Global Health Minor and Concentration

Students taking the Global Health undergraduate minor will be required to take a minimum of 15 credits. This credit total must be taken in at least two different disciplines and must include:

1. Introduction to Global Health course (3 credits).
2. Three courses (9 credits) in no less than two of the content areas listed below:
   • Health and Wellness
   • Global Applications
   • Languages
3. A capstone project (3 credits) which may include:
   • Internship
   • Special topic/independent study
   • Study abroad course

This minor is open to all students in the university. Courses taken within the minor may also count toward other degree requirements and may fulfill university and school requirements in accordance with university policy. Students may seek permission to take one special topic/independent study course to fulfill the requirements of the concentration. Existing approved courses within each of the three content areas are available (See Table 2) and further outreach to departments in all schools will be made to ascertain if there are other courses currently available. Students may petition to have a course approved to meet the requirements of the concentration. Approvals for additional courses will be based on whether the course has at least 25% global health content/focus, or if the student can engage in written assignments in the course focusing on global health. A faculty committee comprised of faculty from the schools of Health Science, Nursing and Pharmacy will make decisions regarding such requests.

1. Students will be required to take 9 credits to fulfill the requirements of the Global Health Graduate Concentration. It is expected that students will be able to fulfill this requirement within their major program of study and will not need to pay for extra credits to complete the concentration. Courses taken within the concentration may also count toward other degree requirements and may fulfill university and school requirements in accordance with university policy
2. Students may petition to have a course approved to meet the requirements of the concentration. Approvals for additional courses will be based on whether the course has at least 40% global health content/focus, or can be adapted on an individual basis to meet this requirement. A faculty committee with representation from the schools of Health Sciences, Nursing and Pharmacy will make decisions regarding such requests.
3. Students may seek permission to take one special topics/independent study course (of no more than 3 credits) to fulfill the requirement of the concentration.

This course will present inter/multi-disciplinary perspectives on sub-Saharan Africa paying attention to the many factors- society, politics, economics, culture, literature, religion, ecology, among others- that have shaped the region and impact its role in our world today.

• Cross Lists with AFST 150, AFST 150C
• Bridges Requirement: Cultural Fluency and Responsiveness
• Offered Fall and Spring

This course provides an introductory survey of global health and topics relevant to the understanding of global health. In addition to learning what global health is, students will be exposed to relevant organizations in global health, where global health data comes from, and the influences of poverty, nutrition, conflict, culture, ethics and other areas upon global health.

• Bridges Requirement: Cultural Fluency and Responsiveness
• Offered Fall and Spring 

This course will provide a broad introduction into cultural themes of health, illness and health care by critically reviewing existing social inequalities and cultural perceptions. While basic biological explanations for health and disease will be considered in this course, the class materials and discussions will focus on the health consequence (e.g. The Tuskegee Experiment) and relate them to modern research. Differences in the quality of healthcare delivered to racial/ethnic groups will be explored in an attempt to explain why health disparities exist in the United States. Students will also be challenged to consider how they may be eliminated.

• Cross Lists with HLTS 200
• Bridges Requirement: Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
• Offered Fall Only, Offered Spring Only (even)

This course examines contemporary bioethical issues from the standpoint of Abrahamic religious thought (Christianity, Judaism and Islam) as well as non-Abrahamic religious thought (Buddhism, Hinduism, Confucianism and Sikhism). Issues such as those encountered at the end of life, as well as reproductive technology, genetic science and research will be examined through the lens of various religions in order for students to appreciate the structural differences found between them. Particular attention will be paid to what thinkers in religious traditions say about these issues, how they have reached their conclusion(s) and how their theological or philosophical convictions have influenced their moral judgments. Focus will also be made on the role of religious faith in the analysis of social problems and social responsibility related to healthcare.

• Cross Lists with HCE 201W

This course will orient students to the complex interrelationship between biological, socio-cultural and economic influences on population-level variation in health and well-being in low- and middle-income countries. Students will understand the leading causes of illness, death, and disability and approaches to prevention and control of those conditions in resource-poor settings. Students will learn about key players in international health- Ministries of Health, UN agencies, foundations, NGOs-and understand important shifts in policies towards healthcare delivery.

