Globalization and Transferability

Fac. Health, Medicine and Life Sciences

Globalization and Transferability

Full course description

In addition to the core courses offered during the first trimester in Maastricht students will have the opportunity to enhance their knowledge about specific topics in the second trimester through a choice of one of eleven elective tracks. These eleven tracks are carefully selected to avoid overlap with the core programme, yet ensuring relevant contribution to the core programme.

This course is the first course of the elective track "Implementing innovations on a global scale".

For many decades, science and technology are seen as the primary solution to alleviate poverty world wide. And biomedicine and biotechnology are considered to be key to promoting better health and wellbeing in the modern world. Despite the fact that scientific and technological interventions often fail, not bring what was promised and sometimes do more harm than good, science and technology are still the cornerstone of most international development policies.

In this course we will reflect upon the challenges that come along with using science and technology to alleviate poverty and improve health. We will use concepts from Science and Technology Studies (STS) and Medical Anthropology to understand why implementation of scientific and technological solutions is that difficult. The strong focus on concepts and theories in this course will strengthen analytical skills needed thorough understanding of complex processes. Better insight in these complex processes of implementation and technology transfer, will help us to address the barriers and limitations of technological solutions and help to improve this process.

Throughout the course, students will be encouraged to think critically and creatively about science and technology and to envision effective and inclusive interventions. We will emphasize the challenges posed by transferring global health science and technology to regional and local contexts, to illuminate both the benefits and unintended consequences of interventions, and to better understand local worlds and the needs, experiences and capacities of people.

Course objectives

The goal of this course is twofold. First, it aims to offer an introduction to science and technology studies (STS). Secondly, it focuses on the development of practical skills to use this theoretical knowledge in global health innovation settings. During the course, the students should achieve the following:

With regard to knowledge and insights

To gain basic knowledge in science and technology studies (STS) and medical anthropology concerning the use of science and technology in global health;
To be equipped with innovative concepts and tools to understand the co-production of technological networks and legal, moral and cultural frames on a world wide scale;

With regard to the application of knowledge and insights

To be able to apply concepts, principles and approaches pertaining to science and technology studies regarding the translation of biotechnology in global health
To be able to conceptualize the processes of transferability and translatability on a world wide scale;
To be able to analyse and evaluate the impact of technological networks, such as in bio-technology, at the various societal levels;

With regard to the formulation of judgments:

To develop a scientific – positive and critical - attitude towards the field of science and technology in global health;
To develop the ability to criticize fundamental assumptions of proposed approaches and solutions in global health science and technology;

With regard to communication and learning skills:

To develop skills to present arguments and advices with regard to innovations in global health;
To develop skills to prepare written reports and oral presentations regarding biotech innovations in global health in a concise and clear manner;
To develop skills to analyze but also to (re-)design global health interventions;

Globalization and Transferability