Belmont’s Public Health Policy course presented students with the unique opportunity to learn from and discuss policy on election day with students from the Queen’s University of Belfast.
Belmont students were assigned to choose a ‘hot topic’ from the second presidential debate, hosted at Belmont University, and present an overview of the candidates’ plans for addressing the issue to the class. The topics students chose included climate change, COVID-19 management, health care access and finance.
The course included Belfast professors Dr. Frank Key and Ciaran O’Neill and public health students Rachel Carlin, Prishaani Govender and Rupali Chauhan. Throughout the course, these students were able to discuss topics with Belmont seniors Levi Blazer, TJ Jiles, Jesslyn Sloan, Cassidy Townsend, Janae Thompson and Marisa Thompson, alongside Dr. Marquinta Harvey, assistant professor of epidemiology and Dr. Cathy Taylor, dean of the College of Health Sciences and Nursing.
In smaller breakout groups, lively discussion emerged on a broad range of comparisons including health care systems and cost comparisons, civil discourse strategies, health disparities, access to care and implicit bias of poverty, education, social care and support systems.
The discussion shed insight on Belfast’s perspective on the United States election and was a reminder to Belmont students and faculty that the world, as well as Belfast, have their eyes on the U.S. election.