• Cross lists with PBHL 205
• Offered Spring Only

This course is an integrative overview of both historical and contemporary public health problems and how they were/are being addressed. The course also introduces students to the public health approach to improving health by integrating approaches from the five core areas of the discipline. Public health researchers and practitioners often examine lessons learned from previous generations as they consider strategies to effectively address current public health issues. Using a population perspective, we will examine the theory and practice of public health and consider the role of the field in addressing present-day issues and problems facing the nation and the globe. 

• Cross Lists with PBHL 201
• Offered Fall and Spring 

In this introductory course, students will learn and apply basic tenets of epidemiology in the multiple domains of public health. We will illustrate, and practice using epidemiologic techniques to better understand, characterize, and apply the prevention and control of disease strategies in human populations. A variety of exposures and health outcomes will be used as examples in class to demonstrate the broad application of epidemiologic concepts in public health to resolve health issues in society. 

• Cross Lists with PBHL 301
• Offered Fall Only 

This zero-credit elective course serves as the preparatory course for students who will be immersed in the 16-day short-term summer study abroad experience to Australia (HLTS 222/522). This course will provide all preparatory information required for the trip including Visa requirements for Australia, introduction to interprofessional education, and cultural aspects of Australia. All students enrolled in programs of study within the John G. Rangos School of Health Sciences will be eligible to enroll in this course. As space permits, students from programs in related disciplines may also be enrolled. The aim of this course will be to prepare students for the 16-day immersion in Australia in the subsequent summer.

• Cross Lists with HLTS 221
• Offered Summer Only (odd)
• 0 Credits

This three-credit elective course is intended for undergraduate or graduate students who will be immersed in a 16-day short-term summer study abroad experience. All students enrolled in programs of study within the John G. Rangos School of Health Sciences will be eligible to enroll in this course. As space permits, students from programs in related disciplines may also be enrolled. The aim of this course will be to expand the global diversity of health science students through an examination of the culture and healthcare structure in the international setting of Australia. Social and scientific factors as related to health beliefs and practices of the healthcare delivery system of Australia will be examined. Students will examine fundamental aspects of teamwork as it relates to healthcare delivery in Australia and the United States of America (USA).

• Cross Lists with HLTS 222, HLTS 522
• Bridges Requirement: Cultural Fluency and Responsiveness
• Offered Summer Only (odd)

This course provides an opportunity to study and experience global health issues by participating in an international Spring Break Away experience in Geneva, Switzerland and Berlin, Germany. Like Pittsburgh, Geneva and Berlin face social and scientific barriers to providing optimal healthcare to persons who are typically underserved or otherwise marginalized, such as individuals with physical, behavioral or intellectual disabilities, the homeless, and people challenged by substance use. This course offers students unique opportunities for service, global concerns, and concern for moral and spiritual values. Students will have the opportunity to expand and apply their knowledge in cultures different from their own and further enhance their cultural competency skills, through cultural immersion and by learning more about humanitarian and authoritative organizations such as the United Nations, the World Health Organization, the High Commission for Refugees and the International Red Cross.

• Cross Lists with HLTS 230
• Offered Irregularly 

This course introduces students to African cultures and to alternative approaches in bioethics discourse. It explores theoretical as well as practical issues in the field of bioethics from the African perspectives. The course intends to make students appreciate non-Western perspectives, thus equipping them for discourse on global bioethical issues. Subjects covered include sources of African ethics; the Role of Community in African Bioethics; Relational autonomy in informed consent (RAIC); The care of earth and environment in African worldview; issues at beginning of life; and end-of-life questions.

• Cross Lists with HCE 240, AFST 240
• Bridges Requirement: Ethical Reasoning and Moral Responsibility
• Offered Fall

This course challenges students to consider individuals with disabilities within the context of social justice and dignity. The course focuses on how disabilities are perceived across the world's cultures and societies, the consequences of those perceptions, and the historical, political, and economic forces that perpetuate them. The goals and missions of some of the agencies and movements dedicated to addressing disabilities across the globe are explored. Through large class discussions, book readings, videos, and individual assignments, students engage in self-reflection about their personal assumptions and beliefs about individuals with disabilities as well as the ethical problems these assumptions bring to our social interactions with other people. Several classes will be conducted online through Canvas, using Discussion Board and/or Collaborate as the learning platform.

