Disease, Diplomacy and Development (004RA)

30 credits, Level 6

Autumn teaching

How does health shape development? What risks do health issues pose to international security? And who are the most powerful actors governing global health challenges?

In this module, you will deepen your understanding of global health politics by examining many of the most pressing health challenges facing the world today:

• diseases undermining development goals
• equitable access to medicines and vaccines
• pandemics and epidemics
• risky forms of scientific research.

And you will learn how power and politics shaped the governance of people’s health during:

• the colonial era, when the foundations of global health were laid
• the era of globalisation and US hegemony, when today’s architecture of global health governance was created
• the post-COVID, post-global, and post-colonial era, where many ideas about ‘global health’ are called into question.

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 300 hours of work. This breaks down into about 30 hours of contact time and about 270 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2024/25. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum.

We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.