Collaborate with the world.
Community Health and Nursing with Hong Kong Baptist University
Professor Haghiri-Vijeh integrated GNL into the Community Health and Nursing course by having her students collaborate with students from Hong Kong Baptist University to engage in an open-access virtual simulation, where they learned how to provide responsive and affirming healthcare for 2SLGBTQIA+ communities through social justice and equity.
"We need to be mindful of 2SLGBTQIA+ communities when we partner with them to provide affirming health care, [...] while this content is taught at universities, there is still cisnormativity and heteronormativity upheld within the community and society at large.”
Dr. Roya Haghiri-Vijeh, PhD, MN — Assistant Professor, School of Nursing
Health of Families & Social Groups with Mansa Memorial Hospital
Professor Faith Root creatively incorporated GNL in the Health of Families and Social Groups course for interested nurses and midwives with Mansa Memorial Hospital in Ghana. This comprehensive course focused on maternal and perinatal health, and local co-instructors at Mansa provided on-site teaching, ensuring relevance to the Ghanaian healthcare context. Professor Root considers this collaboration a “community of practice” more than a course offering, and emphasizes the importance of being able to "think globally and act locally." within the nursing profession.
“This course became a platform for exchanging knowledge across borders, highlighting both universal and unique aspects of healthcare practices.”
Faith Root MA, RN — Assistant Professor, School of Nursing
Global Health Policy: Power and Politics with Kenyatta University and Fulda University of Applied Sciences
In partnership with Kenyatta University (Kenya) and Fulda University of Applied Sciences (Germany), Professor Mathieu Poirier integrated GNL into his course Global Health Policy: Power and Politics, where he and his international partners incorporated a virtual lecture series that allowed students to learn about the Canadian, German, and Kenyan public health systems directly from course directors based in each country.
Additionally, students collaborated on an international group project, where they explored the World Health Organization’s essential public health functions, analyzed the comparisons between their respective public health systems, and created reports for improving their country's public health system, aimed at a fictional minister of health.
According to Dr. Poirier, GNL is a true benefit to a Global Health program, as it allows for a collaborative learning environment and transnational dialogues between students. He also points out that while some students do practicums abroad, many will not, and GNL offers an equitable way to provide real international working experience, even if a student is not able to travel abroad physically.
Mathieu J.P. Poirier, PhD, MPH — Associate Professor, School of Global Health
Ethics and Health Equity with Olinda Medical School
Professor Iris Epstein collaborated with Professors Maria Gabriella Albertins and Marcelo Maia, who teach health policy at Olinda School of Medicine in Brazil, to deliver an innovative GNL experience as part of her course, Ethics and Health Equity in Inter-professional Practice. This exciting initiative connected third-year Nursing students from York University with first-year medical students at Olinda School of Medicine.
At the heart of this experience is co-design methodology, an approach where students and instructors with diverse cross-cultural understandings work together to create solutions to shared challenges. Co-design encourages active participation from all stakeholders—students, faculty, and community members—allowing them to co-create and refine ideas collaboratively. This approach empowers students to develop a policy action brief addressing common ethical issues encountered by health professional students.
According to Dr. Epstein, the GNL experience is equally enriching for instructors, offering a platform for mutual learning and pedagogical innovation. Dr. Epstein emphasizes that co-design with community members creates a dynamic space where the challenges and successes of future healthcare training and education can emerge, building the foundation for impactful change in both healthcare practice and education.
Dr. Iris Epstein, PhD, RN — Associate Professor, School of Nursing
Get involved in Globally Networked Learning
Have ideas for a GNL Course? Visit the YorkU International GNL Page.