• Cross Lists with PSYC 245, SLP 245, AFST 245
• Bridges Requirement: Cultural Fluency and Responsiveness
• Offered Spring Only

This course is designed to provide a broad perspective related to public health issues that threaten the health and well-being of African populations. It is designed to fit different school majors at the undergraduate level as it integrates the social, economic, environmental, and political aspects that affect people's health. Students will learn about the sub-Saharan African region's disease burden and frail health care systems within the context of millennium development goals.

• Offered Fall Only

This program gives students the opportunity to tour public and private hospitals, outpatient clinics, and public health facilities and interact with clinicians and health care personnel. During the trip, students will have opportunities to compare and contrast the European, Chinese and African healthcare systems to the US system and discuss how patient care can be impacted. There are no prerequisite courses. Information will be distributed to interested students during the Fall semester and a series of pre-departure class meetings will be held during the Spring semester.

• Cross Lists with HLTS 290, HLTS 590
• Bridges Requirement: Cultural Fluency and Responsiveness 
• Offered Summer Only

Health care is identified as one of the nation's most critical issues. This two-credit course is designed to provide students with the foundation of practical knowledge about American health care and medical delivery systems. The course will provide an overview of the economic, social, and political perspectives that define, describe, and shape the delivery of health care in the United States. The students will learn about the three primary elements of access, quality, and cost that confront policymakers, providers, and patients; and how these elements interact to determine the nature of health care systems and health policy. In addition, the course will incorporate an introduction to the operations and procedures of hospital, community, and long term care pharmacy. The students will learn the how the American health care system impacts the daily practice of these three areas of pharmacy in regards to formulary management, policies that guide patient safety and the role of the pharmacist as a member of the health care team

• Offered Fall Only
• 2 Credits

This course provides an introduction to the basic principles of public health and epidemiology. It is intended to familiarize students with the application of the basic principles of epidemiological concepts in the study of disease occurrence in populations. Students will also learn and apply principles of epidemiology to the study of drug use and outcomes and methods for continual monitoring for unwanted effects and other safety-related issues. Other public health topics to be covered will include health disparities, health promotion and disease prevention, health literacy, cultural competence, bioterrorism, emergency preparedness, infection control policies, and poison control centers. Students will learn about the pharmacist's role as a public health professional.

• Cross Lists with PHBA 311
• Offered Spring Only
• 2 Credits

This course introduces models of transcultural health care. Issues to the health care professional's role in the delivery of culturally competent based health care are explored. Emphasis is placed on the assessment and analysis of culturally congruent care as related to clinical practice issues in the United States and Globally and more specifically in the context of sub-Saharan Africa. Interplay between models of transcultural care and other models of clinical application of culturally appropriate interventions are examined.

• Cross Lists with AFST 324, UPNS 324
• Offered Spring Only

Healthcare is delivered all over the world. People have similar diseases and illnesses but different interpretations of health and suffering. Also, how they respond to medical challenges will depend on ethical values within specific religious and cultural contexts. Organ donation, commercial motherhood, and euthanasia are therefore approached in very different ways across the world. Given this diversity, is it possible to identify common ethical values that can lead to a global response to ethical challenges? This course will assess bioethical cases, study original sources and listen to relevant religious stories from all over the world. This course has been granted the Global Diversity theme area of the University CORE. In this course, we will study these issues, illustrate their relevance by exploring real-life cases, and learn to analyze them.

• Cross Lists with HCE 330
• Offered Fall (even)

What are the narratives we tell about our gender? What are the narratives that various institutions-medical, psychological, psychiatric, and other specialists-tell about our gender? How do those narratives get used to form ideas about what is "normal" or "acceptable? And what is the effect of these narratives on a global scale? In this class, we will strive to address all of these questions as well as examine our own presumptions about our gender, class, race and other identities-and how these presumptions affect our we see and treat others.

