Global Health (AB2)

Program Code: U-GLHL-AB2
Plan Type: Second Major
Department: Global Health
Website: globalhealth.duke.edu/programs/undergraduate-programs

Program Summary

Global health is an area of study, research, and practice that emphasizes improving health outcomes and reducing health disparities for people across the world. It draws on a wide range of disciplines, integrates population-based strategies and individual-level clinical care, fosters interdisciplinary collaboration, and addresses transnational health issues and their underlying determinants. The Program in Global Health engages knowledge from the sciences, social sciences, and humanities to best address the complexity of global health challenges.

The mission of the global health major is to educate the next generation of scholars and leaders whose work will advance health and reduce health inequities worldwide. The major prepares students to tackle global health challenges through both disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches. Offered exclusively as a co-major, the global health major must be completed alongside another undergraduate major at Duke. It includes six components—core, foundations, statistics, electives, experiential learning, and a senior seminar. Students are required to complete eleven courses and fulfill an experiential learning requirement, in addition to the requirements of their co-major, as detailed below.

Go to Programs by Department to view all related programs.

Academic Requirements

At least 11 units total to complete the major. At least 34 units total to earn a degree.

• Required Courses (3 units)

  • GLHLTH 101

  • GLHLTH 371

  • GLHLTH 499

• Ethics Course (1 unit)

  • GLHLTH 210

  • GLHLTH 373

  • GLHLTH 341

  • GLHLTH 241

  • GLHLTH 345

• Statistics Course (1 unit)

  • Any STA course, or BIOLOGY 304, or BME 244L, or ECON 208D, or MATH 230, or PSY 204L and 205L, or SOCIOL 333

• Foundations Courses (3 units)

  • 1 course from 3 of the following 4 foundation domains. See globalhealth.duke.edu for eligible courses.

    • Arts and Humanities in Global Health

    • Global Health Systems and Policy

    • Natural Science in Global Health

    • Social Sciences in Global Health

• Electives (3 units)

  • A comprehensive list of elective courses is available to students in the degree audit system.

• Experiential Learning Activity

  • See globalhealth.duke.edu for more details on requirements and eligible experiences.

Graduation with Distinction

The Graduation with Distinction program recognizes students who successfully complete a substantive written project evaluated by a committee of three faculty members. Students majoring in global health may pursue the following tracks leading to Graduation with Distinction:

• Graduation with distinction in global health

• Graduation with distinction in global health and the non-global health major through a double honors thesis

• Graduation with distinction in the non-global health major

Students interested in graduating with distinction in global health may pursue a double honors thesis to integrate what they have learned in the two majors. Students must complete their thesis under the mentorship of a Duke Global Health Institute (DGHI) core faculty member who has experience guiding undergraduate student research. Students who meet the eligibility requirements must submit an application form by the last day of Drop/Add of the fall semester of their senior year.