Health and wellbeing tend to become subject of public debates, media storms and strong opinions. Existing health inequalities are given meaning in these debates. Resistance to covid vaccines, for example, tend to be explained with reference to conservatism as well as culture and religion. This tendency to give religious and cultural explanations for health disparities and controversies emerging from this is visible not only in public debates, but also in scholarly literature emerging from European academia.
This emphasis is observed across various health issues including in the current Covid pandemic, becomes amplified when considering sexual health. In matters relating to sexuality and gender in particular it is assumed that religions and (in particular non-European) cultural traditions are loaded with taboos that hinders healthy decision-making. These assumptions are translated into the policies and practices of health programming at global, national and local levels. While aiming to solve health disparities, such assumptions produce unhelpful polarizations around health that throw up additional barriers in accessing health care.
Participants in the summer school learn to disentangle the polarizing dynamics around health and wellbeing, and will explore the particular problems and solutions strategies that are part of people’s everyday lives and experiences with health and wellbeing.
This summer school will confront the participant with the need to research health and wellbeing with an interdisciplinary approach and perspective.
It will allow the participant, in particular, to explore and practice qualitative and ethnographic approaches that can help to better identify how problems related to health and wellbeing are navigated by people in their everyday lives in various cultural contexts across the globe.
It will challenge the participant to come up with creative ideas on how public health experts, human rights advocates, policymakers and other health professionals can develop more constructive approaches to navigate health inequalities and bridge health gaps with vulnerable and marginalized people and communities.
Course leader
Dr. Brenda Bartelink, Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences
Target group
Advanced undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate students (PhDs, post-docs) as well as practitioners and researchers with an interest in the health inequalities and health & wellbeing; all disciplines are welcome!
Course aim
Participants in this summer school will:
- - Acquire the knowledge and skills to identify different and diverging understandings of health and wellbeing and the problematizations that emerge from this.
- - Learn about guiding ‘grand schemes’ or ‘ideologies’ such as human rights; global health and sexual and reproductive health and rights; religion; liberalism; conservatism and how these overlap, compete and conflict on international, national and local levels.
- - Acquire and practice qualitative and ethnographic research skills to research how these grand schemes interact with everyday lives of people in different locales.
- - Learn to take a more informed stance in challenging debates around health and wellbeing, in particular concerning gender, sexuality, religion and cultural diversity.
- - Learn to identify, communicate and mediate with and between various actors in the context of health and wellbeing, including health professionals, religious leaders and (representatives of) marginalized and precarious communities.
Credits info: 2 EC
Preparatory readings: 4 hours
Lectures/panel sessions: 12 hours
Facilitated workshops: 14 hours
Group Work and individual assignments: 12 hours
Presentations: 8 hours
Fee info
EUR 500: Including lunches, coffee/tea, welcoming drinks, social programme
For further information, please click the "LINK TO ORIGINAL" button below.