B.A. Degree

Program Overview 

students working at a table

Encouraging personal learning styles

University of California, Santa Cruz students have many opportunities in the GCH curriculum for practical work in the world beyond the university. Students reflect repeatedly through the major on how their own personal learning can be effectively connected with and communicated to external audiences ranging from community organizations to employers to graduate schools.

Deep faculty commitment

More than two hundred courses offered by faculty from all five divisions of UC Santa Cruz contribute to the GCH curriculum. These faculty are committed to the value of interdisciplinary learning, as well as to the possibilities of connecting student research and writing with GCH concerns in the world beyond the university.

More than 200 courses offered by faculty from all 5 divisions

Learning Objectives

Students completing requirements for the B.A. in Global and Community Health (GCH) will develop knowledge and competency in five domains, which are shared with the companion B.S. in Global and Community Health (GCH). Although these programs broadly share these same program learning outcomes, the relative emphasis placed on each of these will distinguish the programs. Students who successfully complete the Global and Community Health B.A. will be able to: 

  1. describe the biological and environmental contexts of global and community health; 
  2. describe the social and cultural contexts of global and community health;
  3. describe the institutional and policy contexts of global and community health;
  4. apply methods, skills and humanities-informed analysis of global & community health; and, 
  5. demonstrate an interdisciplinary understanding of global and community health in practice.    
Photo of student holding photo art project with trees in the background.


Research & Internship Opportunities 

Students in GCH BA have many opportunities to gain real world experience. The capstone Task Force class asks students to work in interdisciplinary teams to investigate and propose solutions to real world problems in health. Alternatively, students can complete a senior thesis based on research  they perform with a faculty member. In addition, all students take an ePortfolio course in which they develop a website that summarizes their motivations to study GCH and experience.

Photo of student in a laboratory holding a petri dish.  They are wearing a blue lab coat and is smiling.
Last modified: Oct 19, 2023