Learn how communities around the world understand and strive for health and well-being.
16
Relevant previous coursework recommended
English
Feb 1 – May 16
Argentina, India, South Africa, United States
USA, India, South Africa, Argentina
Global Health & Well-being
Development & Inequality
Health practices differ widely around the globe, but health inequities—between economic divides, urban and rural—are increasing exponentially everywhere. Across four continents, compare health systems and strategies, community well-being, and multiple factors affecting human health in different contexts, on both local and global scales. Journey from mega-cities to rural villages to take a holistic, interdisciplinary look at how communities around the world define what it is to achieve and maintain health.
With this scope of experiences, you will learn to critically analyze some of the most pressing health issues of this global moment such as social inequities, chronic and infectious disease, climate change, and the economic drivers of healthcare. Through site visits and research training with an array of health practitioners, government officials, and activists, you will explore health at both individual and population-wide levels, and witness how positioning health as a human right impacts policy and health outcomes at all levels. Finally, you will explore the challenges all citizens face amid mounting obstacles to healthcare access, while strengthening your ability to understand, interpret, and compare the socio-cultural, ecological, economic, political, and biological factors that shape and predict human health.
Explore a Day in the Life of an IHP student!
Photos on this page may depict program sites from previous semesters. Please view the Program Sites section of this page to see where this program will travel in a specific semester.
None, but previous college-level coursework or background in public health, anthropology, biology, or other related fields is strongly recommended.
(10 days)
The seat of government of one of the richest nations in the world and hub of international policy-making, Washington, DC, is also home to some of the greatest wealth disparities of any city in the United States. Explore the city’s diverse neighborhoods; meet with activists, government officials, and global health experts at non-governmental organizations; study the many social determinants of health; and develop your own perspectives before exploring similar issues internationally.
(Four+ weeks)
India is a world power with a burgeoning economy and nearly 18 percent of the global population. In Delhi, India’s capital, consider the impact and response to the pandemic while examining how marginalized populations fight against infectious diseases like HIV and tuberculosis, while facing a lack of access to clean water and food. Study health disparities among various populations including sexual and religious minorities, as well as the physical health challenges of farmers and laborers moving in and out of urban spaces. Gain insights into potential solutions from distinguished academics, NGOs, local health experts, and government leaders. An excursion to Udaipur-Jaipur allows you to learn about Rajasthan State’s public healthcare system, from tertiary super specialized care to the village level. Udaipur city is known for its beautiful lakes and splendid green Aravalli mountains. As the home of Bhil tribes who maintain their indigenous system of medicine and traditional medical practices, this location offers a unique opportunity to learn about tribal health. In Jaipur, you will meet with state healthcare policymakers and administrators to understand the strengths and challenges of a state healthcare delivery system.
(4+ weeks)
The colonial and apartheid history of South Africa reverberates to this day, with the disparity of wealth and unequal distribution of resources providing a distinct backdrop to analyze how the country’s past affects South Africans’ present access to healthcare, education and, in some cases, basic services. Homestays in one of Cape Town’s most vibrant neighborhoods near the city’s center offers a base from which to learn from grassroots organizers, community leaders, traditional medical practitioners, and national experts. In the close-knit township of Zwelethemba, a historically Black African township nestled beneath the stunning Hex River Mountains, community elders and young leaders will teach us about the decades-long challenges—but also strategies and victories—for securing political, social, and economic access to health justice.
(4+ weeks)
With a population of 14 million, Buenos Aires is the most important and influential city, politically and economically, in Argentina, and a cultural hotspot of Latin America. Study the complexities of living in this cosmopolitan, globalized city, where health is a political right and a free public health system accessible to every person in the country coexists with two others: a private sector and semi-private labor union sector, both powerful and competitive. Time spent in the provincial countryside, and your urban homestay experience will help you witness the effects of rapid growth shaped by immigration, economic instability, the globalization of Argentine culture, as well as extreme inequalities in vast sectors of the population.
Please note that SIT will make every effort to maintain its programs as described. To respond to emergent situations, however, SIT may have to change or cancel programs.
Upon successful completion of the program, students will be able to:
The following syllabi are representative of this program. Because courses develop and change over time to take advantage of dynamic learning opportunities, actual course content will vary from term to term.
