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School for Cross-faculty Studies Global Sustainable Development

Health and Sustainable Development

Pills
GD209-15 Term 1
GD212-15 Term 2
or
GD204-30

Module Leader
Dr Camilla Audia
Optional Core - Second year only
Either Terms 1 or 2 or Terms 1 and 2
15 or 30 CATS
15 workshop hours and 10 lecture hours
(15 CATS variant)
30 workshop hours and 20 lecture hours
(30 CATS variant)

Not available to students outside the School for Cross-Faculty Studies.

All lectures and seminars will be face to face unless otherwise stated in Moodle

For session preparation and further info, visit the module Moodle space via this link
Please note this webpage refers to the module as planned for 2023-2024. For the 2022-2023 version, please find this here: 2022-2023 module information 

Principal Aims

This module offers an in-depth examination of Sustainable Development Goal 3 (“good health and well-being”) and the broader field of global health. The module will involve a blend of conceptual foundations, case study analysis, and work with real-life qualitative and quantitative data. Teaching and case studies will be interdisciplinary, drawing on medical as well as social science research.

The module is offered each of terms 1 and 2 (as a 15 CATS module) and as a 30 CATS module available across terms 1 and 2.

In Term 1, the focus is on concepts and dimensions of global health, equipping students with a big-picture understanding of health governance and health systems. The examination of a broad range of global health priorities within and beyond the Sustainable Development Goals will further enable students to grasp and discuss key issues that will dominate global health in the coming decades (e.g. universal healthcare, environmental change, policy and governance), their relationship to international development and other sustainable development goals, and their global dimensions.
In Term 2, the module focuses on cross-cutting issues that consistently intersect global health issues, South-South and South-North relations and inequalities. We will explore the linkages between health and human rights, ethics and transdisciplinary frameworks for global health practices. Term 2 also addresses local health systems and their relations with policy processes and interventions, covering among others tensions, unintended consequences of health policy implementation, and methods to evaluate health interventions.

Principal Learning Outcomes

By the end of the module, students will be able to:

  • Appreciate economic, social, environmental, and governance dimensions of global health issues
  • Understand and evaluate un-/intended outcomes of health interventions and policies
  • Develop balanced and theoretically grounded arguments on the potential and limitations of technical solutions for health problems
  • Critically analyse the ways in which changing contexts affect people’s health
  • Apply qualitative and quantitative research methods to global health issues

Employability Skills

Through this module, you will develop a number of different skills that are sought by employers which will support your professional development. We have highlighted this to enable you to identify and reflect on the skills you have acquired and apply them throughout your professional journey including during the recruitment processes whether this on an CV/application form or at an interview.

  • Analytical: Structured thinking to develop compelling and grounded arguments and non-obvious solutions to problem
  • Data analysis: Qualitative and quantitative analysis techniques and evaluation methods using tools such as Excel
  • Written communication: Structuring and communicating evidence-based analysis results through research papers and case studies
  • Other skills - Independent thinking, research, and problem-solving.

Syllabus

Term 1

Following an introduction to global health and development, we examine,

  • Polity and Governance (Weeks 2 and 3): We explore the global and local governance (or absence thereof) of health, historical trajectories that define current governance arrangements and the structures of national health systems.
  • Global health priorities (Weeks 4 to 10): We will study specific topics of global health within the Sustainable Development Goal 3 (e.g. universal healthcare, health emergency preparedness) and topics outside the SDGs that are likely to dominate global health agendas in the coming decades (e.g. multimorbidity, antimicrobial resistance). We will also look at mental and social health, the links between global health and environmental change and present recent case-studies on air and noise pollution.

Term 2

The introductory week of this module will outline cross-cutting issues in health and sustainable development, and their analytical power in interrogating and challenging current global health practice. We study these issues in detail in the remainder of Term 2:

  • Behaviour and Context (Weeks 2 to 5): Health policy often makes strong simplifying assumptions about human behaviour. We will explore ways in which we can conceptualise behaviour and analyse case studies on topics such as the politicisation of vaccines and the influences of precarity on treatment-seeking behaviour. We will also look at global health ethics, South to North determinants of change and local health systems.
  • Policy and intervention (Weeks 6 to 10): We will revisit the policy process underlying global health, in which we scrutinise ethics, discourses, power, implementation dynamics, unintended (and often obscured) side-effects of health interventions, including during emergencies. In doing so, we will analyse the role of cities in global health dynamics, co-production as a way forward and transdisciplinary research methods for formulating and evaluating policy and interventions in theory and practice.

Assessment for 30 CAT Module

Coursework

Term 1: 1 x 1000 word Case study outline - 10%

Term 1: 1 x 2000 word Case study analysis - 20%

Term 2: 1 x 2000 word Reflective piece - 20%

Term 2: 1 x 4000 word Research paper - 50%

Assessment for 15 CAT Module Term 1

Coursework  

1 x 2000 word Essay (50%)

1 x 500 word Case study proposal (10%)

1 x 2000 word Case study (40%)

Assessment for 15 CAT Module Term 2

Coursework

1 x 2000 word Essay (50%)

1 x 2000 word Reflective piece (50%)

  Please note: Module availability and staffing may change year on year depending on availability and other operational factors. The School for Cross-faculty Studies makes no guarantee that any modules will be offered in a particular year, or that they will necessarily be taught by the staff listed on this page.