Course Syllabus

Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health University of Arizona


SYLLABUS
CPH 599-095: Going Farther South in Border Health: Guatemala/Mexico Service Learning


Spring 2012: May 12-20, 2012
Time: 8:00 am to 4:30pm, with some evenings
Location: Tapachula, Salvador Urbina, Tecun Uman, and San Marcos
Instructors: Cecilia Rosales MD, MS, Associate Professor, Division of Community, Environment and Policy, UA MEZCOPH; Phone: (520) 626-0720; Email: crosales@email.arizona.edu
Jill Guernsey de Zapien, Associate Dean for Community Programs, Division of Health Promotion Sciences, UA MEZCOPH; Phone: (520) 626-7083; Email: dezapien@u.arizona.edu


Teaching Assistant: Aimee Snyder Master’s of Public Health Candidate Health Behavior/Health Promotion UA MEZCOPH cell: (520) 661-3352 Email: wiggs@email.arizona.edu Office Hours: Office hours are by appointment. Email wiggs@email.arizona.edu to schedule an appointment.


Course Credit: 1 credit unit

Course Description: This course engages students in community-based collaboration at the Mexico-Guatemala border. Students provide service to the host community while learning about factors influencing public health in a bi-national environment. Requires week-long stay on site and a valid US Passport.   

Course Prerequisites: Currently matriculated.


Course Learning Objectives: Demonstrate cultural understanding. Draw comparisons between Guatemala/Mexico and Mexico/US border regions. Understand causes of migration and health effects on migrant families and communities. Learn about sustainable development models. Provide direct service and support local economies.

Course Competencies:
Social and Behavioral Sciences 
2. Identify the causes of social and behavioral factors that affect health of individuals and populations. 
3. Identify individual, organizational and community concerns, assets, resources and deficits for social and behavioral science interventions.
4. Identify critical stakeholders for the planning, implementation and evaluation of public health programs, policies and interventions.
6. Describe the role of social and community factors in both the onset and solution of public health problems.

Health Policy and Management
2. Describe the legal and ethical bases for public health and health services.
3. Explain the methods of ensuring community health safety and preparedness.
4. Discuss the policy process for improving the health status of populations.
9. Communicate health policy and management issues using appropriate channels and technologies.
10. Demonstrate leadership skills for building partnerships.

Communication and Informatics
2. Describe how societal, organizational, and individual factors influence and are influenced by public health communications.
9. Use informatics methods and resources as strategic tools to promote public health.
10. Use informatics and communication methods to advocate for community public health programs and policies.

Diversity and Culture
1. Describe the roles of history, power, privilege and structural inequality in producing health disparities.
5. Use the basic concepts and skills involved in culturally appropriate community engagement and empowerment with diverse communities.
9. Cite examples of situations where consideration of culture-specific needs resulted in a more effective modification or adaption of a health intervention.

Leadership
2. Describe alternative strategies for collaboration and partnership among organizations, focused on public health goals.
4. Engage in dialogue and learning from others to advance public health goals.
6. Demonstrate transparency, integrity, and honesty in all actions.
8. Apply social justice and human rights principles when addressing community needs.

Professionalism
6. Analyze determinants of health and disease using an ecological framework.
10. Appreciate the importance of working collaboratively with diverse communities and constituencies 


Program Planning
1. Describe how social, behavioral, environmental, and biological factors contribute to specific individual and community health outcomes.

Systems Thinking
1. Identify characteristics of a system.
8. Analyze inter-relationships among systems that influence the quality of life of people in their communities.
 9. Analyze the impact of political, social and economic policies on public health systems at the local, state, national and international levels.
10. Analyze the impact of global trends and interdependencies on public health related problems and systems.

Essential Questions:
1. What are the common themes (economical, political, health, etc) at each border separately and in connection? How do these affect the health of the people?
2. How do systems interplay, in fault and/or to benefit, health?

Course Requirements:
Participation (10 points) Individual reflection: Prior to discussion, each person individually reflects on the section reflections questions in order to answer the essential questions on their stickie notes. (25 points) 

Discussion: In discussion, stickies are shared and placed on chart paper as a whole group. Similar stickies can be stacked, but not discarded. Repeat the process for each section reflection on a separate chart paper. (25 points)

Group project: Step 1: Compare the themes created in the discussion and create a graphic organizer (like a Venn Diagram, a systems model, etc) to use as a guide for your group project. Step 2: Create a visual presentation for our partners (speak beyond language barriers) to express the answers to the Essential Questions and show mastery of the 5 learning objectives and MPH competencies. Involve our partners in your presentation. (40 points)

Individual Reflections: See the Questions to Guide Individual Reflections handout.


