The Duke Global Health Institute has finalized the newly authorized global health co-major and minor, available to students this Fall.
Students who are interested in global health can now pair their declared majors with the Global Health co-major or minor. The new programs were approved just before spring break by the Arts and Sciences Council, after more than a year in development. The required courses are interdisciplinary in nature and address language studies, research experience and advanced global health topics.
“Interest in global health has grown tremendously at Duke over the last decade,” said Gary Bennett, associate professor and director of undergraduate studies at the Duke Global Health Institute. “We think the field has progressed to the point where we can offer a richer, more robust educational experience for our students.”
Previously, students were only allowed to pursue a seven-course certificate in global health which will be discontinued for the incoming class of 2017. Current freshmen, sophomores and juniors can either pursue the co-major, the minor or the certificate in global health.
The 10-course major requires students to take three core courses, three foundational courses, three focused study courses, a senior seminar and an experiential learning requirement fulfilled by programs such as DukeEngage, internships, monitored lab research and other fieldwork, Bennett explained. The minor consists of two core courses and three electives.
“We’re especially excited about students coming up with some really neat synergies,” Bennett said. “Our interest here is in students finding the kinds of experiences that will allow them to integrate their co-major studies with global health.”
This is the first liberal arts global health major in the country, according to the DGHI website.
Over the past 18 months, Bennett and other faculty at DGHI have received overwhelming support from other departments through collaborations intended to finalize how the global health major will cut across disciplines, Bennett noted.
It is possible to pair the global health major with any other major at Duke. The unique co-major structure is intended to allow students broad interdisciplinary exposure without sacrificing depth in a discipline other than global health, he added.
“My hope is that the global health co-major allows students to explore their passions about how to reduce social and health disparities through whatever avenue interests them,” senior Neha Bakhai wrote in an email Tuesday.
Bakhai helped faculty and staff at DGHI develop the major and said she believes that the major will be extremely popular because of its broad applications.
The new program will allow Duke students to hone vital skills to tackle impending global social and health issues said Jessica Freifeld, Trinity ’09, who earned the certificate in global health and now works as a manager at international consulting company Global Health Strategies.
“The co-major will help provide students with the training they need—both inside and outside the classroom—to pursue careers in global health and, ultimately, to have a real and lasting impact on the lives of people around the world,” Freifeld wrote in an email Tuesday.
Information sessions about the new major will be held March 27 and April 4.
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