Program Requirements

About the Global Health Studies Major

View the checklist for the global health studies major.

The major in global health studies addresses the health of global populations and communities through instruction, service, and community-based research. The major in global health studies is designed to expand and enrich undergraduate educational learning outcomes by incorporating health curricula into liberal education. It provides graduates with the skills to analyze the factors underlying domestic and international health challenges and to combine research and service experience with the ability to make difficult social choices, to devise solutions to individual and population-wide health problems, and to implement disease-prevention strategies. It is interdisciplinary in that it draws on fields such as international affairs, law, and the natural and social sciences, giving due consideration to principles of human rights and cultural perspectives that abound in our multicultural country and world.

The global health studies program combines academic and practical experiences to produce capable and engaged graduates. The common goals of these distinctly interdisciplinary and integrative curricula are:

To prepare students to work for the different types of international organizations involved in global issues, such as corporations, nonprofits and government agencies
To prepare and encourage students to apply to, and gain admission into, some of the most selective graduate study programs
To encourage students to take a more active and engaged approach in understanding the implications of international events and conditions
To encourage students to develop original and creative initiatives that are intended to raise the standard of living both at home and abroad
To expose students to the growing complexities of global relations and the processes that guide them

The global health studies major requires a minimum of 45 semester credit hours, including experiential learning. Students fulfill experiential learning requirements through an exciting combination of offerings that include internships, study or travel abroad, and field research. Research projects are administered by the faculty and can generate a range of products, from the traditional research thesis that can be presented at professional academic conferences, to practical and creative initiatives intended to deal with a specific set of challenges.

The combination of internships, study abroad, service and engaged learning, critical evaluation, and applied work will equip global health studies students with the knowledge and skills required to become caring and committed leaders in a globally interconnected society.

About the Global Health Studies Minor

View the checklist for the global health studies minor.

A minor in global health studies consists of 18 semester credit hours, with a minimum of two courses at the 300 level or above.

Departmental Honors

The Department of International and Global Studies, of which the global health studies program is a part, encourages its students to deepen their knowledge of the field through its Departmental Honors program. Eligible students will have the opportunity to explore various topics and problems in international studies that are of particular interest to them, to work more closely with departmental faculty, and to develop skills in research and thesis preparation. To be eligible for Departmental Honors, a student must:

Be a declared major in global development studies, global health studies, and/or international affairs
Have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.3
Have a cumulative major GPA of at least 3.50
Write a thesis that is approved by a faculty member of the department, with a grade of at least B. This is achieved by enrolling in IGS 402 (Senior Project). The thesis is expected to be an extended, original, coherent work of scholarship on an issue of relevance in the field of international studies.