The Sparkman Center for Global Health offers courses in Global Health for any UAB graduate student. The courses on this page also fulfill requirements for students enrolled in the global health certificate students. For more information about how to enroll in the certificate program, click here.
The School of Public Health offers a global health concentration for all undergraduate Public Health majors. Click here for more information.
All courses below are offered online unless noted otherwise.
Fall courses:
GHS 600: Fundamentals of Global Health
This course is one of two integrated core courses in the UAB Certificate in Global Health designed to introduce students to the foundations of global health programs, policies and practices. This course is a 7-week course, offered during the first half of the fall semester.
GHS 603: Immigrant, Migrant, and Refugee Health
This course will introduce students to the inter-relationships between migration and health, focusing on the myriad of health issues experienced by migrant populations. The course will focus on both communicable and non-communicable health issues among migrating populations. The course will examine health issues among all types of migrant populations with a particular focus on the categories of ‘displaced peoples’, and the resultant state and humanitarian responses surrounding health and social (public health) services. This course frames global health in broad terms to include the underlying social and economic conditions, including climate change, economic underdevelopment, and political instability, which displace people, or motivates them to migrate, and which present barriers to achieving health, mental health, and wellbeing in immigrant, migrant, and refugee communities. We explore how violence, social suffering, health, disease, and mental health are intertwined with displacement and migration.
GHS 604: Infectious Diseases of Global Health Significance
The purpose of this course is to equip participants with up-to-date- knowledge on major infections of global importance, and prevention and control strategies so that infections and large disease outbreaks can be prevented and/or easily contained.
Spring Courses
GHS 606: Critical Issues in Global Maternal Child Health
This course is an elective module for students enrolled in UAB Certificate in Global Health program. Mothers and children in developing countries are among the most vulnerable and disadvantaged sectors of the world's population. This course defines the Maternal and Child Health (MCH) discipline, describes the current practices and challenges, and compares global strategies and potential solutions. Course lectures are based around interviews with international partners currently working in the field. Course projects are also developed in collaboration with one of the Sparkman Center's partners, giving students the unique opportunity for their coursework to directly support a real organization in addressing a global health issue.
GHS 601: Global Health Partnerships & Development
Global health is an emerging and evolving field of health research and practice. Working in global health means that researchers, practitioners, and advocates work alongside and within a complex system of governance that has emerged over time and in response to very significant global health events. This course offers a critical analysis of global health programs and partnership initiatives over time and their impact on health and development. Using a historical lens to examine the growth of global health as a field of research and practice, this course examines the very significant paradigm shift from the field of international health to global health. By exploring key historical events and interventions, this course also explores why global health diplomacy is so important to cooperation among countries as well as global health security and how global health programs are funded, and programs and initiatives are implemented in various bilateral, multilateral, and private-public partnerships.
GHS/HCO 645: Comparative Health Systems and Policy (in-person)
This course provides a comprehensive survey of a number of healthcare systems from low-, middle-, and high-income countries, situating the U.S. and other national experiences in a comparative cross-national frame. The course provides frameworks for students to analyze in diverse settings the different ways that health policy is developed and implemented, given the resources, capacities, and systems of each country. The course will also examine the ways in which health care is organized and delivered, along with underlying global public health principles and impacts. By comparing health systems and policies, globally, students will reflect on how a country’s social-historical context and values, geography, polity and economy influence the way that health care is provided and its relationship with population health, as well as how health policies influence the quality of life.
Summer courses:
Summer electives are offered on a rotating basis depending on instructor resources and student interest. Please contact
GHS 430/630: SIFAT Maymester (hybrid – online and in-person)
This course is a field program (travel required) in partnership with the The Southern Institute for Appropriate Technology (SIFAT). The program provides opportunities to learn hands-on skills in the development and use of appropriate technologies around the world. Facilitated by professionals with extensive field practice experience, practical training at SIFAT emphasizes the subjects of water and sanitation, food and nutrition, alternative energy, primary health care, microenterprise development, and participatory community development. The course runs through Maymester but only 2-weeks are required at the SIFAT program. Click here for more information about the program.
GHS 690: Special Topics in Global Health
This special topic course will be used in the graduate global health certificate program to cover emerging issues or specialized content not represented in the main curriculum.
Additional Summer Options
Sparkman Internships
Each year, the Sparkman Center for Global Health (Sparkman Center) announces international global health-related summer internships and practicum opportunities for eligible UAB students. These travel awards provide elite educational experiences that enrich UAB students. Internships come with a $3,000 stipend to cover airfare and some living expenses. Click here for more information.