Health Economics and Policy  In this course we will focus on the health care system of the United States. We will apply standard microeconomic tools to the problems of health and health care markets. The course provides the fundamental tools with which to understand how the health care market is different from the markets for other goods. For example, students will learn about the dominant presence of uncertainty at all levels of health care, the government's unusually large presence in the market, the pronounced difference in knowledge between doctors and patients, and the prevalence of situations where the actions of some impose costs or benefits on others (e.g., vaccinations, drug research).

Public Health of Disasters Both natural and man-made disasters, including the release of weapons of mass destruction, reveal a community’s preexisting vulnerabilities.  The emergency response, and the nature of the disaster itself, combine to affect the short- and long-term health of the disaster-struck community.  We will examine public health components of disasters, including emergency preparedness and response, relief efforts, health surveillance, and the ethical considerations of these activities.  With case studies and readings, we will employ a public health perspective to understand the community impact of natural and man-made disasters in both developed and developing countries.

Public Health Policy Public health policy is carried out in multiple sectors of society. In this course we will break down public health problems into their component parts, scrutinizing the roles that governments, health care providers, organizations, and ordinary citizens have in building a healthy (or unhealthy) society. We will examine topics such as obesity, gun violence, substance use, maternal mortality, and product toxicity to understand the extent to which public health problems have behavioral, social, regulatory, or market-based causes and solutions. Our analysis will employ systems thinking, historical trends, and regulatory frameworks. The course will be lecture-oriented with in-class discussions and exercises. Sources will include articles in peer-reviewed literature, industry reports, policy statements, and the popular press.

Environmental Health In this course we will explore the science underlying reciprocal relationships between human health and the environment, with emphasis on health inequities and vulnerable populations. Through the context of the four pillars of environmental health (exposure assessment, epidemiology, toxicology, and risk assessment), we will study common types of chemicals found in consumer products, climate change and air pollution, food and nutrition, and characteristics of the built environment. We will engage in discussions and a semester-long project to apply principles of environmental health as we explore connections between personal actions and local as well as global impacts.

Principles of Epidemiology This course will introduce students to the theory and practice of epidemiology.  Students will learn major concepts including study design, measures of effect, and causal inference. We will explore the causes of modern diseases with a focus on how epidemiology can be used to understand causation of disease. We will also explore the historical and current contributions of epidemiology within the field of public health. The course will introduce areas of specialization including infectious and non-infectious diseases, environmental epidemiology, and social and community epidemiology. Students will learn data analysis skills applicable to research in public health and other quantitative sciences. Students will utilize skills from class to investigate an epidemiological issue using real world data. Students will also lead discussions on how epidemiology is used to investigate the determinants of disease. Students will leave the course with understanding of key epidemiological concepts, and the ability to convey those ideas to a lay audience in written and oral formats.

Social Entrepreneurship and Global Health Social and structural determinants of health create barriers to availability, accessibility and uptake of health services in many countries. We will take a case study approach to examining how social entrepreneurs develop and scale up responses to help clients overcome these barriers. We will explore factors including: human rights, poverty, disenfranchisement of women, government health care systems and infrastructure, human resources for health, task shifting, the politics of sexual/reproductive health, and infectious diseases. We will draw on articles and online materials. This course mixes theory and case study, and will count as an elective towards the Global Health minor.

