IFSA Global and Public Health

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The Global and Public Health program provides a comprehensive overview of public health in India, as well as a multi-disciplinary look at Indian culture, politics, and society. The 15-credit semester is comprised of a required core course and four electives.

REQUIRED COURSE
Contemporary Indian Culture (3 U.S. semester credit hours) This core course provides a political, historical, religious, philosophical, and social overview of contemporary Indian society and creates a shared intellectual context that promotes the integration of coursework with students' personal observations.

ELECTIVE COURSES: Some courses are designed especially for international students, while others may be integrated with Manipal Academy of Higher Education students. Not all electives may be offered in a given semester depending on enrollment and faculty availability. All are worth 3 U.S. semester credit hours.

Global and Public Health
These courses include weekly field-based practicums alongside other Manipal and international students drawn to the globally-ranked health sciences programs at one of India’s top private universities.

• Ayurveda and Indian Traditions of Healing; Through both practical sessions and classroom lectures and discussions, this course will introduce students to the theory and practice of Ayurveda, a traditional Indian system of healthcare that has practical treatment sessions that make up this course offer an introduction to Ayurveda that is well-rounded, comprehensive and useful for students in their own day-to-day living.  
• Environment and Occupational Health (fall semester only): This course examines the importance of ecological conditions in promoting health and preventing disease. Students will develop a greater understanding of the concepts of hygiene and sanitation, the purpose of environmental health and ergonomics and legislation related to occupational health.  
• Maternal and Child Health: In any community, mothers and children constitute a priority group, one that comprises approximately 71.14% of the population of the developing countries. By virtue of their numbers, mothers and children are the major consumers of health services. In this course students will be given an overview of preventative pediatrics in developing countries.
• Global Health Problems (spring semester only): India faces a wide range of public health problems in the areas of communicable and non-communicable diseases and issues on maternal and child health. This course will consider India's dual burden of diseases and address the issues relating to global health perspectives.
• Surveillance of Infectious Diseases: Surveillance is intended to detect early warning signals of impending outbreaks and help initiate an effective response in urban and rural areas. Students will learn the components of surveillance activity, including collection of data, analysis and interpretation and feedback and also the different approaches to surveillance of different diseases and conditions.
• Public Health System and National Health Policies, Systems and Programs (fall semester only): An understanding of health system and policy issues is vital for both public health practice and research. This course gives an overview of the national health programmes of India, why they are needed, the human resources involved and the different components of the programmes including monitoring and supervision.
• Basic Epidemiology: Epidemiology forms the core science of Public Health. The basic epidemiology course is designed to enable students to gain foundational knowledge of methods in epidemiology with a focuse on basic models for disease occurrence, study designs and an introduction to the challenges related to causal research including bias.

Indian Studies
The following courses provides a multi-disciplinary look at India's past, present, and future. The university has drawn its most talented faculty from geopolitics, philosophy, European studies, and communications to teach specially-designed courses focusing on India and South Asia.

