A rigorous, interdisciplinary academic program that introduces students to the determinants of health, public health and global health in the context of Morocco, a low/middle income country. Students also learn Arabic language, Moroccan history, Islamic theology, and medical anthropology. Learning is experiential, as students conduct interviews, keep field notes, participate in site visits, and teach English one day. Students also prepare an independent research project and a Community Health Needs Assessment. The program is 6 credits (3 of global health, 3 of Arabic language).
Impact
The course taught students cultural competence and sensitivity, global citizenship, foreign language, global health principles, gender issues, world history, and qualitative research methods. The course introduced students to research and produced Community Health Needs Assessments for a village community (4 reports, 2012-2016). This is the foundation of a 2017 collaborative international health application to CIHR for research in maternal and infant health, of McMaster and Moroccan partners.
Student Experience
Students developed deep cultural understanding of the situation of Muslim peoples and families, especially women, by living with Moroccan families, hearing from Moroccan NGOs, policymakers, physicians, nurses, social workers, and traditional birth attendants. Students developed confidence and sensitivity to global challenges by interviewing community members in the village cluster of Zawiya Ahansal in the High Atlas Mountains. Many expressed humility and gratitude to their Moroccan families and friends. They developed a deep respect for Arabic peoples by living in an Arabic country and learning the Arabic language. This was the first Arabic course at McMaster; the Moroccan Arabic is McMaster’s first official Arabic language course on the books.
