The Harvard Global Health Institute equips Harvard undergraduates to tackle diverse global health challenges through critical thinking and active engagement. Collaborating with university departments and global partners, HGHI provides unique learning opportunities, fostering a global community through coursework, research, internships, and workshops, preparing the next generation of global health practitioners and leaders.
Student Engagement
General Education and Global Health
Global health courses fulfill a number of requirements for the Harvard College Program on General Education (Gen Ed). The Gen Ed Program seeks to “connect a student’s liberal education – that is, an education conducted in a spirit of free inquiry, rewarding in its own right – to life beyond college.” General Education courses can be a great way to provide an introduction to global health concepts; Gen Ed courses have no prerequisites and can be taken by students at all levels. Indeed, many of the foundational courses for the Secondary Field in Global Health and Health Policy are part of the Gen Ed curriculum, and are an ideal way for students to begin a series of courses in global health topics.
Secondary Field in Global Health and Health Policy
The Global Health and Health Policy Secondary Field (GHHP) encourages students to explore interdisciplinary health challenges. Through a curriculum that encourages experiential learning, students can engage complex themes from a variety of perspectives. For example, areas of focus might include: accountability and governance, exploring the role of the state versus transnational organizations in global health; the risk of pandemic diseases and their economic and psychological impact on populations; the consequences of political change in a country’s health (e.g. post-Soviet Union); or the challenges resulting from complex emergencies and vulnerable populations in fragile states.
The natural sciences, the social sciences and the humanities all contribute to the study of global health and health policy. Students may explore any one of a number of topics ranging from interdisciplinary health problems and social determinants to a concentrated focus on social responses, such as health systems and health policies.
Check out the blue book on the GHHP website for a comprehensive list of global health courses at Harvard.
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