Coming this fall! The Global Health Fellows

New in 2016!

by Kristin Leonato

Another new collaboration is coming to the College of Humanities and Social Sciences this fall! The Global Affairs program and the Department of Philosophy are teaming up to offer a unique opportunity for their undergraduate students. The inaugural cohort of the Global Health Fellows will spend its fall semester at Mason's Arlington campus focusing on the realities of today’s global health challenges and the resources offered from a humanities and social sciences perspective.

GMU Arlington CampusThe Arlington Fellows programs began as a pilot program called the “Arlington semester program” in the spring 2013 term when 21 students majoring in government and global affairs spent an entire term studying together at the Arlington campus and interning with various organizations in the Washington, DC, area. This program format has proven academically successful because it allows dedicated students to explore their interests in-depth in a small cohort environment and popular with students for the added value the program provides in preparing Fellows for life after graduation. The Arlington Fellows program now hosts three undergraduate programs and serves between 75 and one hundred Fellows each academic year.

As an intellectual signature of the university and a topic of great interest to our students, a Fellows program in global health was a natural choice for expanding the opportunities at Arlington. The lead program faculty, Lisa Breglia (Global Affairs) and Lisa Eckenwiler (Philosophy, Health Administration and Policy) began developing the curriculum earlier this year and are excited to work with their first cohort of students this fall.

Eckenwiler recently explained, "I meet so many Mason students with these interests and am excited to be able to offer them, with [Global Affairs] support, an opportunity for focused study and a bit of practical experience. These issues are more urgent--and interesting--than ever."

Arlington Fellows Site Visit to World Bank

Like the other Arlington Fellows programs, the Global Health Fellows is open to students from all major courses of study. An interdisciplinary approach is also a natural fit for the complexities of health challenges across borders and all levels of economic development. Eckenwiler feels the program will be beneficial for “students interested in justice, human rights, solidarity, and other ethical ideals at stake in global health and especially global health inequities.” She continues saying, “government policy makers, health professionals, civil society organizations, international financial institutions, transnational businesses and corporations, ethicists and human rights advocates are just some of the actors engaged in, or whose work helps to shape, the health of populations globally.”

FACETS Intenship PictureA key feature of the Arlington Fellows experience is participation in a required internship or culminating project, which is of particular importance for the Global Health Fellows. Fellows will complete a six-credit internship, gaining hands-on experience with a local agency or organization focused on global or multicultural health policy or practice. This combination of coursework and internship gives students the chance to engage with faculty, researchers, practitioners, policy makers and advocates working at the intersections of global health and ethics throughout their Fellows experience.

The Global Health Fellows is still accepting applications for a few remaining spots in the fall cohort. Interested students should contact Lisa Breglia via email at LBreglia@gmu.edu or email the Arlington fellows coordinator at afp@gmu.edu.

Also on offer this fall is the largest Arlington Fellows program, the Global Politics Fellows (GPF). In spring 2017, the Arlington campus will host the Global Politics Fellows, the Nonprofit Fellows and the Peacebuilding Fellows. The Social Innovation Fellows program hopes to join GPF and the Global Health Fellows for fall 2017. Learn more about all of these unique opportunities at fellows.gmu.edu.