Kenya: Urbanization, Health, and Human Rights

Coursework

The program consists of four different academic components: seminars in Health and Human Rights in Kenya and Urbanization and Public Health; Kiswahili language study; Research Methods and Ethics; and an Independent Study Project (ISP).

The following syllabi are either from a recent session of this program or for an upcoming session. Because courses develop and change over time to take advantage of dynamic learning opportunities, actual course content will vary from term to term.

The syllabi can be useful for students, faculty, and study abroad offices in assessing credit transfer. Read more about credit transfer.

Health and Human Rights in Kenya - syllabus (PDF)
(IPBH 3000 / 3 credits / 45 class hours)
The Health and Human Rights in Kenya seminar explores theoretical links between access to and reliance on Kenyan healthcare services and the conceptions of human rights of individuals and communities in a Kenyan social context. The course is designed to provide firsthand academic knowledge of Kenyan healthcare challenges and healthcare systems, together with analyses of locally informed debates surrounding human rights. Course content, provided via lectures, discussions, readings, presentations, and educational excursions, details the mutually constitutive challenges of health and human rights in Kenya, while highlighting successful coalition-building efforts, civil society organizations, the private sector, and others pursuing community-based approaches to myriad contemporary issues. Throughout the course, students record and analyze aspects of the host culture and examine contemporary development theories and methodologies and current issues related to health and human rights in Kenya.

Urbanization and Public Health – syllabus (PDF)
(IPBH 3500 / 3 credits / 45 class hours)
An interdisciplinary seminar conducted in English, with required readings, examining health and the city in a Kenyan context. The course explores historical patterns of urban space in Africa through colonial medical discourses; interrogates healthcare and human rights challenges as they relate to housing and infrastructure in urban areas; and provides hands-on, experiential learning opportunities together with lectures, readings, and discussions to better understand housing policies and practices in Kenya and their implication for health and human rights.

Intensive Language Study: Beginning Kiswahili - syllabus (PDF)
(SWAH 1000–1500 / 3 credits / 45 class hours)
Intensive Language Study: Intermediate Kiswahili - syllabus (PDF)
(SWAH 2000 –2500 / 3 credits / 45 class hours)
Intensive Language Study: Advanced Kiswahili - syllabus (PDF)
(SWAH 3000–3500 / 3 credits / 45 class hours)
Emphasis on speaking and comprehension skills through classroom and field instruction. Based on an in-country evaluation that includes oral proficiency testing, students are placed in intensive classes at the appropriate level, with additional language practice taking place through homestays, lectures, and field visits. Daily classes during the first two weeks of the urban homestay are followed by continuing lessons in a variety of field settings, which provide an opportunity for additional Kiswahili language practice.

Research Methods and Ethics - syllabus (PDF)
(ANTH 3500 / 3 credits / 45 class hours)
A course in the concepts of learning across cultures and from field experience. Introduction to the Independent Study Project. Material includes cross-cultural adaptation and skills building; project selection and refinement; field study ethics and the World Learning/SIT Human Subjects Review Policy; developing contacts and finding resources; field study methods; developing skills in observation and interviewing; gathering, organizing, and communicating data; maintaining a field journal; and participatory evaluation and appraisal techniques.

Independent Study Project - syllabus (PDF)
(ISPR 3000 / 4 credits / 120 class hours)
Conducted in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, or another approved location appropriate to the project within Kenya. Sample topics areas: Nairobi's informal economies; grassroots development programs; education in Nairobi; housing as a human right in Mombasa; primary healthcare options in Nairobi; rural women's cooperatives; prenatal healthcare; land tenure in Kibera; family planning in rural Kenya; urban agriculture; HIV/AIDS peer education; health and human rights on Kenya’s coast; girls' education in Nairobi; Kenyan Muslim women, citizenship, and the Katiba; nutrition and health programming in Kisumu.