In working towards my concentration in Health and Well-Being while abroad, I was lucky to have the opportunity to comparatively study different health systems. Taking Intro to Global Studies beforehand allowed me to realize how interconnected we are all as global citizens, while the History and Public Health courses allowed me to gain a more nuanced view of health/well-being, recognizing how we have come to understand public health throughout history as well as how such practices are utilized across the world differently today. From learning about modernization and its impacts on the environment and health in China, to how historical medical treatment of migrants to Australia continues to shape current policy, to examining interdisciplinary connections between public health and the humanities while in Argentina, PittMAP provided me with an unforgettable experience which has and will continue to shape the way that I understand what it means to be healthy, and the measures taken to ensure this.
Matthew Broocke
Global Studies Portfolio
Global Studies Coursework
Coursework Descriptions
Taken in Buenos Aires, we studied the often overlooked connections between health and the humanities, namely literature. Reading works by Argentine and Western writers alike, we were able to make a comparative analysis of perceptions of health and the social status of both the ill and of medical caretakers.
In this courses we went headfirst into deciphering what “public health” actually consists of, along with its historical conceptions. Much of the class was spent on studying various global pandemics from different ages across different parts of the world, looking at how societies have viewed health as an individualistic or collectivist issue, or somewhere in between. We studied measures taken in Latin America, Europe and more to recognize how plagues were defined and dealt with, as well as the impact that said diseases had on the formation of the public health field.
Most surprising to me was the lack of supposed “neutrality” in the field- rather the study of public health became codified through its weaponization for colonization. While Europeans pointed to the lack of health infrastructure leading to plagues across the global south, it was argued that the only way to “save” the people was to invade and establish political control. While such views are certainly no longer widespread today, the legacy of the field has been built on these ideas, which we worked throughout the course to disavow.
Being the first course that I took at this university, I cannot understate its importance to my academic development. The beginning weeks of the course were devoted to studying the neoliberal ideology/project and its implementation globally, while we spent the remainder of the course studying how the global political economy has been thus shaped by it. Studying how globalization under neoliberal capitalism has impacted global relations, agriculture and manufacturing trends, supply-chain management, worker’s rights, grassroots organizing, and more, this course was my first real opportunity to think critically of the systems which we live under. One of the largest takeaways from the course was the extent to which we are all connected as global citizens, especially as economic and physical barriers are broken down by improving technology and an increase in world trade.
For our abroad program, we took on a comparative study of the health systems in place in the three countries that we visited. As a result, it was much more hands-on than some of the other courses which I have taken. For the intent of the course, we visited a Chinese museum displaying natural medicine, a former 19th century quarantine center on the outskirts of Sydney, and a hospital ran by the Catholic Church in rural Argentina serving underprivileged populations.
The largest takeaway from the course itself was that conceptions of what it means to be “healthy” and the subsequent measures/practices taken are greatly shaped by both culture and ideology. We learned how while it it important to be critical of any faults in existing systems, it is necessary to recognize the centrality of cultural practice/identity to different health systems, and that changes can be made to improve these systems without necessarily shunning the cultural practices and ideas shaping it.
Taken in Sydney, we looked directly at the relationship between migration and public health in this course. We studied how well-being is a push-pull factor regarding migrants, as well as the treatment of migrants, including immigrants and refugees, after arriving in their new country.
It was particularly alarming to learn about the offshore detention centers which Australia has been using for years for migrants who attempt to enter the country without documentation. Learning about the lack of physical and mental health care offered at these centers clarified the connection between human migration at large and how public health directly impacts it.
Taken in Shanghai, this course outlined China’s political and economic history post WWII and how large structural changes have impacted both the physical environment and the institutions that Chinese citizens deal with in everyday life. Particular attention was paid to the environmental damage which has come at the cost of modernization and how air pollution in particular impacts health on a society-wide level. We also learned how the Chinese were able to streamline a national health service, and how it has worked to improve to serve more people while also adapting to new health impacts due to an increase in pollution and climate change.
Other Relevant Courses
With a particular focus on Mexico and Venezuela, we studied how political movements of the 19th and 20th centuries were depicted and aided by popular artwork including murals, film, literature, and architecture.
This course demonstrated clearly to me as to how politics and art, or culture more broadly, are intricately linked. Understanding how each one impacts the other has helped me to better understand social movements of the past and present worldwide.
In this class we looked at case studies of several states to examine how they have historically created and utilized national narratives to influence the mass thought of their populations. One of the largest surprises for me was learning how the term ‘propaganda’ realistically takes on a more neutral connotation, meaning that regardless of the state that one lives in, we are all more exposed to propaganda than we may think. I feel that learning about how the use of propaganda has been used across history to reach a particular means has allowed me to think more critically common narratives and daily information that I receive.
As a continuation of Introduction to Global Studies, we looked at several specific industries and how they’ve adapted under globalization over the past several decades. Looking at e-waste, the pharmaceutical industry, drug trafficking and more, we learned how our relationship both as consumers and to the products that we consume has vastly changed since globalization, strengthened by political support for neoliberal ideology, has taken hold. We also studied the growing relevance of supply chains, the role of grassroots movements worldwide in fighting for a more just world, and the importance of global solidarity in a rapidly changing world.