Global Health This course provides an introductory survey of the basic issues and initiatives in contemporary global public health, demonstrating the inextricability of public health problems from the social, cultural, economic, political, and environmental issues that exist in an era of globalization.  Examining these connections will enable us to critically evaluate the goals and strategies of public health interventions, and discuss factors impacting their success or failure.  To do this, we must also examine the lens through which the West views public health problems as they relate to our cultural beliefs, biomedical views of health, sense of justice, and strategic interests.  (Not open to students who have taken INTD 0257 or SOAN 0267)

Healthcare in the U.S. At a time when achieving consensus on anything is close to impossible, nearly everyone agrees that our current health care system is broken. In this course we will explore the impediments to reforming health care in the United States, which by a variety of measures wastes approximately 25% of the country’s 3.8 trillion dollars spent annually.  The goal in this course is not to argue a certain perspective.  Rather, through readings and discussion of original sources, we will explore the complexities of our health care system, evaluate its attributes and failings, compare it with other systems around the world, and wrestle with questions posed by our current trajectory. We will explore how powerful interests—Big Pharma, insurance companies, hospital lobbyists, and physician guilds-- array to maintain the status quo despite clear evidence of alternative paths that would serve the greater good.

Environmental Detectives: Using Exposure Science to Measure Hidden Health Threats Environmental conditions can impact human health in many ways. In this project-based course, we will learn how scientists investigate environment-health relationships and how this knowledge informs public health policies? To do so, we will apply tools used to evaluate environmental conditions (e.g., water, food, consumer products, sound, air) that impact heath, including environmental sensors, surveys, and data analysis techniques. We will engage in lecture, discussion, and a semester-long research project about an environmental exposure of interest. Through this work, we will gain experience designing an environmental public health research question, collecting and interpreting data, and presenting research findings to inform recommendations about how people can protect their health.

Food Power & Justice  Students in this course will learn to analyze power and justice in relation to the food system. We will explore cases in which groups of people are experiencing injustice in opportunities to make a living through food production or other food system activities, inequitable access to food and resources, inequitable health outcomes related to diet (e.g., diabetes, obesity), and silencing or lack of political participation. Students will investigate organizations of their choice that are working to remedy inequitable power relations in the food system, and will present their findings to the rest of the class.

Issues in Critical Disability Studies: U.S. and the World  Disability as a category and as lived experience plays an important but often overlooked role in national, transnational, and global contexts. In this course we will explore disability’s changing meanings in the United States and around the World. Comparative and transnational approaches will draw our attention to disability’s many meanings across wide-ranging historical, cultural, and geographical settings. Foundational concepts and principles, including ableism and Universal Design, shape our critical inquiry. Key themes frame the course: access, language, power, violence, normalcy, identity, community, institutions, and rights and justice. We will engage with diverse primary sources, from memoirs and documentary films to advertisements, material objects, and oral histories.

Planetary Health Human health depends on planetary conditions and resources, as well as functioning ecosystems. Climate change, biodiversity loss, scarcity of land and freshwater, pollution and other threats are degrading these systems with profound implications for human health and wellbeing. Using an interdisciplinary approach, we will investigate the driving forces of human health and wellness in the Anthropocene with an eye on the role of ecology, evolution, planetary change, and the interconnected systems of our planet. Beyond assessing the fundamental biophysical forces acting on human health, we will additionally consider the societal values and ethical frameworks that are inherent to these issues.

Social Entrepreneurship and Global Health Social and structural determinants of health create barriers to availability, accessibility, and uptake of health services in many countries. We will take a case study approach to examining how social entrepreneurs develop and scale up responses to help clients overcome these barriers. We will explore factors including human rights, poverty, disenfranchisement of women, government health care systems and infrastructure, human resources for health, task shifting, the politics of sexual/reproductive health, and infectious diseases. We will draw on articles and online materials. This course mixes theory and case study and will count as an elective towards the Global Health minor. (GHLT 0257)

Law and Economics in Healthcare This course will introduce students to the ways in which the U.S. government attempts to mitigate challenges in the market for healthcare. We will discuss how laws and regulation are used to contain healthcare costs, protect consumers from anti-competitive practices, improve access to safe and effective medical care, ensure consumer privacy and safety, and reform the payment and delivery system in the United States. We will rely on actual court and regulatory cases to understand legal frameworks, regulatory structures, and economic outcomes. Students will review the economic literature on healthcare market interventions, engage with Vermont policymakers and regulators, and participate in mock trials and simulated regulatory hearings. This course is not open to students who have completed ECON 1232.

