AP/SOSC 4146 3.00

Health And Humanitarianism

This course is an interdisciplinary examination of health and humanitarianism, with particular attention to how this field is shaped by historical, social and political-economic forces. The course focuses on the key actors, institutions and ideologies involved in health and humanitarianism, as well as on their diverse and sometimes conflicting agendas. This analysis is used to explore a number of contemporary issues relevant to the field, for example health workers and the politics of bearing witness, the politics of food aid, and the rise of public health emergencies as perceived threats to security. Guest speakers bring these issues to life using real-world examples about health and humanitarianism from the Congo, Haiti & Tanzania, for example. The course is seminar style with student-led discussion & participation. Students build off material from the course to develop their final paper on a cross-cutting theme or a particular health and humanitarian case study of interest to them.