The University of Global Health Equity
Butaro, Rwanda
Innovating a new undergraduate medical curriculum that includes a broad range of courses, using liberal arts pedagogy in order to equip physicians to address complex issues in social medicine and health equity.
Videos
Work
- Vassar faculty began engaging in teaching and co-teaching for the Social Medicine curriculum at UGHE in 2018
- Vassar and UGHE sign an MOU at Vassar in April of 2019
- Vassar and UGHE continue faculty teaching and student affairs roundtables during COVID-19 on Zoom
- Vassar visits UGHE in January 2023
- Vassar hosts student affairs staff from UGHE on campus to engage with and learn from Vassar colleagues in February 2023
- Vassar celebrates going collaboration with Rwanda Medical school at white coat ceremony
- Vassar team returns in June 2023 to engage in several activities including
- A professional development workshop for staff
- Co-teaching
- Curriculum planning and development for the Foundations in Social Medicine year one of the MBBS program
- Faculty exploration of possibilities for innovative collaboration (Thomas Parker subsequently develops an intensive class with planned travel to Rwanda in June 2024)
- Publication Collaboration - President Bradley and UGHE colleagues - The Role of Liberal Arts in Health Professional Education
- “Medical Students’ Experiences with Social Determinants of Health in Medical Education”, Advances in Medical Education and Practice, August 6, 2025, co-authored by President Bradley
Faculty Perspectives
“Spending time in conversation with our colleagues in the Global Collaborative for the Liberal Arts validated the work we do at Vassar to create well-rounded and creative critical thinkers through an expansive liberal arts curriculum.”
“One of the most moving and affirming experiences I had while working with the Collaborative was hearing from medical students who had taken part in the liberal arts curriculum at UGHE. They reported that as medical professionals having studied the liberal arts, they are better equipped to ask good questions and to analyze and respond to various determinants of health. They learned to interact with their patients as whole human beings, not just sets of symptoms. I was excited to share this experience with Vassar students in order to emphasize the ways in which the interdisciplinary, inquiry-based work they do here at Vassar will be of value to them no matter what they go on to do.”
Associate Professor and Chair
of French and Francophone Studies
“The visit to UGHE was grounding and a powerful reminder of the importance of global partnership and mutual learning. This experience reinvigorated my belief that health equity must be pursued not only through policy and research, but through intentional relationships—with students, communities, and global partners.”
“The rural setting of UGHE powerfully demonstrated that transformative health systems change, including medical education, can emerge from places often overlooked. I returned with a renewed conviction to uplift community knowledge, foster reciprocal partnerships, and create opportunities for students to engage in experiences that expand their imaginations of what public health can look like when rooted in justice and shared humanity. More than anything, the visit reminded me of the value of true partnership: learning with and from others across geographic and cultural lines, exchanging perspectives, and finding strength in our shared commitment. It was an honor to be in Rwanda with Vassar and it is an opportunity I will be forever grateful for.”
Adjunct Instructor in Science,
Technology, and Society
Conversation: Tom Parker
A brief conversation with Associate Professor Tom Parker on his experiences with The Global Collaborative.
What is the impact your participation has had on your approach to teaching?
The global collaborative has inspired me to create a new intensive experience in Environmental Studies called Blue Rwanda (ENST 283), which focuses on the field of the Blue Humanities (water studies in the Humanities), and puts emphasis on both human and planetary health in an international lens, while reconfiguring the emerging interdisciplinary field of water studies through a distinctly African prism. The course marks a new direction in my teaching and research.
How has your participation in global collaborative work impacted the goals of:
...supporting institutions of higher education in integrating liberal arts content and pedagogy into their degree programs?
Now in its second iteration, Blue Rwanda draws on methods from history, environmental studies, anthropology, literature, and political economy to foster collaboration between Vassar College students and students in UGHE’s MBBS/MGHD programs. Together, they engage with complex planetary and human health challenges. This initiative is now being formalized at Vassar with the support of Lisa Pace, Associate Director for Pre-Health and STEM Advising, who helps pre-health students recognize the value of global education as a vital component of their training.
This course inspired a $1.5 million Mellon Humanities for All Times grant proposal, currently being advanced by 25 Vassar colleagues across the humanities, social sciences, sciences, and administration. The proposed initiative, “Hands-On Blue Humanities: Water, Justice, and Care in the Hudson Valley and Beyond,” weaves international learning experiences into a local context and offers a model for global partners to engage collaboratively in applying international water studies themes to local challenges. We’re excited that our proposal has been selected to advance to the next round of consideration.
We are engaging with technologies, podcasts and new platforms (e.g. photovoice) to bring visibility to international work and translate international educational experience into actionable knowledge.
...Enhancing liberal arts education globally?
We are currently collaborating with professors from Vassar College, the University of Edinburgh, the University of Global Health Equity, and IIT Bombay on several new initiatives designed to deepen faculty and student engagement across institutions and educational levels. Our aim is to “layer” liberal arts methodologies by connecting with students both at the outset of their academic journeys (undergraduate level) and at more advanced stages (advanced Bachelor’s, Master’s level), fostering a continuum of interdisciplinary learning and collaboration.
One possible avenue under consideration is a joint teaching and research initiative in the field of disability studies—a theme that the University of Edinburgh’s Institute for Advanced Studies will highlight in 2026–2027. This collaboration would allow us to explore how global education in this emerging discipline can be deepened through a cross-cultural and international dialogue, enriching perspectives and practices across our institutions.
...Fostering critical thinking, creativity, and inclusive leadership?
As part of our commitment to fostering critical thinking, creativity, and inclusive leadership, we are actively working to integrate Edinburgh’s Mastercard Scholars into our collaborative efforts—including a PhD student from Kenya who will join us this summer. We have also engaged Vassar students with interests in art, dance, and creative writing in our international programming, with a focus on bridging the humanities with studies in health and medicine. Across all of these initiatives, our international experiences combine experiential learning with critical thinking in a team-based, international collaborative context.