Global Health & Social Science BA

This Global Health and Social Science BA will teach you how to analyse and address issues of disparities in health and well-being around the world. You’ll study global health through an interdisciplinary curriculum that covers complex social, cultural, political, economic and ethical aspects, encouraging you to explore the field from a variety of perspectives. And by learning how to bring theory and practice together, you’ll be empowered to form your own ideas of how to make a difference. This undergraduate Global Health and Social Science degree will demonstrate how to think critically about the power of scientific and medical knowledge, and how healthcare practices and technologies are shaped. You’ll be taught by internationally renowned social scientists with expertise in global public health and beyond. You’ll get to engage with social science research using real-world examples of how policymaking impacts life experience and explore how humanitarian strategies are used to reduce suffering and improve health and well-being around the globe. And you will investigate social science approaches to the most pressing global health challenges of our time, from HIV/AIDS epidemics, the Ebola crisis in West Africa and the opioid crisis in the United States and Britain, to the trauma of war, the apparent exposition of psychiatric disorders around the world, and access to medicines for all. You will also learn how to apply a broad range of social science theories and methods from the fields of anthropology and sociology, epidemiology and political science, philosophy and economics, history and bioethics. From your second year, you can choose from a mix of interdisciplinary modules to focus on the social issues you care most about. This might be how racism and mental distress are related, why addiction-related deaths in the UK continue to rise year on year, or how gender-based violence limits access to healthcare globally. You can use your career ambitions to shape your curriculum, too. For example, if you want to pursue a career creating policy that will promote health equity, work with AI and digital health, explore the relationship between mental health and the environment, or become a humanitarian health worker, there are modules to support this. It’s also possible to enhance your learning, and develop your skills by studying abroad for a year at a range of universities, and gain real-world experience with an internship at a partner organisation. For example, you could intern in policy advocacy and research roles in organisations such as Malaria No More and the Centre for Genetics & Society.

Key benefits

• Discover how to apply a breadth of social science theories and methods to urgent contemporary problems of health, disease and medicine.
• Understand how healthcare systems around the world operate, and how policymaking in global, international, and national contexts works in practice, not theory.
• Shape your curriculum with a range of interdisciplinary optional modules and study the social issues you care most about.
• Gain transferable skills and expertise through an organised internship scheme and work with partner organisations such as Malaria No More and the Centre for Genetics & Society.
• Choose to study abroad for a year and deepen your expertise.
• All students are eligible for a £9,250 scholarship opportunity, including UK, EU and Overseas students.
• We rank 7th in the UK for Social Sciences (Times Higher Education University World Rankings 2023 per subject).

“It’s intellectually stimulating, combining theory with practical application and is taught by leading members of the Global Health field in the heart of London.”

Katya, Global Health & Social Medicine