Arts-Based Health Comm In this class, we will learn about and practice arts-based ethnography, digital storytelling, and comics-based research drawing from the fields of fine arts, public health, anthropology, graphic medicine, and medical Humanities/narrative medicine. We’ll study strategies for using story in all its forms to improve health outcomes at individual, community, and structural levels, the evidence for arts-based praxes in the social sciences and beyond, and we’ll collect and examine work from fine artists, disability activists, poets, painters, graphic novelists, and wherever else health-driven narratives exist—including those you will make in this class. Come prepared to read and create across many genres and explore how story is the vehicle for transformation: of us, of our systems, and of our wellbeing.  /Jessamyn Smyth is a writer, digital artist, and professor of interdisciplinary Humanities and public health. She has particular interest in medical Humanities, arts-based ethnography, and public health communication./

Sleep Epidemiology People often deprioritize sleep to make more time for work or social demands. However, growing evidence demonstrates the central role of sleep in health, affecting everything from cardiometabolic disease and mental health to cancer.  In this course we will explore sleep from a population-level health perspective. Starting with a brief overview of the neurobiology of sleep and population-level health concepts, we will then delve into definitions and measurement of sleep health and disorders, the social, environmental, and genetic determinants of sleep, the negative health outcomes associated with suboptimal sleep, and sleep-related public health interventions. The class format will include a combination of lecture and critical discussion of the sleep research literature.   Sarah received her B.A. from Middlebury College and is currently a fifth-year PhD student in cardiovascular and molecular epidemiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her dissertation work examines how the relationship between sleep and cardiometabolic disease is mediated by inflammatory pathways.

International Health Policy & Law Health care is one of the most challenging issues in today's world. In this course we will explore how health law and policy compares across countries and within the United States, including what pressing issues are prevalent within these systems. We will discuss and debate types of government health systems across the globe, including how countries provide health insurance coverage, how they compare on health care spending and quality, and how the international public health system is organized. Students will engage in the topics through debates and interactive exercises and will complete a group project highlighting one country or state’s system.

Measurement Matters in Population Health: Approaches, Assumptions, and Applications How many people died last year? What country has the best health system? Answering these questions involves myriad data decisions and value judgments, yet such information is usually presented as objective assessments. With this course, we will explore how health is measured at the population level and critically examine data challenges and assumptions that underpin common health metrics such as life expectancy, disease estimates, and health service indicators. Topics covered also include issues of data bias and representation, sociopolitical dimensions of population health measurement and target setting, and onward implications of what (and what does not) get measured.

Delving into Data: Finding, Analyzing, and Summarizing Public Health Data Have you been curious how public health practitioners find and use data? Are you interested in public health and eager to learn how to find and analyze health data? In this course, we will cover what health data is and where to find it, how to analyze and visualize health data using Microsoft Excel and R, identify common problems with health data and how to solve them. By the end of this course, you will be well versed in all thing health data, as well as have first-hand experience doing your own public health research project.   Ruby Barnard-Mayers is an epidemiologist trained in using novel epidemiologic methods in maternal and child health research. She grew up in Vermont and is currently earning her doctorate in Epidemiology at Boston University School of Public Health. She holds an MPH from Boston University in Epidemiology & Biostatistics and Maternal & Child Health as well as a B.A from Grinnell College in Mathematics & Statistics and Anthropology./

Global Maternal and Child Health* In recent years, increased knowledge and action in global health have led to dramatic reductions in maternal and child mortality, yet significant challenges remain. In this course we will explore themes in global maternal child health including reproductive health, perinatal and newborn health, infectious disease, malnutrition, childhood development, humanitarian emergencies and migration.  We will apply a social determinants framework to understand health inequities and explore strategies for strengthening  health systems.  Students will work in groups to develop a proposal for a maternal child health intervention, with a focus on gaining practical skills in data analysis and proposal writing. Kim Wilson, MD, MPH is an academic pediatrician and global health professional from Boston with a focus on improving the health of underserved communities in the U.S. and globally.  She has worked in Latin America and East Africa with programs to promote maternal and newborn survival, child health, and early childhood development./