• Cross Lists with PHIL 333, ENGL 306, WSGS 333
• Offered Irregularly 

Contemporary health research is conducted in a global context. The global nature of health research expresses itself in various ways. There are multinational clinical trials; patients in one country benefit from health research conducted in another country; priority setting in health research by pharmaceutical companies and affluent countries affects the possibilities of less affluent countries to respond to disease; etc. The global nature of health research poses specific ethical challenges from the perspective of global health. Global health has been defined as "an area for study, research, and practice that places a priority on improving health and achieving equity in health for all people worldwide" (Kaplan, Bond, Merson et al. 2009). In this course, we will study research ethics from the particular perspective of global health. To do so, we will not just analyze the protection of human subjects in health research, but, also, look at the broader impact that health research has on societies, particularly in developing countries. Throughout the course, India will serve as an example to illustrate how multinational health research often disproportionally benefits developed countries at the expense of poorer countries and how vulnerable populations in developing countries frequently bear the burdens of research with little prospect of substantial long-term benefits for these populations. At the same time, the case of India shows what steps can be taken to reduce international disparities in health research. Throughout the course, students will develop a thorough understanding of healthcare in India and the ways in which healthcare in developing countries like India poses particular ethical challenges for health research. Graduate students will study an additional book which they will integrate into a 25-page final essay.

• Theme Area: Global Diversity, Social Justice
• Offered Summer Only 

This course provides students with the opportunity to study and experience the health care system, culture, and society of a Central American Country. The goal is to enable students to discover the unique complexity and challenges of healthcare within a global context through the lens of a Central American Country's culture and perception of health and wellness. The course consists of both pre-trip seminars and an immersive experience utilizing service-learning pedagogy and reflective journaling. The pre-trip seminars enable students to explore the religion, politics, history, education, economy, family systems, values, art and culture and healthcare of a Central American Country. The immersive experience will consist of a 5-9 day trip where students will participate in the provision of collaborative healthcare services, observational experiences and/or tours at local healthcare facilities as well as socio-cultural and recreational activities designed to provide an understanding of the history/culture of the country.

• Offered Irregularly
• 0-3 Credits

Students will engage in this inter-professional, interdisciplinary service-learning immersion experience in Tanzania, East Africa, as participant observers. Students will address community-identified needs providing service and educational modules as requested at a variety of health clinics, hospitals, rehabilitation centers, schools, and universities. In addition, students will learn from health care professionals in Tanzania through formal presentations about issues related to global health, disability, and social justice. This course meets the "service learning" core requirement.

• Cross Lists with AFST 370, OCCT 370, 570
• Offered Summer Only (Every Other Year)

This course explores global health-related issues, and their cultural and communicative implications at the interpersonal, organizational, institutional, and cultural levels. Students develop an awareness of the complex and interrelated issues that influence community health and well-being around the world with a particular focus on vulnerable populations. Drawing from cultural, historical, social, and ethical meanings of health and illness, students develop leadership skills and cultivate cultural communicative competence for the global health environment. Students investigate a range of health-related topics including narrative medicine, health equity, health risk and crisis, cultural meaning of health and risk, social construction and communication of health risk, media representations of global health issues, and social justice and global health. This course reflects the assumption that communication constitutes issues, relationships, and contexts relevant to global health. Communication is the fundamental human meaning-making endeavor, shaping health-related experiences from the micro to the macro levels of interaction in diverse cultural settings.

• Cross Lists with COMM 399

Emphasizes basic considerations and techniques needed for effective communication with patients regarding their health problems, with emphasis on enhancing patient compliance with medical therapy. Students are introduced to the concept of vulnerable populations such as those with limited literacy, English as a foreign language and those with other special needs. This course positively contributes to students becoming competent in treating patients from diverse populations.

• Cross Lists with PHYA 413
• Offered Summer Only
• 1 Credit

This course builds on knowledge, skills, and behaviors required in the previous POP courses of PHYT 301 Principles of Practice I: Introduction to Physical Therapy; and PHYT 460 Principles of Practice II: Social & Cultural Issues. The student is introduced to the application of specific aspects of clinical physical therapy practice, with a focus on ethical issues in physical therapy, documentation, professional development, the patient-provider relationship, and the interdisciplinary health care team.

• Cross Lists with PHYT 421W
• University Core Writing Intensive
• Offered Spring Only
• 1 Credit

This course seeks to provide a global view and understanding of healthcare/science and the role of the pharmacist within the world. Course material would build upon basic principles introduced in PHBA 311 (Public Health and Epidemiology) and expand upon this through discussion of major global health challenges and the intersection of health with other global issues such as immigration/migration, ethics, cultural competency, poverty, violence, science and the business market for pharmaceuticals. Students will learn about the organizational infrastructure of global health (i.e. the World Health Organization) and health system strategies outside of the USA. Pertinent current issues relating to global health in the news will be examined as appropriate.

