Health and Community

- Multi-Country

Locations Throughout the World

  China

• Beijing: 
Beijing

  India

Bangalore

  South Africa

• Cape Town: 
Cape Town (Kaapstad)

  Switzerland

Geneve [Geneva]

Term: Spring 
Dates: Jan.- May 2009

Description: Health disparities within and across countries have widened even as modern health care has discovered the causes of many illnesses and prevented many deaths. The global and local roots of economic disenfranchisement and poor access to effective technical advances and health care resources raise profound questions about who makes decisions about priorities and how these decisions are made. These are questions that belie simple answers and solutions. Practitioners and policy-makers, educators, and activists must be prepared to face the multi-factorial trends and global interconnections that underlie the gap between the health of people in resource-rich and resource-poor communities throughout the world.

Participants on the IHP Health and Community program will learn about the many ways that individuals and communities respond to the health consequences of their biologic, ecologic, economic, political, and socio-cultural environments. Students will broaden their global perspective and deepen their skills in critical and comparative thinking, both vital to meeting emerging global health challenges.

The courses create a foundation for understanding culture and health: the health impacts of globalization; comparative health systems, governance and policy-making; public health problems and strategies; and field-based research methods.

The program will give future health care leaders the confidence to ask important questions, analyze alternatives, and set priorities. They will learn to listen to and understand the multiple voices of people in local communities, governing bodies, and non-governmental agencies.

In each country, Health and Community begins with a week of orientation to the national health care system, cultural dynamics within the local community, and themes of health, illness and social disparities. We observe firsthand disparities in rural and urban health, as students spend at least one week in each country in a rural village. In each place, we study one infectious or chronic disease that has a profound impact in all three places, such as HIV/AIDS or TB, and compare how it is manifest and addressed differently within and across countries. In addition, we address a specific environmental challenge to health, and explore issues that illustrate unique aspects of each country's stage of economic development, the forces of globalization, and local politics and culture as they affect the everyday lives and health of people in the communities we visit.

In addition to a full complement of guest lectures, coursework, field visits and observations, students will explore in depth a topic of their interest in a week devoted to case study and presentation in each country. All of this is possible in the context of diverse homestays in our host communities and IHPs partnerships with local NGOs and universities.

Highlights: Students will spend 1 week in Geneva, Switzerland, 5 weeks in India, 5 weeks in China, and 5 weeks in South Africa.

Students receive 16 credits upon completion of the program. The courses are as follows: Globalization and Health; Culture and Health Care: Systems and People; Biology, Behavior, and Society; and Community Health Research Methods.

During the Health and Community program, the majority of time will be spent in homestays although there will be a mix of other group accommodations throughout the semester.

Cost in US$: $23,650

Experience Required: no

This Program is open to World Wide Participants.

Participants Travel in Groups

Typically Participants Work in Groups of 30

Application Process Involves:

• In-Person Interview when Feasible
• Letters of Reference
• Phone Interview
• Transcript
• Written Application

Post Services Include:

• Alumni Network
• Exit DebriefingAbroad
• Job and Internship Network

International Honors Program's Mission Statement: The International Honors Program offers a unique set of theme-based, multi-country study abroad programs. Each program is designed to give students the opportunity to explore significant social, political, and environmental issues using an innovative comparative approach. The comparative approach allows students to contrast and analyze thematic issues on a global scale. It exposes students to a wide range of communities and perspectives, requiring students to question assumptions, suspend judgments, while inquiring deeply around the thematic areas. Thematic areas include the environment, globalization, urban planning, public health, indigenous issues, anthropology, social justice, and human rights. On each of IHP's study abroad programs a relatively small group of students and faculty travel together to several different countries. The group will spend between four and eight weeks in each country while they examine issues related to the program theme. The exploration of the issues will involve direct contact and interaction with local experts, activists, educators, community members, public figures, and leaders of various government and community organizations. To ensure exposure to each country's peoples and cultures, IHP arranges for students to stay in local homes and communities whenever possible. Many students stay in contact with their hosts for years afterward. For many alumni, the IHP experience directly influences their graduate school or career choice. IHP prompts students to ask lifelong questions about their role in a global community.

Year Founded: 1958