The role of local civil society in creating and delivering aglobal health curriculum: a critical inquiry of partnershipbetween a Higher Education Inst

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This project aims to study an existing innovativepartnership between the educators of a Global Healthuniversity degree and a local London-based voluntary-sector organisation. The scheme allows Global Healthstudents at Imperial College London to learn about localhealth inequalities through an experiential placementmodule with a non-profit organisation, Young BrentFoundation. Young Brent Foundation works to address thecomplex determinants of the high rates of youth violence inthe neighbouring council of Brent. Many studentsexperience their placement as deeply transformative andsome choose to continue collaborating with their voluntary-sector organisation after graduation. Global Health is a multidisciplinary field of research andpractice focusing on health and healthcare across theworld. The provision of university degrees in Global Healthhas exploded since the millennium. Paradoxically, most ofthese are financially and logistically inaccessible to thosecommunities with direct experience of health inequalities,whether these are in geographically distant countries, orneighbouring the university campus. Academic Global Health has been characterised by inequalities in power andinfluence along geographical, class, gender and ethniclines, such that a multitude of voices are marginalised indebates about what Global Health curricula should looklike. Recently, academic Global Health has been critiquedfor focusing too heavily on health issues affecting Low andMiddle-Income Countries, and for resulting in the "othering"of Low and Middle-Income Countries.Collaborative partnership in Global Health education havenot been studied before. The purpose of this doctoralproject is to examine the value of this innovative approachto curriculum co-design and co-delivery with civil societypartners and how it may serve to acknowledge theexpertise that lies in the local communities most affectedby health inequalities. This research project will highlight the ongoing experiencesand the benefits of collaboration for all participants,including, importantly, Young Brent Foundation itself. Indoing so, this research project will enable Young BrentFoundation staff to further articulate their own needs andhighlight what education around social, political andcultural aspects of health in London should look like. Theproject employs qualitative and ethnographic methods toexplore and critically analyse the complexities and thepedagogical and ethical tensions in this partnership foreach stakeholder (Young Brent Foundation, students andeducators). Collaborative education partnerships may provide asolution for Higher Education Institutions and educators tofacilitate more inclusive and participatory education. Yet,such schemes will need to be planned and managed inreflexive ways in order to achieve balanced and meaningfulpartnership. This research project contributes to an important critique ofthe meaning of Global Health education and knowledgeproduction and will provide key practical insights to informfuture educational partnerships.