IHP Health and Community: Globalization, Culture, and Care (Spring 1)

Please note that in order to take advantage of dynamic learning opportunities, program locations can vary from year to year.

Spring Option 1 Program Sites

New Orleans, LA, USA

(2 weeks)
Coordinated by SherriLynn Colby-Bottell
For much of its early history, New Orleans was the second-largest port city in the US. People arrived in New Orleans in radically different capacities. The city's particular history has strongly shaped the kinds of access that various sectors of society have to different types of resources and the accumulation of financial and social power. The legacies of disparity along the lines of race, class, language, and nationality have resulted in structural inequities that play out in all facets of daily life and wellbeing—from issues of health and education, to city design and employment trends. Faced with poverty, racial inequities, and a formidable natural environment, New Orleanians have long banded together in civic association to take care of their own medical and social needs, resulting in a strong nonprofit and grassroots activist community. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, this activist community has grown to include a range of outside organizations and volunteers, who now play a role in shaping the city's future. During the program period in New Orleans, students will hear from a broad array of individuals, including public government officials and on-the-ground activists. They will witness the intersections of community, health, activism, and art in action by exploring New Orleans with local anthropologists, community organizers, and representatives from Tulane University’s School of Public Health.
Delhi, India

(4 weeks)

India is a world power with a burgeoning economy and a population that will soon surpass that of China. Delhi, India’s capital city, provides the base for exploration of health in India. Examine the mental and physical health challenges faced by farmers, sexual minorities and the urban poor. How do lack of access to clean water and food and infectious diseases like HIV and malaria compound these challenges? Examine how such a large and diverse nation addresses the double burden of its infectious disease epidemics and burgeoning chronic disease prevalence, as its population both grows and ages. What roles do public and private entities play in developing solutions?
Buenos Aires, Argentina

(5 weeks)
Coordinated by Carolina Rovetta
Buenos Aires, capital city of Argentina, is a European style, friendly, and bustling city of 14,000,000 inhabitants. Shaped by massive waves of immigration, both past and present, this cosmopolitan city stands out because of the delicate equilibrium between tradition and modernity that characterizes it. Immersed in a context of rapid growth and globalized development since mid 2000, Argentina plays a fundamental role in a region characterized by extreme inequalities in vast sectors of the population. In the Argentine scenario, one of the key and most interesting fields to study is the health sector, which in Argentina looks beyond the traditional polarization between public and private, incorporating a third highly powerful sector represented by the labor unions. A complete free public health system that covers every person residing in the country coexists with two others, a private sector and a semi-private, labor union sector, both powerful and competitive. Buenos Aires, the most important and influential city in Argentina, both politically and economically, is the perfect place to experience and study the complexities of living and surviving in a globalized city immersed in a Latin American context.
Bushbuckridge, South Africa

(5 weeks)
Coordinated by Jan G. Vermeulen
Begin with a brief stay in cosmopolitan Johannesburg, where you’ll learn about South Africa’s multicultural history and the impact of apartheid, as well as recent reform. From the bustling city, venture to the Bushbuckridge region, a collection of rural communities bordered on the east by Kruger National Park, one of the best-known game parks in the world. Sought after by ecotourism enterprises and the government for its natural beauty and resources, the area has been at the center of contentious land struggles, land-use policies, and conservation efforts, which have deeply impacted the health of the indigenous population. Engage in dialogue with people on various sides of the land-use issue. HIV/AIDS, lack of access to land and water, unemployment, and alcoholism are also central themes for consideration. What efforts are underway at the local and national levels to address these challenges and improve conditions in the region? What role can education play in improving health? Diverse homestays provide an opportunity to gain personal perspective and grapple with divergent viewpoints. The program ends with a three-day retreat outside of Johannesburg. Stepping back from the intensity of a 15-week journey, students reflect on a semester’s worth of experience across four countries and prepare for re-entry to work and life at home.

Credits: 16

Duration: Spring, 16 weeks

Program Sites:
United States, India, Argentina, South Africa

Prerequisites: None. Coursework in public health, anthropology, biology, or related field recommended.

Spring Option 1 Itinerary

Other Program Options:

Fall Itinerary

Health and Community Spring 2 Itinerary

View Student Evaluations for this program:

About the Evaluations (PDF)

Spring 2012 Evaluations

Phone:
888.272.7881 (toll-free in US)
802.258.3212

TTY:
802.258.3388

Fax:
802.258.3296

Mailing Address:
PO Box 676, 1 Kipling Road
Brattleboro, VT 05302 USA

Request More Information

Contact us by email.