The following is a partial list of Stanford classes pertinent to international health topics.
This list was last updated in Summer 2007. Please note that course offerings, titles, and numbers change frequently. For the most up-to-date information please check the quarterly printed bulletin or the Online Stanford Bulletin.
View lecture videos from HumBio 167! International Health
New School of Medicine online course! Rethinking International Health
Anthropological Sciences
Anthsci 155. Human Population Biology - Problems in demography and theoretical population biology applied to human systems. (5 units)
Anthsci 170. Medical Anthropology - The crosscultural study of the health beliefs and healing systems of the world. How social processes shape human health. (3 units)
Anthsci 171. Aging: From Biology to Social Policy - Issues include social security, medical care, lifespan, and the cultural, social, and economic consequences of a large elderly population in the U.S. and other countries. (5 units)
Anthsci 179. Contagion and Conflict - Historical and anthropological relationships between human disease and human conflict. Disease epidemics including Paleolithic conflicts, medieval crusades, world wars, and genocides of the last century. Alliances amont military institutions, sanitary reform movements, and health agencies. Biowarfare including smallpox blankets, cold war weaponry, and bioterrorism. Application to current events;policy implications. (5 units)
Anthsci 179. Environmental Change and Emerging Infectious Diseases - How human-induced environmental changes are altering the ecology of infectious disease transmission, and promoting their re-emergence as a global public health threat. (3-5 units)
Anthsci 193. Prefield Research Seminar - Methods for conducting field research. (3 units)
Anthsci 194. Post Field Seminar - Analysis and composition of material gathered during summer fieldwork. (5 units)
Anthsci 270. Advanced Topics in Medical Anthropology - Graduate seminar. Specialized topics in human health, illness, and healing from anthropological perspectives. Students present topical research and analyses from published sources; required journal-quality paper. (3-5 units) (Casa 367)
Biological Sciences
Biosci 22N. Infection, Immunity and the Public’s Health - The causes and prevention of infectious diseases, focusing on the interplay between pathogens and the immune system that determines the outcome of the disease. Diseases of the past and present. The role of external factors in disease emergence. Preference to sophomores. (3 units)
Biosci 102 Demography: Health, Development, Environment - Demographic methods and their application to understanding and projecting changes in human infant, child, and adult mortality and health, fertility, population, sex ratios, and demographic transitions. (3 units)
Civil and Environmental Engineering
CEE 177S/277S. Design for a Sustainable World - Technology-based problems faced by developing communities worldwide. Student groups partner with organizations abroad to work on concept, feasibility, design, implementation, and evaluation phases of various projects. (1-5 units)
CEE 245C. Project Finance - Public and private sources of finacnce for large, complex, capital intensive projects in developed and eveloping countries. (1-5 units)
CEE 265D. Water and Sanitation in Developing Countries -Economic, social, political, and technical aspects of sustainable water supply and sanitation service provision in developing countries. (3 units)
Comm 269. Computers and Interfaces - (4 units)
Cultural and Social Anthropology
Casa 82/282. Medical Anthropology - Emphasis on how health, illness, and healing are understood, experienced, and constructed in social, cultural, and historical contexts. (4-5 units)
Casa 163/263. The Politics of Humanitarianism - Anthropological approaches to contemporary practices of humanitarian intervention. How social theory can inform the politics of humanitarianism, charity, and philanthropy. (5 units)
Economics
Econ 106. World Food Economy - The interrelationships among food, populations, resources, and economic development. Emphasis on public sector decision making. (5 units)
Econ 118. Development Economics - The economic problems and policy concerns of developing countries. Theories of growth and development; inequality and poverty; credit and labor markets; population growth and fertility choice; migration; sustainable development and globalization. (5 units)
Econ 214. Development Economics and Growth: Microeconomic Issues - Microecononomic analysis of markets and institutions in developing countries. (2-5 unites)
Econ 216. Development Economics and Growth: Macroeconomics- The historical experience of economic development; patterns of economic growth; sources of economic growth; models of economic development, saving and capital accumulation; the role of money and finance; inflation; taxation; stabilization in closed and open economies with incomplete and /or imperfect markets; human and other forms of intangible capital; infrastructural capital and externalities; income distribution; numerical general equilibrium models. (2-5 units)
