This course takes up health inequality, justice, ethics, and other essential notions in global health as expansive, multidimensional constructs that do not yet have settled meanings but instead encompass meanings and contradictions that are open for interpretation. In terms of the course organization, it integrates lectures, group discussion, and hands-on activities to tackle pressing global health issues in Taiwan. In the first half of the semester, we will cover general topics on global health and guide students to participate in group discussions for in-depth, logical thinking and cultivate intervention strategies. Students will work in teams and learn to develop skills in collaboration, communication and problem analysis. After the mid-term, we will focus on specific issues of health inequality among migrant workers in Taiwan. In the second half of the semester, the course topics include occupational safety and health (occupational disaster prevention), food safety, nutritional epidemiology, social and cultural capital of migrant workers and related rights and interests. We will also explore gendered practices among migrant workers, considering how the intersection of gender, migrant, social status, and other cultural conditions jointly shape global workers’ health practices on a daily basis. In addition to offering a quantitative, over-arching view of health data, this course also approaches sensitive topics in light of a qualitative, anthropological methodology. Part of the class design further takes a deep look into technology and intervention, using stories and narratives from actual migrant workers to evoke class discussion on health and mobility. In doing so, the course attempts to offer a culturally sensitive and community-grounded approach to global health.
Students will design and carry out practical action plans both in class and in the field. They course requires students to design the content of health education according to the weekly theme. The content will be translated into the native language of migrant workers after being reviewed by experts. If feasible, students will prepare the materials into health education programs and deliver them in the field.
Through classroom lectures, topic discussions, action plan design, and the on-site implementation of action plans, this course is expected to establish sustainable action plans that provide open access to public health related information in migrants’ native language through the construction of the website and field activities. In addition to laying foundational knowledge, understanding the culture and needs of migrant workers, and cultivating empathy, students can also develop creativity and cross-cultural communication skills. More importantly, they will have the opportunity to meet with the vulnerable groups and learn to put their course knowledge and action plans into practice, realizing the Sustainable Development Goal to “think globally and act locally.”