• Cross Lists with PHBA 423-B01
• Offered Spring Only

This course explores current trends, disparities, expenditures, allocation of Federal/State resources, regulations and public policies reflective of America's evolving health care system. The utilization of physician assistants in the current health care system is highlighted

• Cross Lists with PHYA 425
• Offered Spring Only
• 2 Credits 

Discusses and experiences health care and pharmaceutical care systems in the European Union, Japan, and the United States.

• Cross Lists with PHBA 428-91
• Offered Summer Only 
• 2 Credits 

This course considers moral theory, critical thinking as the basis for ethical reasoning, the relationship between healthcare professionals and patients, abortion and maternal-fetal conflicts, genetic engineering, reproductive technologies and closing, human and animal experimentation, organ transplantation, euthanasia and end of life decisions, HIV and AIDS, and challenges in healthcare policy and reform. The course also looks at how our public policies affect and should affect our struggle for equitable practices in healthcare. Case studies, memoirs, and documentaries supplement the introductory text.

• Cross Lists with SOCI 441
• Offered Fall Only

This course provides students with insight into the breadth and diverse aspects of a future career in health care management. After completing this course, students will have case experience relating to leadership and management, ethics and law, quality/patient safety, finance, health disparities, and cultural competency, human resources, and health care professions, conflict of interest, and healthcare fraud. This course presents a great opportunity for students to supplement knowledge with experiential learning. 

• Cross Lists with HLTM 450 
• Offered Fall Only

This immersive three week course will take place in Peru, exploring the health situation in this country of rich cultures, contrast, and adventure. We will discover first-hand how the health situation in Peru varies widely in the country by examining the burden of disease, the health care system, and approaches to promote and restore health through traditional medicine and public health interventions. We will explore the social determinants of health with a particular emphasis on understanding determinants related to food systems and nutrition.

• Cross Lists with PBHL 452, HLTS 452
• Study Abroad

Injuries are an inherent part of any sport, yet healthcare designed to manage these injuries and conditions differs globally. This study abroad course is designed to provide students with an opportunity to examine, explore, and engage in athletic healthcare and sports performance in Ireland. Students will also gain an appreciation of how integrated athlete/patient care (injury prevention, injury management, and performance enhancement) can be integrated into a broader community setting. Students will also gain an appreciation for the similarities and differences between athletic training and athletic rehabilitation therapy. Opportunities to develop an appreciation for Irish history, culture, politics, and religion will also be provided through a variety of tours and site visits. This course is athletic training students, with travel occurring during the week of Spring Break.

• Cross Lists with ATHT 455
• Offered Spring Only
• 0 Credits 

This internship is an approved unpaid work experience, related to Global Health. Students are responsible for identifying internship opportunities and will work at the internship site under the direction of a site supervisor. Approval from the Center is required.

• Offered Fall and Spring 
• 1-3 Credits 

This course covers new and noteworthy topics of interest in the field of Global Health. It may include field and /or clinical work. Approval from the Center is required.

• Offered Fall and Spring 
• 1-3 Credits 

Offers the opportunity for students to conduct an in-depth study of a particular topic or area in Global Health. Approval from the Center is required.

• Offered Fall and Spring 
• 1-3 Credits 

Emphasizes basic considerations and techniques needed for effective communication with patients regarding their health problems, with emphasis on enhancing patient compliance with medical therapy. Students are introduced to the concept of vulnerable populations such as those with limited literacy, English as a foreign language and those with other special needs. This course positively contributes to students becoming competent in treating patients from diverse populations.

• Cross Lists with PHYA 516
• Offered Summer Only
• 1 Credit 

This zero-credit elective course is intended for undergraduate or graduate students who will be immersed in a 16-day short-term summer study abroad experience (HLTS 222/522). All students enrolled in programs of study within the John G. Rangos School of Health Sciences will be eligible to enroll in this course. As space permits, students from programs in related disciplines may also be enrolled. The aim of this course will be to expand the global diversity of health science students through an examination of the culture and healthcare structure in the international setting of Australia. Social and scientific factors as related to health beliefs and practices of the healthcare delivery system of Australia will be examined. Students will examine fundamental aspects of teamwork as it relates to healthcare delivery in Australia and the United States of American (USA).