Grading Rubric:
1. Individual reflection: 5 points: Individual reflection includes thought-provoking insights regarding the service-learning activities in answering one of the two essential questions and correlates with at least one of the course objectives. 3 points: Less thought-provoking, fails to relate service-learning activity to essential questions or course objectives. 1 point: Rote regurgitation of events, fails to relate service-learning activity to essential questions and course objectives.
2. Discussion: 5 points: Presents thought-provoking connections between service-learning activities and essential questions and course objectives. Collaborates and builds upon the input of others. 3 points: Presents less thought-provoking connections to service-learning activities. May not answer an essential question or correlate with a course objective. Collaboration with peers needed. 1 point: Rote regurgitation of daily events. Does not answer essential questions nor a course objective. Does not allow for the input of others.

Group Project: 40 points: Presentation incorporates input from all team members’ reflections and discussions. Both essential questions are answered and illustrated in a meaningful manner. Mastery of the course objectives is evident in presentation. Problems cited (if any) include a proposed solution or plan for seeking a solution. 30 points: Presentation incorporates input from almost all team members’ reflections and discussions. Essential questions are vaguely answered. Most course objectives are mastered. Fails to provide proposed solutions for problems cited. 20 points: Presentation incorporates input from few of the team members’ reflections and discussions. Essential questions are not both answered or meaning is unclear. Few of the course objectives are mastered. Fail to provide proposed solutions for problems cited. 10 points: Presentation is off-topic.

Grading/Student Evaluation A 90-100% S B 80-89% S C 70-79% P D 60-69% F F <60% F Class 


Attendance/Participation There will be no make up sessions for missed classes or community activities. If an unavoidable crisis occurs, the student must provide documentation to receive an appropriate make-up assignment to be determined by the instructor responsible for the missed session.


Required Readings: By Pre-Trip Orientation, April 20 Adams M, Bassett T. Just Coffee, Caffeine with a conscience. Just Trade Center. Jan 5, 2009. Slack J, Whiteford S. Violence and migration on the Arizona-Sonora Border. Human Organization. 2011; 70:1. By Cultural Briefing, May 5 Perkins J. Confessions of an Economic Hitman. New York, NY: Penguin Group, 2006. http://www.amazon.com/Confessions-Economic-Hit-John-Perkins/dp/0452287081/ref=lh_ni_t

Emrick G, Hafter H, de Zapien J. Border-lines. Journal of the Latino Research Center “Conference on Food Security and International Migration.” 2011:152-180 Before departing for Mexico/Guatemala, May 12

Perasso V. Migrants ride ‘the beast’ from Mexico to the US. BBC News. Oct 14 2011. Kovic C, Kelly P. “A just cause”: Central American migrants and Mexico’s southern border. Houston Catholic Worker. Sept-Oct 2005; 25:6.

Wilkenson K. Silence in the Mountains: Stories of Terror, Betrayal, and Forgetting in Guatemala. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2002. http://www.amazon.com/Silence-Mountain-Forgetting-Encounters-Interactions/dp/0822333686/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1330017344&sr=1-1


Course Partners:
Café Justo is a coffee grower cooperative based in Salvador Urbina, Chiapas, Mexico. Café Justo produces and sells organic coffee “which is grown, harvested and marketed in the spirit of justice.” Their goal is to provide incentives for people to remain on their family lands by optimizing the profit for the growers. The coffee is harvested, cleaned and prepared for shipping in Salvador Urbina, Chiapas. The beans are then transported to Agua Prieta, Sonora where the coffee is roasted, ground, packaged, and shipped to customers. This business model helps eliminate the need for economically motivated migration by providing the training and resources necessary for farmers to create and maintain a sustainable, small-scale, international coffee company. http://www.justcoffee.org/

