Global Health Law (ILO-L229)

Spring 2027 · ILO L229 · Tufts University · 3 credits · Undergraduate

Global health law is a complex field of international law that intersects with public health institutions and norms, international trade, food safety, animal welfare, armed conflict, and international security. This course introduces students to the key institutions, theory, and practices of global health law, critically examining a range of issues extending from the prevention and control of disease outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics, through to addressing harmful international trade practices, food and animal welfare standards, access to medicines, the protection of healthcare workers and facilities during armed conflict, biological weapons, and emerging technologies such as genetic sequencing. Students will also learn to critically evaluate the diversity of international legal tools and approaches from soft law instruments like guidelines and frameworks to more formalized international treaties and hard law instruments, before then participating in a mock intergovernmental negotiation at the end of the course to apply the knowledge and skills they have learned. The course has been designed to be accessible for both international law students as well as those who may not have a legal background. In noting this, students who do not have prior training in international law should expect to undertake additional background reading, particularly in the first few weeks of the semester, in order to become familiar with core concepts such as treaty formation and interpretation, customary international law, state responsibility, and the legal status of international organizations. To support this, foundational readings for students without a legal background are identified on the syllabus, and students are strongly encouraged to begin these before the first class.

Course codes: ILO-L229

• 1-SEM (Seminar) — Adam Kamradt-Scott