• Cross Lists with HLTS 521
• Offered Spring Only (odd)
• 0 Credits 

This three-credit elective course is intended for undergraduate or graduate students who will be immersed in a 16-day short-term summer study abroad experience. All students enrolled in programs of study within the John G. Rangos School of Health Sciences will be eligible to enroll in this course. As space permits, students from programs in related disciplines may also be enrolled. The aim of this course will be to expand the global diversity of health science students through an examination of the culture and healthcare structure in the international setting of Australia. Social and scientific factors as related to health beliefs and practices of the healthcare delivery system of Australia will be examined. Students will examine fundamental aspects of teamwork as it relates to healthcare delivery in Australia and the United States of American (USA).

• Cross Lists with HLTS 522
• Offered Summer Only (odd)

This course explores current trends, disparities, expenditures, allocation of Federal/State resources, regulations and public policies reflective of America's evolving health care system. The utilization of physician assistants in the current health care system is highlighted.

• Cross Lists with PHYA 525 
• Offered Spring Only
• 2 Credits 

This course builds on knowledge, skills, and behaviors required in the previous POP courses of PHYT 301 Principles of Practice I: Introduction to Physical Therapy; and PHYT 460 Principles of Practice II: Social & Cultural Issues. The student is introduced to the application of specific aspects of clinical physical therapy practice, with a focus on ethical issues in physical therapy, documentation, professional development, the patient-provider relationship, and the interdisciplinary health care team.

• Cross Lists with PHYT 531W 
• University Core Writing Intensive
• Offered Spring Only
• 1 Credit 

This course considers moral theory, critical thinking as the basis for ethical reasoning, the relationship between healthcare professionals and patients, abortion and maternal-fetal conflicts, genetic engineering, reproductive technologies and closing, human and animal experimentation, organ transplantation, euthanasia and end of life decisions, HIV and AIDS, and challenges in healthcare policy and reform. The course also looks at how our public policies affect and should affect our struggle for equitable practices in healthcare. Case studies, memoirs, and documentaries supplement the introductory text.

• Cross Lists with PLCR 541 
• Offered Irregularly

Injuries are an inherent part of any sport, yet healthcare designed to manage these injuries and conditions differs globally. This study abroad course is designed to provide students with an opportunity to examine, explore, and engage in athletic healthcare and sports performance in Ireland. Students will also gain an appreciation of how integrated athlete/patient care (injury prevention, injury management, and performance enhancement) can be integrated into a broader community setting. Students will also gain an appreciation for the similarities and differences between athletic training and athletic rehabilitation therapy. Opportunities to develop an appreciation for Irish history, culture, politics, and religion will also be provided through a variety of tours and site visits. This course is athletic training students, with travel occurring during the week of Spring Break.

• Cross lists with ATHT 555
• Offered Spring Only 
• 0 Credits

This course will increase students' cultural and clinical competence thus preparing them to work as speech-language pathologists with culturally and linguistically diverse populations. This course will lead to increased awareness of (1) one's own cultural perspectives, (2) the cultural, linguistic and socioeconomic makeup of the United States, (3) the values, beliefs, traditions of several ethnic/cultural groups, (4) the state of speech-language pathology in other countries, and (5) the unique challenges faced by individuals from diverse backgrounds with communication and swallowing disorders.

• Cross Lists with SLP 558
• Offered Summer Only
• 2 Credits

Therapeutic considerations in all aspects of multicultural diversity and implications for health care service delivery.

• Cross Lists with OCCT 560
• Offered Fall Only
• 2 Credits

Overview of community-based, population-focused and global approaches to service delivery and program development related to the profession.

• Cross Lists with OCCT 565
• Offered Summer Only

This program gives students the opportunity to tour public and private hospitals, outpatient clinics, and public health facilities and interact with clinicians and health care personnel. During the trip, students will have opportunities to compare and contrast the European and African healthcare systems to the US system and discuss how patient care can be impacted. There are no pre-requisite courses. Information will be distributed to interested students during the Fall semester and a series of pre-departure class meetings will be held during the Spring semester.