• Indian Classical Dance: This course focuses on basic disciplines and performance of Bharatanatyam, which originated many centuries ago in the temples of Tamil Nadu. Known for its strong lines and signature turn-out position, Bharatanatyam is embellished with intricately expressive hand gestures and elaborate facial expressions that lend to the story-telling aspect of this style.
• Directed Research: Students may conduct research with local organizations in the areas of international relations, public health, and the humanities. Guided readings and one-on-one meetings with faculty guides provide instruction pertaining to the development of articulate and comprehensive research that remains respectful to the sensitivities of local culture. The course culminates in a specific pilot study in the field. 
• Evolution of Cinema in India (fall semester only): Best known through the powerhouses of Bollywood, Indian films are produced in over 17 languages with a wide and diverse range of subjects and genres. Students become familiar with the basic elements of cinema and film appreciation, the origins of Indian cinema, influential Indian film directors, and the corporatization of the film industry.
• Beginning Hindi: With a focus on practical application of Hindi language, this course emphasizes speaking proficiency and listening comprehension, as well as elementary reading and writing of the Devanagari script.
• Regional Security Scenario in South Asia: In today's world, the strategic implications and inter-related security issues involved with current problems of communications and information must be dealt with in a holistic sense. Students examine the salient features and relevance of the complex issues affecting regional security in South Asia.
• Strategy and Practice of Indian Foreign Policy (fall semester only): The history and changing nature of India's foreign policy continues to inform the strategy and choices that India weighs while formulating its policies in dealing with foreign nations. This course is geared toward students who have a limited background in the strategy and practice of foreign policy in the Indian context.
• India's World View (fall semester only): This course addresses the views of the world on India and the reciprocal Indian view of the world. The uniqueness of conceptualizing and constructing a world view of India is essential in the context of India's rising power and how the traditional and stagnant views of India have been transforming and reconstructed in the light of India's rise.
• Environment and Development Communication: The course hopes to introduce students to the basics of environmentalism, ecosystem, threats to biodiversity and resources, international legal framework, movements and issues such as climate change and ozone layer depletion. Later, the course seeks to connect it with development models such as dominant and alternative paradigms. The students are introduce to different forms of media communication with reference to environment and development in the global context.
• Exploring Community & Culture in a Global Context: Through a creative asynchronous online format, this course facilitates active engagement with your host community, exploration of cultural identity and examination of diversity in the context of political, economic and sociocultural structures. Students cover topics such as intercultural communication skills, intercultural learning theories, tools for intercultural analysis and the development of personal strategies for engaging with differences of any kind following the study abroad experience. This course is ideal for students seeking transferable skills and specific competencies for success in the global marketplace. Depending on your chosen IFSA program, this course may be taken as a part of or in addition to your full credit load. Home institution approval is required for enrollment.

FIELD VISITS
Every Friday, a public health professor from Manipal Academy of Higher Education leads IFSA students on field visits that are directly linked to the curriculum. This hands-on exposure to India's system at the village, town, and district level helps them gain a 360-degree understanding of the successes and challenges of global public health.

• Seeing firsthand the issues of the Maternal and Child Healthcare at the Anganwadi in Malpe, a public health initiative which combines education and a nutritional program for children ages 3-6 years old.
• Learning about India's national Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme at the Udupi District Surveillance Unit, where infectious diseases are monitored.
• Comprehending the complexities of Tuberculosis treatment in India at the DOTS (Directly Observed Treatment, Short-Course) Center at Udupi.
• Visiting a Leprosy Hospital and its associated leprosy colony to meet with some of the last people affected by this disease.
• Observing the process that milk goes through from cow to lassi at a milk pasteurization plant.

DIRECTED RESEARCH
Students who choose to pursue directed research as an elective are paired with a faculty member appropriate to their academic area of interest, such as international relations, public health or the humanities, and are expected to produce a formal research paper. Research students have regular meetings with faculty guides in their subject area to discuss the formation and execution of their research plans. All directed research projects are subject to the interest and availability of faculty and may require prior relevant coursework. Browse a list of sample directed research projects. For more information, consult the Directed Research in International Relations, Public Health and Humanities syllabus. Browse a list of sample directed research projects.

Public Health

• Dr. Sanjay M. Pattanshetty – MPH Program Coordinator, Department of Public Health
• Dr. Shah Hossain / Dr. Navya Vyas (Global Health Problems)
• Dr. Rajesh Kamath (Surveillance of Infectious Diseases)
• Dr. Arati Rao / Dr. Navya Vyas (Maternal and Child Health)
• Dr. Kumar Sumit (Public Health Systems and National Health Policies, Systems and Programs)
• Dr. Kumar Sumit / Dr. Prakash Narayanan Vasudevan Potty (Basic Epidemiology)
• Dr. Kumar Sumit (Environment and Occupational Health)

Ayurveda

• Dr. K. J. Malagi – Head, Department of Ayurveda
• Dr. Anupama Nayak (Ayurveda and Indian Traditions of Healing)

Indian Studies

• Dr. Nanda Kishor (Contemporary Indian Culture)
• Dr. Arvind Kumar (Directed Research)
• Prof. Thiru Jeevarathinam (Beginning Hindi)

 
 

After you return to the U.S., IFSA will send a Butler University transcript to your home university and to your permanent address. The transcript reflects the courses taken, credits attempted, and grades earned during your term abroad. This service is included in your study abroad program at no additional cost.