Casa del Buen Pastor Migrant Shelter is located in Tapachula, Mexico, near the border with Guatemala. This shelter provides a safe haven for migrants who have had terrible accidents or who suffer from a disease. Most of the people in the shelter have lost an arm or a leg in cargo train accidents. Most shelter residents come from Central America and are/were on their way to the United States to find a job. The Jesús el Buen Pastor Shelter provides residents opportunities for medical treatment, rehabilitation and job training during their stay. http://www.alberguebuenpastor.org.mx/index.php/en/the-shelter http://www.alberguebuenpastor.org.mx/images/stories/007%20buen%20pastor%20shelter.pdf http://www.worldvisionreport.org/Stories/Week-of-January-15-2011/Migrant-Shelter-in-Mexico

Casa del Migrante in Tecún Umán, Guatemala began in 1995 as a refuge for migrants traveling north in attempts to realize el sueño americano (the American Dream). In response to the many human rights abuses that migrants were facing, the Office of Human Rights was opened at the site in 1996. Through the Office of Human Rights, migrants can report the abuses they experience. In addition to documenting these abuses, Casa del Migrante aims to hold individuals accountable for the abuses and thus create a culture of justice in the region through their legal services. http://migrationnation.weebly.com/index.html

Centro Regional de Investigacion en Salud Publica (CRISP) The Regional Center for Public Health Research (CRISP) is one of the three branches of which form part INSP since 1996 and is located in the city of Tapachula, Chiapas. It is a research and service center focused on the Prevention and Control of Vector-Borne Diseases and Environmental Health, especially focused on malaria and insecticides. The organization brings together professionals from different disciplines with the common goal of promoting social equity through knowledge generation, innovation in health systems and training of human resources for public health. http://www.insp.mx/centros/regional-de-investigacion/bienvenida.html

Colegio de la Frontera EcoSur is a scientific research center which seeks to contribute to sustainable development in the southern border of Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean through knowledge generation, human resource training and linking the social and natural sciences. http://www.ecosur.mx/ 

Frontera de Cristo is a Presbyterian border ministry located in the sister cities of Agua Prieta, Sonora and Douglas, Arizona. Frontera offers humanitarian assistance to migrants crossing the Sonora desert in Northern Mexico. Frontera runs the Migrant Resource Center, which provides humanitarian aid and abuse documentation for migrants in Agua Prieta, Sonora. http://www.fronteradecristo.org/

GrupoBeta Sur (located in Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico) is the southern division of the Mexican government’s Migrant Protection Groups. Their mission is to defend and safeguard the human rights of migrants and their person and property regardless of their immigration status by giving them aid and protection in situations of risk or abuse by the authorities and/or individuals. The Migrant Protection Groups work primarily in the border areas and transit points for migrants. http://www.inm.gob.mx/index.php/page/Grupo_Beta_Objetivo

International Organization of Migration (IOM) Established in 1951, IOM is the leading inter-governmental organization in the field of migration and works closely with governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental partners. IOM works to help ensure the orderly and humane management of migration, to promote international cooperation on migration issues, to assist in the search for practical solutions to migration problems and to provide humanitarian assistance to migrants in need, including refugees and internally displaced people. The IOM Constitution recognizes the link between migration and economic, social and cultural development, as well as to the right of freedom of movement. http://www.iom.int/jahia/jsp/index.jsp


Academic Integrity:
Students are expected to abide by the University of Arizona Code of Academic Integrity found at http://w3.arizona.edu/~studpubs/policies/cacaint.htm.


Classroom Behavior:
Class discussion and interaction are encouraged. However, students who are disrespectful to the instructor, to teaching assistants, to their classmates, or to community members, or who engage in unrelated conversations or activities during class, will be asked to leave the classroom. If you are asked to leave the class, you will be recorded as an unexcused absence. Students are expected to be familiar with the UA Policy on Disruptive Behavior in an Instructional Setting found at http://hr2.hr.arizona.edu/dos/pol_disrupt.htm and the Policy on Threatening Behavior by Students found at http://hr2.hr.arizona.edu/dos/pol_threat.htm.

Grievance Policy: http://grad.arizona.edu/Current_Students/Policies/Grievance_Policy.php Students who are registered with the Disability Resource Center must submit appropriate documentation to the instructor if they are requesting reasonable accommodations: http://drc.arizona.edu/instructor/syllabus-statement.shtml. The information contained in the course syllabus, other than the grade and absence policies, may be subject to change with reasonable advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor.