Health for all? International Health from Colonial Medicine to Covid Vaccine - HIS00147I
Module summary
One of the features of the modern era has been the increasing speed with which things travel. People, information and ideas spread more easily and quickly than ever before, and so too did disease. Since the first International Sanitary Conference in 1851 it was recognised that in a rapidly shrinking world countries and communities needed to work together to keep people healthy and hinder the spread of disease. Indeed, the twentieth witnessed not only major innovations in the form of medicines and public health projects, but also large, complex organisations such as the Office International d'Hygiène Publique and later the World Health Organization which proclaimed good health to be the right of every human regardless of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition.
Since the 1800s the avowed aim of international health work has been to help sick people and stop disease spreading. But there have been constant debates and disagreements about how this should be done, where support should be directed, and who should be in charge of its delivery. This course will explore the development of international health strategies from small scale interventions and experiments to massive global concerns employing thousands and consuming millions of dollars in funding. It will examine how different organisations responded to health crises, why certain measures were chosen, how these approaches were promoted around the world, and why they did not always result in health for all. It will survey the work and approaches of a diverse range of historians to consider longstanding narratives in relation to international and global health.
Module will run
| Occurrence | Teaching period |
|---|---|
| A | Semester 2 2025-26 |
Module aims
The aims of this module are:
- To provide students with the opportunity to study particular historical topics in depth
- To develop students’ ability to examine a topic from a range of perspectives and to strengthen their ability to work critically and reflectively with secondary and primary material
Module learning outcomes
Students who complete this module successfully will:
- Have acquired a deep knowledge of the specific topic studied
- Have developed their ability to use and synthesise a range of primary and secondary sources
- Be able to evaluate the arguments that historians have made about the topic studied
- Have developed their ability to study independently through seminar-based teaching
Module content
Students will attend a 1-hour briefing in week 1. Students will then attend a 1-hour plenary/lecture and a 2-hour seminar in weeks 2-4, 6-8 and 10-11 of semester 1. Weeks 5 & 9 are Reading and Writing Weeks (RAW) during which there are no seminars. Students prepare for and participate in eight 1-hour plenaries/lectures and eight 2-hour seminars in all.
Seminar topics are subject to variation, but are likely to include the following:
- ‘The Unification of the Globe by Disease’: The Beginnings of International Cooperation on Health
- Tropical Medicine and Colonial Conquest
- The League of Nations and Social Medicine
- The World Health Organization
- The Era of Eradication
- Primary Health Care: Health for All?
- International Health Under Fire
- Recent International Crises
Indicative assessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100 |
Special assessment rules
None
Additional assessment information
For formative assessment, students will complete a referenced 1200 to 1500-word essay relating to the themes and issues of the module. This will be submitted in either the Week 5 or Week 9 RAW week (on the day of the weekly seminar).
For summative assessment, students will complete an Assessed Essay (2000 words, footnoted). This will comprise 100% of the overall module mark.
Summative assessments will be due in the assessment period.
Indicative reassessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100 |
Module feedback
Following their formative assessment task, students will typically receive written feedback that will include comments and a mark within 10 working days of submission.
Work will be returned to students in their seminars and may be supplemented by the tutor giving some oral feedback to the whole group. All students are encouraged, if they wish, to discuss the feedback on their formative work during their tutor’s student hours. For more information, see the Statement on Feedback.
For the summative assessment task, students will receive their provisional mark and written feedback within 25 working days of the submission deadline. The tutor will then be available during student hours for follow-up guidance if required. For more information, see the Statement of Assessment.
Indicative reading
For term time reading, please refer to the module VLE site. Before the course starts, we encourage you to look at the following items of preliminary reading:
- Packard, Randall. A history of global health: Interventions in the lives of other peoples. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2016.
- Chorev, Nitsan. The World Health Organization Between North and South. Cornell University Press, 2012.
- Weindling, Paul (ed.). International Health Organisations and Movements, 1918-1939. Cambridge University Press, 1995.