Global Health (Online) MSc/PGDip/PGCert

• Global Governance, Ethics and Law (30 credits)

  This module explores the impact of globalization on health policies and the challenges governments face in addressing cross-border health threats like HIV/AIDS, COVID-19, and avian influenza. You'll examine the political, economic, and social factors shaping national and global health policies, including health inequities, international development assistance, and the role of global industries like tobacco and pharmaceuticals. Key topics include health diplomacy, governance, ethical and legal frameworks, and the influence of international organizations such as the UN, NGOs, and private sectors. You will also analyze the global movement of healthcare professionals and the broader implications for health systems worldwide.

• Global Health Diseases (30 credits)

  This module explores global disease management, focusing on the varying burdens across regions. High-income countries face mostly non-communicable diseases (NCDs), while low- and middle-income countries tackle both communicable (CDs) and rising NCDs. You will examine key diseases driving global mortality and morbidity. The core of the module deals with aetiology, pathology, clinical manifestations, prevention and treatment. Each disease is discussed from a global perspective and addresses different geographical contexts when considering the disease. Other important aspects such as overviews of epidemiology, surveillance, data gathering and organization, global and national public health initiatives and the major organizations involved in disease control will also be presented.

• Research Methods (15 credits)

  This module covers research methods appropriate to researchers undertaking projects in areas from biomedical science to health services research. It is suitable for students registered on postgraduate diploma, MSc, MRes or MPhil/PhD courses which require them to conduct their own research. This module is optional if you have sufficient experience of research methods. MSc and PgDip only.

• Research Project (MSc only, 60 credits)

  You will conduct an independent research project in an area of interest to you. Dissertation projects will involve the assembly, analysis and interpretation of data. The project covers preparation and planning for the research as well as the analysis, discussion and presentation of the outcomes. You will be supervised by an experienced academic based at the university and, if you complete your research project abroad, will also receive local support. Previous projects have included a critical literature review of therapeutic mental health interventions in rural South Africa, for example, and a scoping review of how effective water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) interventions are in reducing stunted growth in lower middle income countries of Southeast Asia.

Depending on the amount of credits needed, you will choose from the list of optional modules below.

• Comparative Health Systems (15 credits)

  The World Health Organization (WHO) defines a health care system as consisting of: ‘All organizations, people and actions whose primary intent is to promote, restore or maintain health. This includes efforts to influence determinants of health as well as more direct health-improving activities’ (WHO:2007). This is a necessarily simplified definition, but it does point to the complexity of Health System objectives, functions, and infrastructure. This module will focus on addressing the following series of questions and challenges that directly relate to the comparative analysis of health policy and health systems.

• Conflict and Crisis Medicine and Humanitarian Ethics (30 credits)

  This module explores the role of humanitarian responses in conflict settings, examining the impact of war on health systems, infrastructure, and population well-being. It addresses ethical challenges in humanitarian action, including the complexities of modern crises, climate change, displacement, and political pressures on aid organizations. You'll critically analyze real-world dilemmas faced by humanitarian health actors, considering human rights, justice, and the socio-political contexts of conflict. Through case studies, this module provides insight into the moral and practical challenges of delivering healthcare in crisis situations.

• Gender and Sexuality in Global Health (15 credits)

  This module examines how gender and sexuality are socially and culturally constructed and their impact on identity, health, and care. Using an anthropological lens, you'll explore power structures, inequalities, and global health interventions related to fertility, disease control, and gender categorization. Key concepts like embodiment, medicalization, and structural violence will help analyse major controversies in the field. Each module session will range from individual experiences to national and global discourses shaping identity, sexuality, and well-being.

• Migration and Health (15 credit)

  The module offers a unique opportunity to address global mental health through viewing transcultural psychiatry from a humanities perspective and to challenge the dominance of a western medicalised way of categorising mental disorders. To achieve this, students will be exposed to different ways of exploring mental health from humanities-based approaches. Through diverse readings, presentations, film/ documentaries, case scenarios, and seminar discussions, students will be encouraged to consider the relationship between mental health and humanities in global contexts. To this end, the module offers a conscientious approach to the material such as texts and resources that students will engage with and will have a special focus on storytelling and trauma. For example, publications or representations of speech/art from exiled writers and narratives from health activists will be studied and critically analysed to critically consider both positive and negative aspects of mental health during adversity and trauma. The students will reflect and consider areas of mental health that they see as needing (further)recognition in global health discourses, with a heavy focus on nuanced and marginalized voices, and the role of narrative for bringing mental health injustice and human rights abuses to light for various organizations. The role of narrative in promoting mental health particularly in societies facing conflict, oppression, and lack of mental health care resources will also be analysed. Students will be asked to become ‘advocates’ for a particular cause that they will argue is of vital importance for those engaging in global mental health. They will be asked to develop a way of addressing this issue from a humanities perspective, thus enhancing co-created methodologies, and lived experiences into narrative-based theoretical frameworks.

• Transcultural Mental Health Humanities (30 credits)

  This module provides an introduction to modern data analysis techniques and statistical approaches, equipping you with the skills to critically analyze quantitative data and draw meaningful conclusions for your research project. The focus is on understanding the language and logic of statistical investigation rather than complex formulas or calculations. You will develop confidence in interpreting and discussing statistical methods used in biomedical, healthcare, clinical research, and scientific literature.