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Syllabus
Poverty and Public Health (HSA 303)

* This is the Fall 2007 syllabus. See the appropriate syllabus for the semester you are interested in.

Program Information

This is a three-credit graduate course and is one in a series of courses in the online Humanitarian Services Administration program developed by the University of Connecticut's Center for Continuing Studies. This course is an elective course in the online Master of Professional Studies degree with a field of study in Humanitarian Services Administration. The developer of this course is Dr. Ruth Rosenbaum.

Course Information

Course Title: Poverty and Public Health (HSA 303)
Credits: 3
Instructor:
Dr. Ruth Rosenbaum
E-mail: ruth_rosenbaum@crea-inc.org,
Phone:(860) 527-0455

 

Course Description

Poverty and Public Health provides students with a foundational understanding of the complex and dynamic relationships between poverty and poor health among the poor, worldwide. It examines classic and current studies on poverty and public health from an historical and inter-disciplinary perspective (Public Health, Epidemiology, Social Medicine, and Social Economics), and reviews the ways in which governmental and non-governmental organizations have addressed this problem. The course will prepare students to engage in thoughtful debate about needed changes in values, perspectives and interventions in order to address and ameliorate the health problems of the economically poor.

Course Objectives

  1. Students will describe the characteristics, effects, and implications of poverty on systemic, national and local levels.

  2. Students will analyze the relationship between systemic poverty and the existence of patterns of disease.

  3. Students will describe various aspects of health: personal, communal, societal and systemic.

  4. Students will explore the effects of globalization, industrialization and development as they affect levels of poverty and sustainability and the ability of societies to address systemic poverty and the associated diseases.

  5. Students will discuss the efforts to address poverty and associated disease on a systemic level.

 
Course Requirements and Grading

Grades will be determined by participation in online discussions, posting of reflections and other assignments as well as the papers that are required. Language used in postings will be respectful of the content we are discussing, the lives which are impacted, as well as each other.

The apportionment of credit will be as follows:

25% - online discussion

25% - posting of reflections and assignments

50% - papers that have been assigned

As much as possible assignments are due on the date assigned. If this is not possible, direct communication with the instructors is requested.

You are responsible for acting in accordance with the Student Code, available at http://www.dosa.uconn.edu/student_code.cfm.

 
Course Materials

These course texts may be purchased locally or through an online bookstore.

Required Texts:
Sen, A. (2000). Development as freedom. Anchor Books. ISBN: 0385720270.  Note: Please have this book read by Module 5 of this course. Check the calendar for exact dates.

Farmer, P. (1999). Infections and inequalities: The modern plagues. Updated Edition with a New Preface. University of California Press. ASIN: 0520215443.  Note: Please have this book read by Module 7 of this course. Check the calendar for exact dates.

Required Readings:
Articles not available on the Web will be provided in the course through the Electronic Course Reserve (ECR).

 

Software Requirements
Your Internet browser and browser settings need to be Vista compatible. See Settings.
Course Outline

Module 1: What is Poverty?
                1.1. Form A: An Established "Poverty Line" that is Used Within a Country
                1.2. Form B: Living Standards Methodology
                1.3. Form C: Possibilities and Capabilities
Module 2: What is Health?
                2.1. The Right to Health
Module 3: The Origins of Public and International Health Consciousness
                3.1. Epidemiology and Statistics
Module 4: Modern Research Perspectives on Poverty, Inequality and Health
                4.1. Measurement
Module 5: The Role of Development, Industrialization and Economic Globalization
                5.1. The Effects of Globalization
                5.2. The General Agreement On Trade In Services (GATS) And The World Trade
                        Organization (WTO) - Impact On Health Services
                5.3. Industrialization vs. Development
Module 6: Governmental, International and Non-governmental Responses to the Health of the World's Poor
Module 7: Poverty and Health: Case Studies
                7.1. Interview on Access to AIDS Medications
                7.2. Case Studies
Module 8: What Needs to be Done?

Evaluation of the Course

Students will be provided an opportunity to evaluate instruction in this course using the University's standard procedures, which are administered by the Office of Institutional Research.

Updated: 08/06/2007 1:13 PM