improved decision-making frameworks for community-based health care providers. To assist in the understanding of these complex settings, the course will include guest speakers from local and national organizations, including the Manager of Operations Analysis and Disaster Dispatch at the American Red Cross of Greater Chicago and the Medical Director of the Bank of America Chicago Marathon.

How can we encourage and inspire meaningful social change? How can we design and implement effective programs that address social problems and social needs? How can we realize human rights and secure civil rights in our communities and around the world? We will attempt to answer these questions by exploring specific steps of the design and implementation process. By examining characteristics of youth and community programs in the fields of education, social justice, human development, health promotion, human rights, and civic engagement –at the local, national, and international levels –we will seek to identify commonalities and understand differences among them. A major goal of this course is to acquire an intellectual and applied understanding of the principles of program design and development, which include a sustained consideration of issues affecting the quality of program implementation. Considerable attention will be devoted to specific steps within the design and implementation process, as well as case studies of actual programs.We will examine a range of topics, including: finding inspiration; identification, recruitment, and retention of target audiences; staff selection; setting global and incremental goals; and ensuring sustainability.We must also acknowledge that what counts as a social need or social problem is subjective and complex and that programs can therefore be controversial, difficult to manage, and difficult to evaluate. In light of this, we will touch on the organizational, ethical,and political contexts of implementation.While much of the design and implementation process can be seen as intuitive, you are encouraged –through class discussion, your writing, and your designs –to actively challenge your assumptions about creating community programming, as well as critique the programs that we learn about and the design techniques that we practice.