Database Background and Aim

The database is a collaborative project of the Program on International Health and Human Rights at the Harvard School of Public Health and the Initiative for Health and Human Rights at the University of New South Wales. The goal of this collaborative effort is to provide an up to date listing of syllabi from institutions and organizations providing health and human rights education in academic settings.

 

The Health and Human Rights Syllabi Database was created in order to facilitate information exchange and to strengthen communication processes within and across institutions teaching health and human rights, as well as other organizations interested in teaching health and human rights concepts and methods. In providing information on course objectives, readings, materials, assessments and approaches to health and human rights courses currently offered, we hope to stimulate and support efforts to integrate health and human rights into a wider variety of specific and general curricula.

 

Database Organization

The database includes a range of courses, which bridge the fields of health and human rights in very different ways. Some of the courses included here focus on general concepts and methods linking health and human rights issues, others are human rights courses that include a health component, still others are courses on specific topical areas or on ethics and human rights more generally as they relate to health. The information has been assembled into a table of contents with active web links that facilitate access to the different syllabi available.

 

Courses are organized by institution and, as relevant, further by school and instructor(s). At its conception, the database included from 24 institutions from around the globe where courses on Health and Human Rights were being taught and included 57 different courses. Within the university setting, courses taught at schools of public health, law, social work, and medicine as well as at the undergraduate level are included. Also included are courses taught by non-governmental organizations. Syllabi are included in the languages in which they are offered. The current database includes courses taught in English, Portuguese and Spanish. Links are provided when the submissions are available. In cases when the PDFs are not yet available, the course is listed and a link will be added when the PDF is received.