Global Health Histories (HEC-RS-GLOHEA-22)

HEC-RS-GLOHEA-22

Description

This course explores key themes in the history of global health in the modern and contemporary period. It understands health in the broadest possible sense of the word, as a state of well-being that is not merely the absence of disease. It studies the social, political, economic, environmental, and cultural factors that have influenced the development of global health and it explores the roots of health disparities. By focusing on ideologies, institutions and practices, the course assesses both the achievements and the limitations of the global health movement. It points to the connections that transcended the boundaries of individual countries and also to the efforts to protect national borders during epidemics. It also examines how health has played an integral role in the rise of nation-states, imperialism, colonialism and international collaboration.

By exploring the relationship between health and citizenship, the course asks how health and welfare policies have defined the contours of inclusion and exclusion and how science and medicine have been instrumentalized to the detriment of groups of people defined by their gender, class, race, or ethnicity. Special attention will be paid to the hitherto neglected topic of mental health. Moreover, whenever possible, the course seeks to complement top-down approaches with grassroots perspectives by studying how patients, healers, communities and health activists have experienced, supported and resisted international medical interventions.