Teaching
Courses
Globalization and Health
2019, 2022
The course will offer a critical analysis of globalization as a set of complex political, economic, cultural, historical, and ecological processes, focusing on how these intersect with issues of health and wellbeing.
Public Health in South Africa
October 2019
In this course, students will learn about public health across four countries with an emphasis on exploring determinants of health including social, cultural, political, and economic factors. This course will actively examine how public health practitioners work to identify and respond to public health challenges building on local community strengths, while carrying out the three core functions of public health: assessment, program/policy development, and evaluation.
Health, Culture & Community
2018-2019
This course will offer an introduction to some of the key theoretical and analytical tools of contemporary medical anthropology. We will approach human health, disease and (un)wellbeing from the perspective that these realities are shaped by the multifaceted and complex contexts in which we live our lives – including communities, landscapes, and local and global political-economic structures.
Qualitative research methods & ethics
2018-2019
In order to understand health and illness in diverse societies and consider interventions that are contextually relevant, a well-researched understanding of local contexts — the social, cultural, political, economic, and other factors at play — is imperative. To meet this complexity, health researchers employ a variety of methodological approaches in order to produce information about and with the population of interest and to make inferences based on that. This course focuses on the study and application of community-based research methods.
Dialogues & Diversity in South Africa
2017-2018
Concepts of diversity and identity found in South African and U.S. cultures will be examined and compared while placing students’ experiences and observations as a central lens for exploration. Students will be expected to participate in discussion of readings and dialogues centered around increased awareness of social identity and its influence on individuals, systems, structures, and communities.