• Cross Lists with HLTS 590
• Offered Summer 

This course explores global health-related issues, and their cultural and communicative implications at the interpersonal, organizational, institutional, and cultural levels. Students develop an awareness of the complex and interrelated issues that influence community health and well-being around the world with a particular focus on vulnerable populations. Drawing from cultural, historical, social, and ethical meanings of health and illness, students develop leadership skills and cultivate cultural communicative competence for the global health environment. Students investigate a range of health-related topics including narrative medicine, health equity, health risk and crisis, cultural meaning of health and risk, social construction and communication of health risk, media representations of global health issues, and social justice and global health. This course reflects the assumption that communication constitutes issues, relationships, and contexts relevant to global health. Communication is the fundamental human meaning-making endeavor, shaping health-related experiences from the micro to the macro levels of interaction in diverse cultural settings.

• Cross Lists with COMM 599

In this course, we analyze the challenges which contemporary multicultural society poses to healthcare ethics. In the first part, we will describe these challenges and determine how they challenge normative healthcare ethics and clinical ethical practice. In the second part, we assess ways to overcome them in the field of normative ethical discussions. In the third part, we search for models and ways to deal with the challenges in clinical practice.

• Cross Lists with HCE 642
• Offered Fall (odd)

Empirical studies have shown that attitudes to bioethical issues are often influenced by religion. Moreover, in the past few decades, religious authorities have expressed outspoken opinions on bioethical issues not only in Christianity but in other religions too. However, there are substantial differences between religions in the ways in which bioethical arguments are constructed. Insight in this religious diversity is important to understand bioethical debates in non-western contexts as well as the bioethical attitudes of people belonging to religious minorities (e.g. Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Muslims) in western countries. In the first part of the course, students become aware of the existence of deep structural differences between religions in their development of bioethics. In the second part, the differences are further explored through the study of (non-Christian) religious answers to a concrete bioethical issue. In the third part, the observations from the previous parts are applied to assess whether and how these answers differ from Christian answers.

• Cross Lists with HCE 645
• Offered Fall (even)

This course focuses on the globalization of bioethics. It addresses the question of universal ethical principles in connection to cultural diversity. Current problems will be discussed, e.g. international clinical trials, benefit-sharing, organ trafficking, social responsibility for health, globalized food and culture.

• Cross Lists with HCE 655
• Offered Fall (even)

In this course, students will explore special education issues from an international perspective. Specifically, students will also explore different models, classification schemes, and multicultural perspectives on disability. Students will learn to use a comparative approach in applying special education theory and research across, populations, cultures, countries, and regions of the world. Topics will include disability issues, laws and policies, inclusion, and mainstreaming

• Cross Lists with GSPE 703 
• Offered Summer Only

This course provides doctoral students with the awareness, knowledge, and skills required of counselors, counselor educators, and counseling supervisors if they are to be effective leaders in a pluralistic and diverse society. This course prepares students to continue developing multicultural competencies. Diversity and identity issues, multicultural models and frameworks, and ethical implications are explored in relation to their impact on therapeutic, instructional, consultative, and supervisory relationships. Also emphasized are issues regarding spirituality, religion, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, age, gender, advocacy, social justice, and related trauma, crisis, and disaster issues.

• Cross Lists with CESD 805
• Offered Spring

This course explores the impact of globalization on health care and health care planning, and the need to design health care systems that are responsive to diverse cultural needs. The focus is on select global health problems assessed in a multidisciplinary manner to assure attention to the underserved and their complex cultural needs and requirements. Attention is directed at increasing the capacity of health care professionals to develop culturally sensitive health care systems.

• Cross Lists with GPNG 917 
• Offered Summer Only

• Cross-lists with PHIL 252
• Bridges Requirements:Ethical Reasoning & Moral Resp.
• Offered fall and spring.

• Cross-lists with THEO 253
• Bridges Requirements: . Ethical Reasoning & Moral Resp. 
• Offered every semester

• Cross-lists with MLSP 280
• Offered every fall and spring

MLSP 285 Spanish for Therapy Professionals
(asynchronous with one synchronous meeting a month) 

• Cross-lists with MLSP 285
• Offered every fall

• Cross-lists with UPNS 357
• Offered fall and spring 

• Cross-lists with UPNS 433
• Offered spring only 

• Cross-lists with PBHL 406
• Offered fall only 

• Maymester
• Offered Irregularly