Education
Educ 107. The Politics of International Cooperation Education - For undergraduates and master's students. (3-4 units)
Educ 156A. Understanding Racial and Ethnic Identity - African American, Native American, Mexican American, and Asian American racial and ethnic identity development; the influence of social, political, and psychological forces in shaping the experience of people of color in the U.S. (3-5 units)
Educ 202. Introduction to Comparative and International Education - Contemporary theoretical debates about educational change and development, and the international dimension of issues in education. (4-5 units)
Educ 287. Culture and Learning - Learning in institutional settings in the U.S. and around the globe. Learing in families, in schools, on the job, and on the streets. (3-4 units)
Educ 292X. Cultural Psychology - The relationship between culture and psychological processes; how culture becomes an integral part of cognitive, social, and moral development. (3 units)
Educ 306A. Education and Economic Development - Case material considers development problems in the U.S. and abroad. Discussion sections on economic aspects of educational development. (5 units)
Educ 306D. World, Societal, and Educational Change: Comparative Perspectives - Theoretical perspectives and empirical studies on the structural and cultural sources of educational expansion and differentiation, and on the cultural and structural consequences of educational institutionalization. (4-5 units)
Ethicsoc 133. Ethics and Politics of Public Service - Primarily for freshmen and sophomores. The history, hazards, responsibilities, and dilemmas of doing public service. (5 units)
Ethicsoc 171. Justice - Focus is on the ideal of a just society, and the place of liberty and equality in it, in light of contemporary theoris of justice and political controversies. Issues of global justice including human rights and global inequality. (5 units)
HRP 212. Crosscultural Medicine - Interviewing and beavioral skills needed to facilitate culturally relevant health care across all population groups. Explicit and implicit cultural influences operating in formal and informal medical ocntexts. (3 units)
HRP 231. Infectious Diseases Epidemiology - Principles of the transmission of the infectious agents. The role of vectors, reservoirs, and environmental factors. Pathogen and host characteristics that determine the spectrum of infection and disease. Endemicity, outbreaks, and epidemics of selected infectious diseases. (3 units)
History
History 106 A/B. Global Human Geography - Global patterns of demography, economic and social development, geopolitics, and cultural differentiation. (5 units)
History 206. History and Geography of Contemporary Global Issues - The historical background and geographical context of contemporary global issues and events. (5 units)
History 245E. Health and Society in Africa - The history of disease, therapeutic, and diagnostic systems, and the definition of health in precolonial, colonial, and postcolonial Africa. The social and political histories of specific epidemics. (5 units)
Human Biology
Humbio 27. Traditional Chinese Medicine - Concepts such as Qi, Yin/Yang, meridians, Chinese organs, and the 5 elements. Acupuncture, herbal medicine, Qi gong, massage, political and socioeconomic implications. (1 unit)
Humbio 92Q. International Women’s Health and Human Rights - Focus on women in poorer countries. Issues include women's status, poverty, violence, and unequal access to education, food, and health care. Maternal mortality, STDs, refugee situations, traditional practices, trafficking, and prostitution. (3 units)
Humbio 103. Parasites/Pestilence: Infectious Public Health Challenges - Pathogenesis, clinical syndromes, complex life cycles, and the interplay among environment, vectors, hosts, and reservoirs in historical context to understand public health policy approaches to halting disease transmission. (4 units)
Humbio 115A. Humans and Viruses - Concepts in biology and the social sciences, focusing on emerging infections, viral classification, transmission and prevention, vaccination and treatment, eradication of disease, viral pathogenesis, mechanisms of virally induced cacer, and viral evolution. (6 units)
Humbio 115B. The Vaccine Revolution - Human aspects of viral disease, focusing on recent discoveries in the area of vaccine development and emerging infections. (6 units)
Humbio 117. Community Health Assessment - Work with community partners to identify health issues and plan programs and policies to prevent disease and promote health. (3 units)
Humbio 122. International Health Policy: Comparative National Health Care Systems - The structure and policies of national health care systems in Europe, N. America, and Japan. (4 units)
