Social Inequalities and Health in the African Diaspora

AASP468A
Fall 2013
Wednesday 3:00-5:30 pm
Symons Hall 0200


Is health care for people of color in America uniformly worse then care for white Americans?

If blacks are more likely than whites to have a primary care physician as their predominant provider, why do they still experience disparities in medical quality and health outcomes?

How is HIV/AIDS affecting economic growth in Africa?

How is the status of women changing in Africa?

How is globalization affecting Africa?

Course Description:

While most nations and Non-Governmental Organizations state that good health should be a right for all, we know that this is not the case.  Nowhere is this made clearer than in the communities of the African Diaspora including Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean and the US.  This course examines the large and complex issues that explain why certain people 1) are more vulnerable to certain illnesses, 2) cannot get access to good health care including prevention and treatment and 3) are caught in a spiral of disadvantage and poor health.  We will also examine the policy and intervention responses to these problems both in the US and internationally.