Economic, Environmental, and Health Challenges: The Impact of Democracy

3 Units

To what extent does democracy result in positive economic, environmental, and health outcomes? Instructed by faculty from the disciplines of economics, environmental science, epidemiology, medicine, political science, and sociology, students will learn about current economic, environmental, and public health problems and various democratic and non-democratic political institutions. They will read and discuss the latest findings about how democratic and non-democratic political institutions impact economic, environmental, and public health outcomes. Topics include economic inequality, economic growth, global warming, water pollution, infectious and non-infectious diseases, and worker health and safety. Building on this foundation of knowledge, students will work together to investigate the impact of political institutions on problems of their own choosing. Offered as POSC 357 and POSC 457 . Counts as a CAS Global & Cultural Diversity course. Counts as a Local & Global Engagement course. Counts as a Understanding Global Perspectives course.