Humbio 129. Critical Issues in International Women's Health - Women's lives, from childhood through adolescence, reproductive years, and aging. Economic, social, and human rights factors, and the importance of women's capacities to have good health and manage their lives in the face of societal pressures and obstacles. (4 units)
Humbio 135. Global Environmental Policy - Focus on international management of regional and global environmental issues, and on the international institutions and agreements created to manage them. (5 units)
Humbio 137. Demography: Health, Development, Environment - Same as Biosci 102. Demographic methods and their application to understanding and projecting changes in human infant, child, and adult mortality and health, fertility, population, sex ratios, and demographic transitions. (3 units)
Humbio 142G. Post-Field Seminar: A Practical Next Step for Students Returning from Abroad - For students who have recently worked abroad for two months or longer to share what they learned through international research, internship, or volunteer work. (1 unit)
Humbio 142P. HIV Prevention in East Africa Prefield Seminar (3 units)
Humbio 143. Globalization, Labor, and the Environment - The responsibility of multinational corporations and institutions (World Bank, WTO, IMF) in the global economy, emphasizing labor and environmental standards in developing countries. Local and global case studies. (4 units)
Humbio 146. The AIDS Epidemic: Biology, Behavior and Global Response - The HIV/AIDS pandemic from the view of public health, public policy nationally and internationally. (3 units)
Humbio 150. Current Topics and Controversies in Women’s Health - Interdisciplinary topics include health research, legal and plicy issues, sex and gender differences, scientific and cultural perspectives, social influences, complementary medicine, and issues related to special populations. (3 units)
Humbio 167. International Health - Concepts of health and wellness and major descriptors and determinants of health status. International organizations and control programs, disease-related problems within population groups from an epidemiologic viewpoint, health care delivery methods, efforts to improve health through examination of current and previous programs and projects. (4 units)
Humbio 179. Environmental Change and Emerging Infectious Diseases - How human-induced environmental changes are altering the ecology of infectious disease transmission, and promoting their re-emergence as a global public health threat. (3-5 units)
Internlrel 161A. Global Human Geography: Asia and Africa
Language Center
Spanish 19M. Spanish for Heritage and Foreign Language Pre-Med and Public Health Students - Focus on developing the ability to provide information on health-related topics to Spanish speakers in the U.S. (3-4 units)
Spanish 121M, 122M, 123M. Spanish for Medical Students - Goal is a practical and rapid command of spoken Spanish. Topics: the human body, hospital procedures, diagnostics, food, and essential phrases for on-the-spot reference when dealing with Spanish-speaking patients. (3 units)
Medicine
Med 243. Biomedical and Social Science Responses to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Med 262. Economics of Health Improvment in Developing Countries
OB 677. Perspectives on Justice
Political Sciences
Polisci 141. The Global Politics of Human Rights - The global development and changing nature of human rights and the rise of an international human rights movement. Conflicts between national sovereignty and rights, and among types of rights. Case studies. (5 units)
Polisci 143. Nongovernmental Organizations and Development in Poor
Countries - How NGOs affect economic growth, equity, political stability, and prospects for democracy in poor countries. Interactions among NGOs from wealthy and poor countries, governments, international financial institutions, and multinational corporations. (5 units)
Polisci 242T. Social Protection Around the World - The political origin of and differences in major policies of social protection across developed and developing countries; recent challenges faced by these policies. Why some countries provide old-age sickness benefits to all citizens, while others offer no protection during employment-related risks. (5 units)
Polisci 244R. Political Economy of Disease: AIDS in Historical Perspective - Demographic, economic, cultural, and political changes in the wake of AIDS. The social dimensions of infectious diseases and epidemics; the impact of epidemics on political and economic institutions; and hte political economy of responses to the AIDS crisis. (5 units)
Publpol 168. Global Organizations and Policy- Analytical tools derived from the social sciences to analyze global organizations and projects, and applied to the trade offs between different designs of teams and organizations. (5 units)
Publpol 184. Poverty and Policies in Developing Economies -Economic models of growth and poverty, differenes in growht rates among countries, and the persistence of poverty. Policies include schooling and health, anti-poverty, banking, and political decentralization. (5 units)
