Syllabus

Global Health Case Studies from a Biosocial Perspective is an introductory course with an interdisciplinary view of global health. It aims to frame global health's collection of problems and actions within a particular biosocial perspective. It develops a toolkit of analytical approaches and uses them to examine historical and contemporary global health initiatives with careful attention to a critical sociology of knowledge. The teaching team, four physician-anthropologists, draws on experiences working in Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe, and the Americas, to investigate what the field of global health may include, how global health problems are defined and constructed, and how global health interventions play out in expected and unexpected ways.

Core Faculty

Arthur Kleinman

Paul Farmer

Anne Becker

Salmaan Keshavjee

Guest Lecturers

David Jones

Emily Harrison

Luke Messac

Agnes Binagwaho

Joseph Rhatigan

Rebecca Weintraub

Raj Panjabi

Didi Bertrand-Farmer

Isabelle Kamariza

Christine Mutaganzwa

Catherine Mugeni

Anatole Manzi

Adeline Mercon

Pere Eddy Eustache

Dorjervil Jean Welfrand

Tatiana Theosme

Reginald Fils-Aime

Teaching Fellows

April Opoliner (course producer)

Illiana Quimbaya

John Heintz

Marty Alexander

Phil Garrity

Note: Some weeks you will get to choose which case you want to take with a few options. 

Week 1: Introduction

Introduction to the Course

Introduction to the Biosocial: HIV and TB Co-infection in sub-Saharan Africa

Week 2-5: The Toolkit: Social Theories, History, and Political Economy

Why Ideas Matter: Six Social Theories

Colonial Medicine and Its Legacies in Global Health

Discourses of Development and Global Health

Neoliberalism and Its Rise in the field of Global Health

Week 6: Redefining the Possible: The Global AIDS Movement

The Global AIDS Movement

Week 7: Redefining the Possible:  Building an Effective Rural Health Delivery Model in Haiti and Rwanda (choose 1)

TB, HIV, and Structural Violence in Haiti

Community Healthcare Workers in Rwanda 

Healthcare systems and Ebola in Liberia

Week 8-9: Redefining the Possible:  Scaling up Effective Delivery Models Worldwide (choose 2)

Building Back Better: The Success of Rwanda’s Health Care System

Mental Health Care Capacity Building in Haiti

The Case for Global Health Delivery 

BRAC TB Delivery Model

Integrated Healthcare in Rwanda

Week 10: Redefining the Possible:  The Unique Challenges of Mental Health and MDRTB: Critical Perspectives on Metrics of Disease (Choose 1)

Eating Pathology, Suicide Risk, and Rapid Social Change in Fiji: Low Visibility and High Vulnerability

Overcoming structural violence: MDR-TB care in Russia

MDR-TB as a window into Global Health

Week 11: Redefining the Possible:  Values and Global Health (Choose 1)

Stigma and Mental Health

Values, Caregiving, and Global Health

Week 12: Redefining the Possible:  Taking Stock of Foreign Aid

Neoliberalism and Its Penetration into the Local World: The Case of NGOs in Tajikistan

Primary readings come from two books. Some chapters of these books will be available for free. Required reading will always come from these free chapters. Additional chapters are available for a small fee. Please log into SIPX for the cost. You can find more about readings here.

Reimagining Global Health: An Introduction

by Paul Farmer, Arthur Kleinman, Jim Kim, and Matthew Basilico

Blind Spot: How Neoliberalism Infiltrated Global Health

by Salmaan Keshavjee

Additional suggested readings will come from academic journals and other media sources. Unfortunately, some suggested readings may require a subscription (individual or institutional) to medical journals. We are still making these suggestions for individuals who have access through other means, but we are unable to provide access through the course.

To earn a certificate, the learner must earn a score of 70% or greater. The grades are weighted by section: 

Introduction to the Biosocial – 5%

The Toolkit – 25%

Reimaging the Possible through Case Studies – 10% each for a total of 70%

Grades are earned in the following way:

Reading Comprehension Questions: This type of question will only occur during the first five lectures. Each of these lectures will begin with a small set of questions that can be answered by the assigned textbook chapter. These questions will highlight important information from the reading that will help prepare the learner for the lectures.

Video Comprehension Questions: These questions will follow the videos. This type of question will highlight important information from and connections between the videos.

Participation: These questions will ask the learner to report if they watched videos or posted on the discussion boards when required. We depend on learners to be honest in their response.