All undergraduates at the University of California now have the opportunity to take classes in global health through a partnership between the UC Global Health Institute (UCGHI), faculty from multiple UC campuses and the university’s Innovative Learning Technology Initiative (ILTI).
Over the next year, they will be launching a series of six to ten online global health courses, under the UCGHI umbrella. The first two classes, Introduction to Global Health and Ethics in Global Health, are open for fall enrollment.
Additional courses on population geography, health and the environment; poverty and development; migration and health; and climate change and disaster management are in development and slated for winter or spring 2018 enrollment.
Two faculty members from different campuses are developing each course, working with ILTI experts in online course development. Currently, faculty from eight of the 10 UCs plus faculty from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory are developing courses.
“We have had a phenomenal response from UC faculty, who are working very hard to make this educational mission a reality,” said Oladele A. Ogunseitan, PhD, MPH, professor of public health and social ecology at UC Irvine and UCGHI ILTI director. “They deserve all the credit for its success."
The UCGHI courses will be the first system-wide suite of online courses to be offered by UC.
“We hope eventually to provide courses sufficient for a Global Health minor on each campus,” said Ogunseitan. “This would be especially helpful for students at UC campuses that do not offer global health courses.”
Individual campuses could also determine that UCGHI courses fulfill general education, major or minor requirements. For example, the Introduction to Global Health course may fulfill the International/Global Issues requirement at UC Irvine.
UC students can enroll in the classes through the UC Cross-Campus Enrollment portal. If the student’s campus hosts the course, enrollment is through the campus registrar.
To learn more about the UCGHI global health courses, visit the UCGHI website.