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HSGH started in 2009 as an ad-hoc group of students from 5 schools at Harvard University interested in global health. In fall 2011, Harvard created a platform for University-wide groups. HSGH applied and was chosen as one of the first “trial run” groups. Harvard Students for Global Health is sponsored by the Harvard Global Health Institute and it’s board currently consists of members from 7 different schools at Harvard University and it’s membership includes members from all 13 schools at Harvard.
Harvard Students for Global Health fosters a transdisciplinary community that connects, educates, and empowers students to make an impact in global health. To this end, HSGH engages students and faculty from across the different schools at Harvard University as well as other institutions in meaningful initiatives and respectful dialogue to advance the view of health as a fundamental human right.
Harvard Students for Global Health focuses on encouraging students from different backgrounds to work together to educate their peers and discuss a wide range of different issues and situations within the large span of global health. The focus of Harvard Students for Global Health is to form an interconnected web of people with different backgrounds and interests to discuss issues of global health and explore different creative solutions.
Since the field of global health is so vast and there is not a specific problem or challenge that needs to be addressed, promoting collaboration and encouraging conversation amongst students with different backgrounds is an approach that really stimulates useful conversation and gives everyone a perspective that they would not have if they were only working with people in their field. This organization promotes partnership that gives a new and fresh angle to students studying global health.
HSGH fosters a network of students passionate about global health, international development, and human rights. At each Harvard school, there are faculty and student groups devoted to the study and practice of global health; the discipline is wide and varied as global health represents a collection of problems, not a single field. In order to better equip students to learn about these diverse problems and to coordinate efforts among the many student groups already available, as well as to increase visibility of events that occur in a particular part of the University, HSGH brings students with these interests together. HSGH sponsors a series of events throughout the year that focus on discussion and problem solving.
Currently, Harvard Students for Global Health is working on a university-wide global case study competition that will include participants from all the schools across Harvard. We are also working with different clubs across the university to further promote collaboration and partnership in order to offer more resources to students interested in Global Health.