The syllabi can be useful for students, faculty, and study abroad offices in assessing credit transfer. Read more about credit transfer.
Health, Culture, and Community – syllabus
(ANTH3050 / 4 credits)
Medical anthropology serves as the theoretical foundation for this course. It seeks to strengthen students’ ability to understand, interpret, and compare how personal and community identity, health and well-being, illness, and healing are understood within diverse cultural contexts. The course examines the philosophy and practices characteristic of biomedicine and a wide range of traditional and other systems of health and healing, as well as the reality of medical pluralism in the lives of individuals. In so doing, the course covers themes of health and healing pertinent across the life span — from birth to death. Throughout, students are encouraged to support their comparative understanding with an exploration of their own assumptions and practices related to identity, health, and healing.
Globalization and Health – syllabus
(IPBH3500 / 4 credits)
Nations at all levels of development vary in their commitment and capacity to define healthcare as a human right and provide healthcare to their citizens equitably. Some have created systems to provide basic healthcare, yet struggle with other factors that influence health, while others position healthcare as an economic commodity subject to market forces. This course provides a framework for comparing the organization and financing of health systems and health policymaking across the countries visited. It examines the political economy of health, with special attention to the impact of international governance, economic structures, and trade policies. Students gain skills in critical thinking, policy analysis, and debate, supported by research, observation, and exposure to different perspectives from different in-country experts.
Public Health: From Biology to Policy – syllabus
(IPBH3505 / 4 credits)
This course begins with an overview of global and national health trends in the context of demographic shifts and development. In each country visited, a significant health condition is addressed: What are the biological mechanisms of disease? How is disease distributed in the country’s populations? What public health interventions are supported by empirical evidence? In light of social, cultural, economic, and political conditions, how can such evidence be applied in the local context? Specific considerations studied range from infectious to “lifestyle” and chronic illnesses, e.g., diarrheal diseases of early childhood, adult mental health, COVID-19, cervical cancer, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis.
Community Health Research Methods – syllabus
(IPBH3510 / 4 credits)
This course seeks to strengthen students’ competence in inquiry-guided learning through field-based case studies. The course begins with an introduction to the philosophic traditions of ethnography, epidemiology, and health services research — complementary and sometimes conflicting. It then teaches and gives students the opportunity to apply the chief tools of each tradition (e.g., participant observation, in-depth interviewing, mapping, interpreting data analyses, and oral presentation of findings). In each country, students choose from a range of available field case study topics/sites as the primary venue for demonstrating their field research and presentation skills.
Student accommodations will include a mix of homestays, hostels, guesthouses, and small hotels/dorms. Students will experience homestays where possible and will be oriented as they move from place to place.
More About Homestay Experiences:
Family structures will vary. For example, a host family may include a single mother of two small children, or a large extended family with many people coming and going. Please bear in mind that the idea of what constitutes a “home” (i.e., the physical nature of the house) may be different from what you would expect. You will need to be prepared to adapt to a new life with a new diet, a new schedule, new people, and possibly new priorities and expectations. Learning about these differences is a key part of understanding the relationship between health and community in different cultural contexts.
In most cases, students will be placed in homestays in pairs, with placements made to best accommodate health concerns, including allergies or dietary needs. Information about homestay families will only be available upon arriving in each country.
Positions recently held by alumni of this program include:
Co-founder and executive director of Spark MicroGrants, New York, NY, and multiple locations in Africa
Policy advisor in the Executive Office of the President, Office of Science and Technology Policy, Washington, DC
Managing director of Food Loft, Boston, MA
Intern at the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Global Health Diplomacy, Washington, DC
Primary care intern at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA
Founder of TurnOut, an LGBTQ volunteer-matching social enterprise, San Francisco, CA
The faculty/staff team shown on this page is a sample of the individuals who may lead your specific program. Faculty and coordinators are subject to change to accommodate each program’s unique schedule and locations.
SIT Study Abroad is committed to ensuring that international education is within reach for all students. We believe in the transformative power of immersive, intercultural experiences and are dedicated to supporting students in their educational journey.
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A critical step in preparing for your study abroad program is planning how you will maintain your health and wellbeing. Please review the following information carefully and contact [email protected] with any questions or concerns.
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IHP alum Sean Massa shares how study abroad changed his major, his career path, and his worldview.