Financing Universal Heath Coverage in Low Resource Settings: Protecting the Poor Through Equity-Driven Approaches Global health crises like pandemics tend to expose key gaps in equitable access to health services. It is often the poorest and most disenfranchised communities who suffer the greatest consequences of falling ill. In this course, we will examine the question: “who pays, and who receives healthcare?” We will explore the ways in which equitable access to healthcare is organized and financed in low and middle-income countries. We will analyze and discuss the benefits and drawbacks to using different health financing strategies to achieve universal health coverage (UHC). Students will have the opportunity to utilize real-world scenarios and data to propose equitable health financing reforms for UHC in resource poor settings. ECON 0155 is recommended but not required.  Zoe Isaacs leads the health financing team at Partners in Health (PIH). She has spent over five years living and working in Latin America and the Caribbean. Zoe holds an MSc in Health Policy Planning and Finance from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a BA in International and Global Studies from Middlebury College./

Pandemic Preparedness and Response This course will examine the history of pandemics, beginning with the 1918 Influenza. The class will look at how individual countries were prepared for Covid19 (or not), and how they responded, how the global system for pandemic preparedness under the guidance of the WHO performed, and whether the lessons we drew from the Covid19 Pandemic experience will leave us better prepared for the next pandemic. In the case of the US, we will look at differential health outcomes for marginalized and other communities. Additional topics in this course will include healthcare ethics in the face of rationing; ethics and the global allocation of vaccines and therapeutics; global treaties governing pharmaceutical patents; and how politics plays a role in the dissemination of information vital for country response to outbreaks of concern, epidemics, and pandemics.

Biosecurity, Chemical and Biological weapons Nonproliferation, and Pandemic Prevention In this course, we will review and discuss the history of biological and chemical weapons nonproliferation, biosecurity policy (focusing on the US and multilateral policy), and pandemic prevention efforts both pre- and post-COVID. Through understanding the biochemical and immunological mechanisms of action of biothreats and toxins, we will categorize pandemic and bioweapon response and mitigation strategies, and identify gaps in current preparedness and policy. We will evaluate the risk potential of new biotechnologies, including risk assessment methodologies, and apply these to proposed dual-use technologies and research.  Dr. Allison Berke is the Chemical and Biological Weapons Non-Proliferation Program Director at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, CA. Her work focuses on biosecurity policy, evaluating and regulating biotechnologies, and computational approaches to monitoring emerging biothreats./

Developing Death Literacy Death literacy goes beyond understanding the dying process—it is about fostering meaningful conversations, breaking the silence around illness and loss, and giving people the knowledge needed to make informed decisions. In this course, we will explore mortality, end-of-life care options, and the effects of fear and aversion, through a respectful lens of cultural, spiritual, religious, and identity-based humility. We will also examine the power of storytelling as a tool for conveying complex concepts. For our final project, students will participate in a story-sharing event, applying what they have learned to gently enhance communal death literacy.  Francesca Arnoldy is a practicing community doula and death literacy author as well as a published researcher at the Vermont Conversation Lab.

Environmental Health Decisions From global climate patterns and cross-border air pollution to the dust on our windowsills, our environment is full of hazards that make us sick. How do we measure the health effects of these environmental hazards? How do we use that knowledge to make personal decisions, local policies, and federal regulations? In this course, we will explore how the built and natural environment can both harm and protect human health. We will consider the scientific evidence for environmental and occupational health issues, what remains uncertain or unknown, and how knowledge has been used in local and federal policy decisions. This course will be grounded in a public health perspective and draw on scientific literature, news articles, and narratives of perceived risk.  Alessandria Schumacher is an environmental health scientist who has studied, researched, and worked to address environmental and occupational exposures such as PFAS, endocrine disruptors, heat, urban forests, and workplace hazards. Alessandria holds a Master of Public Health in Environmental Health and Epidemiology from Emory University and a BA in Geography from Middlebury College.

