Twenty-five prominent educators from around the globe met on November 3 at HSPH to share their experiences in teaching health and human rights and to carve out a plan to facilitate its incorporation into higher education curricula.
Representing major research universities, government agencies, and some of the largest NGOs in the field, the group came together through a joint invitation from the Program on International Health and Human Rights (PIHHR) at HSPH and the Initiative for Health and Human Rights (IHHR) at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
As the meeting opened, co-chair Sofia Gruskin, director of PIHHR and associate professor in the Department of Population and International Health, recalled the genesis of health and human rights (HHR) teaching in academic settings. In 1991, she and several other meeting participants had contributed to the design of a groundbreaking course dedicated to health and human rights. Spearheaded by the late Jonathan Mann, the course has been given annually at HSPH ever since.
"The course has been and continues to be a distinctive feature of HSPH. It has helped shape the career development of many students from within and outside this School," said Gruskin.
The meeting generated discussions that reflected the variety in which health and human rights is taught across institutions and disciplines. Approaches, contents, and format of more than 30 courses offered across the world were discussed, illustrating the diversity of issues to be considered for this growing field.
Meeting co-chair Daniel Tarantola, professor of health and human rights at the University of New South Wales and head of IHHR, reminded participants that students must be prepared to address health and human rights issues from the perspectives of law, medicine, public health, nursing and other allied health and social sciences. These students will address human rights issues in their careers in different ways, and must be encouraged and inspired to further knowledge in the field, he said.
Participants shared novel approaches, as well as addressed concerns about tight budgets and limited class time. Common issues confronting the design and conduct of health and human rights courses included: What entry points best lend themselves to the introduction of human rights topics? Should human rights concepts be incorporated into the general curriculum or stand alone? How best to teach the causes and health consequences of genocide and torture, without adversely affecting student morale? As most institutions require courses in bioethics, how to make universities and students understand the added value of health and human rights education?
Allen Keller of New York University School of Medicine noted a tension between bioethics and human rights, and asked how participants differentiated the two. Boston University professor Michael Grodin commented that in spite of similarities and some common purpose, the two fields of study are different in intent and practice. A current challenge is not only to bring these two fields closer but to recognize the distinct value of each.
Laurel Baldwin-Ragaven of Trinity College in Hartford said that while she conducted research over many years in South Africa, she met bioethicists who were not opposed to apartheid. Such dichotomy, she explained, rests in the difference between the intellectual appeal of bioethics, and the practical, context-driven aspects of human rights.
There was general agreement that as the field of health and human rights comes of age, translating key principles and normative content into action-oriented work is what is needed. "The practical value of health and human rights is what drives student interest. They are seeking tools to help them become agents of change," said Gruskin.
Stephen Marks, Franúois-Xavier Bagnoud Professor of Health and Human Rights at HSPH, spoke of a joint project involving HSPH, BU, and MIT students who worked with colleagues from the University of Ghana. Students used data to examine the results of their work in the community.
"They were implementing health and human rights at the ground level while engaging the local community," he said. Marks also heads the Program on Human Rights in Development.
Others added that there is an abundance of solid health and human rights research available, and it is crucial to integrate such research into courses to "inject rigor."
"There is a special relationship between public health rights and human rights," added Chris Beyrer, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Public Health and Human Rights. He use his work in Southeast Asia to illustrate how a health and human rights framework enhances the analytical and action-oriented capacity of projects aimed at assessing and responding to health disparities.
All agreed that health and human rights teaching, practice and research are intimately linked. "We need to build HHR into all types of research. Schools also must do this if they are to attract fresh minds who can build on and further expand knowledge in this field," Tarantola added.
Said Ivan Franca-Junior of the University of Sao Paulo School of Public Health in Brazil, "We have to be good researchers to be good teachers."
Participants agreed to make publicly available syllabi and other course materials collected from educators in the field in the near future. This is meant not only to enrich the teaching of those already engaged in the field, but to inspire new initiatives around the world, explained Gruskin.
"Teaching health and human rights truly paves the way towards a new public health," concluded Gruskin as the meeting came to a close.
The daylong program was held with the support of the Ford Foundation and the Joseph H. Flom Global Health and Human Rights Initiative at Harvard Law School, a joint program of the Human Rights Program and the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics.
—PHC
Copyright, 2009, President and Fellows of Harvard College
