Reimagining Global Health | June 8 - 12, 2026 

COURSE FORMAT

Online only. Course will be live to online participants approximately 9:00am to 1:00pm (Montreal time) each day from June 8–12, 2026. All content will be recorded and accessible to participants until July 1, 2026.

DESCRIPTION

Since colonial times, global health has always been more about charity, goodwill, and saviorism, rather than justice, rights, and equity. Without education and reflection, it is easy to perpetuate this saviorism model of global health. To counter this, we need to reimagine a better model, one that is rooted in justice, equity, human rights, and self-determination. As we deal with massive, transnational challenges that threaten our very existence (e.g., widening economic inequities, conflicts, pandemics, and climate change), our ability to act as global citizens, forge genuine partnerships and demonstrate authentic solidarity and allyship may well determine our shared future.

This interactive course aims to give students the opportunity to broaden their understanding and knowledge of global health issues, including core topics such as the colonial history of global health, power asymmetries in global health, privilege, racism & allyship, global health governance, social determinants of health, and health inequities. Given the COVID-19 pandemic and the climate crisis, the course will use pandemics and climate crisis, two existential threats, to illustrate the challenges and opportunities inherent in global health work. Throughout the course, the need to ‘decolonize’ global health,’ as well as to practice authentic allyship will be highlighted. The course will help students to avoid a white saviorism approach to global health. The course will also encourage students to consider the glocal model and address health disparities wherever they occur.

Consult the 2026 course agenda and reading list below: 

COURSE DIRECTOR

Madhukar Pai, MD, PhD
Chair, Department of Global and Public Health, School of Population and Global Health, McGill University
Canada Research Chair of Epidemiology & Global Health, McGill University

Shashika Bandara, MScGH, PhD

Postdoctoral fellow, School of Population and Global Health, McGill University

COURSE FACULTY 

· Madhukar Pai, McGill University

· Seye Abimbola, University of Sydney

· Shashika Bandara, McGill University

· Stephanie Nixon, Queen’s University

· Anant Bhan, Yenepoya University

· Samuel Oji Oti, The International Development Research Centre

· Rochelle A. Burgess, UCL Institute for Global Health

· Grace Umutesi, University of Washington

· Vikram Patel, Harvard School of Medicine

· Lioba Hirsch, University of Edinburgh

· Engelbert Luchuo, African Population and Health Research Center

· Maju Brunette, The Ohio State University College of Medicine

· Zackie Achmat, co-founder the Treatment Action Campaign

· Ferdinand C. Mukumbang, University of Washington

· Gregg Gonsalves, Yale University

· Emilie Koum Besson, Ministry of Health, Chad (Advisor)

· Eugene T. Richardson, Harvard University

· Alex Neve, Former Amnesty International

· Ananya Banerjee, McGill University

· Peter Hotez, Baylor College of Medicine

· Julia Robinson, PLOS Global Public Health Journal

· Karli Montague-Cardoso, PLOS Mental Health Journal

· Tammam Aloudat, The New Humanitarian

· Carol Zavaleta-Cortijo, Cayetano Heredia University

· Nelson Aghogho Evaborhene, Roskilde University

· Afifah Rahman-Shepherd, National University of Singapore

· Adeel Riaz, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

· Nhial Deng, Huron University

· Yasir Essar, Migration Humanitarian Health Collective

· Safieh Shah, Institute for Globally Distributed Open Research and Education, Pakistan

· Shruti Bora, Generation Mental Health Association, India

· Erika Valtierra, Partners in Health, Mexico

· Khameer Kidia, Harvard Medical School and University of Zimbabwe

· Silvana Matassini Eyzaguirre, McGill University

· Kerry Scott, York University

· Mark Donald C. Reñosa, Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, Phillipines

· Ijeoma Nnodim Opara, Wayne State University School of Medicine

CONTENT

The course consists of lectures (including guest lectures from experts around the world), discussions and inspiring videos/films or podcasts.

We are living in an era of polycrisis, where multiple challenges are affecting the world simultaneously – from pandemics, conflicts, climate crisis to disinformation, authoritarianism, and a collapse of multi-lateralism. Currently, science and scientists are under assault. From denial of vaccines to climate change denial, political leaders are increasingly sacrificing democracy as well as science on the altar of populism and authoritarianism. As explained by Prof. Pai and Dr. Bandara and others (PLOS GPH, 2021) the course will attempt to take a ‘red pill’ approach to teaching global health by using recent crises as teachable moments (BMJ Global Health 2021) and attempt to collectively shift the status quo of global health towards equity and justice (Lancet, 2024).

· Use the current governance crises, erosion of human rights, COVID-19 & climate crisis as a teachable moments and use them to focus on equity and human rights as a central theme in global health.

· Cover the importance of understanding racism and white supremacy in global health, and include content on privilege, anti-oppression, anti-racism and allyship.

· Discuss content on coloniality in global health and the persistent power asymmetries that affect every aspect of global health (e.g. inequity in Covid-19 vaccine access).

· Center the course on Black, Indigenous and people of colour speakers, especially experts from the Global South, Indigenous scholars, and individuals with lived experience.

· Teach students to avoid a white saviorism approach to global health and to see and address health inequities wherever they occur, not just in low-income countries.

· Imagine actionable equity, human rights, and justice centered pathways forward in global health. 

OBJECTIVES

By the end of the course, participants will understand:

• Understand the colonial origins of global health, and the deep-rooted structural inequities that characterize the field
• Gain a clearer idea of the possible contributions that they can make in this area as global citizens who deeply care about solidarity, equity and justice

TARGET AUDIENCE

This course is aimed at senior level undergraduate students, medical, nursing, and allied health students, and graduate students interested in global health.

ENROLMENT

Limited to 100 online participants.