Empowerment or Exploitation? Engaging Communities in the Pursuit of Better Health Sustained progress in global health and development requires the participation of target communities. Vaccines, for instance, will themselves do no good if caregivers refuse to vaccinate their children. In this course, we will explore the role of communities in the pursuit of improved health – a state often pre-defined by outsiders without direct community consultation. The course will focus specifically on the evolving role of community health workers within global health and development agendas, emphasizing therein the fine line we tread (as global health policy makers, implementers, and donors) between empowering and exploiting the communities on whose participation our success relies. (not open to students who have taken INTD 1224) Since 2009, Harriet has studied, supported, and advocated for community health systems across the globe, focusing on community health policy, design, implementation, and financing. In her current role on the global malaria team at Clinton Health Access Initiative, Harriet supports countries across sub-Saharan Africa, the Greater Mekong Sub-region, and Mesoamerica to holistically engage community health worker networks as key partners in the fight to eliminate malaria and improve access to basic health services. Harriet holds a Master of Science in Public Health with a focus on community health systems from Johns Hopkins University, and a BA in anthropology from Middlebury College.

Health Care Law, Economics and Regulation In this course we will explore why health care is one of the most highly regulated industries in the U.S. and how government intervention impacts market outcomes. We will discuss how laws and regulation are used to contain health care costs, protect consumers from anti-competitive practices, and ensure consumer privacy and safety. We will rely on actual cases to understand legal frameworks, regulatory structures, and economic outcomes. Students may also have the opportunity to travel to Montpelier, VT to see health policy, legislation, and regulation in action. (ECON 0155 recommended but not required) (This course may be used to fulfill a 200 level elective towards the economics major requirements.)  Robin J. Lunge, JD, MHCDS is a Member of Vermont’s Green Mountain Care Board, which is charged with designing and administering health care payment and delivery system reform as well as regulating the health care industry. Previously Lunge served as Governor Shumlin’s Director of Health Care Reform for close to 6 years, coordinating health reform efforts for his administration.  She also worked as a nonpartisan staff attorney at Vermont Legislative Council for 8 sessions and provided drafting and staff support in health and human services issues to members of the Vermont Legislature.

Alessandria Schumacher

Allison Berke

David Torres

Francesca Arnoldy

Harriet Napier

Jessica Holmes

Kate Crawford

Kim Wilson

Molly Anderson

Nancy Fullman

Pam Berenbaum

Richard Finkelstein

Robin Lunge

Ruby Barnard-Mayers

Sam Byrne

Sarah Koenigsberg

Susan Burch

William Hathaway

Zoe Isaacs

Read 76 reviews for Global Health courses at Middlebury College. Find the best Global Health professors and courses.  Discover your new major today!

I've never taken a class before where I really enjoyed the content, and knew it would help me outside of school. It teaches you a lot about the real world and health care which is so necessary especially as we are growing older and trying to understand health care. Professor Holmes also does an amazing job with making the content interesting. 

This course was a great J term class. The schedule was great and she was very accommodating to individual students needs. I enjoyed the group project side of the class as well as the in class debates. It was super fun to be able to pose as someone else and try and fit their persona while debating a topic in health policy. I thought the material was interesting. I would take this class as my J term again. 

Easy J-term class. The class was more emotionally intensive than anything else, but I expected that going in and Francesca makes sure to set you up with lots of resources to help you take care of yourself. You do lots of introspection and reflection. I didn't feel like there was enough content to necessarily constitute a full class, but I much preferred a slow and easy jterm class to something intense