Assignments
Assignments & Evaluation
This course is designed to reward curiosity, effort, and engagement, not prior knowledge or disciplinary expertise.
Grade Distribution
30%
Final Project
Due by Session 25
20%
Case Studies
Drop lowest score
20%
Applications
Drop lowest score
20%
Guest Engagement
Submit questions prior to lectures
10%
Did You Read?
70% or better pass/fail
Final Assignment: “Everything is …”
This project asks you to synthesize what you’ve learned throughout The Air Between Us by choosing a global health issue and making a bold, layered claim about it: “Everything is _____.”
Choose a global health challenge, disease, or structural issue that we did not explore in depth in class (e.g., sickle cell disease, menstrual stigma, prison health, air conditioning, dengue, PTSD, unsafe abortion, zoonotic spillover, etc.). Craft a project that makes the case for your framing that “Everything is ____.” You will support your framing with interdisciplinary analysis, narrative, systems thinking, and creativity.
Format Options
Podcast Episode
Create a 6–8 minute podcast episode that explores your “Everything is __” framing. Use narration, interviews, ambient sound, and/or audio clips to tell a compelling story about a global health issue—revealing its hidden systems, histories, and human stakes.
Short Film or Video Essay
Create a 3–5 minute short film or video essay that explores your “Everything is __” framing. Use a mix of storytelling, voiceover, interviews, visuals, and/or archival material to reveal how a global health issue is shaped by history, systems, and society—not just biology.
Design a Communication Campaign
Develop a public-facing communication campaign inspired by your “Everything is __” framing. Your goal is to raise awareness, shift perception, or mobilize action around a global health issue—not for experts, but for a specific audience of your choice.
Diagnostic Tool Reimagined
Take a health screening tool or global health metric (e.g., BMI, DALY, maternal mortality ratio) and redesign it to reflect equity, context, or care. Include a 1-page rationale.
House Course Design
Create a proposal for a new Duke House Course inspired by your “Everything is __” framing. Your job is to translate what you’ve learned in this course into a 0.5 credit course you could teach to peers.
All projects must include a brief (~300-word) creator’s statement explaining your creative and analytical choices, disciplines drawn on, and course connections.
Scoring Rubric
| Category | Points | What We’re Looking For |
|---|---|---|
| Framing and Insight | 25 |
|
| Connection to Course Themes | 20 |
|
| Creativity and Format Execution | 20 |
|
| Audience Awareness | 15 |
|
| Reflection and Rationale | 10 |
|
| Overall Quality and Effort | 10 |
|
Other Assignment Types
Case Studies
Each module includes a case study that expands beyond tuberculosis to explore similar dynamics in other health contexts. These help you make connections and transfer insights across different disease frames.
Turn in at the end of class session. Lowest score is dropped.
Applications
Collaborative exercises where teams synthesize insights from both TB and non-TB cases. Projects include mapping systems, designing interventions, composing reflective narratives, or building new frameworks for action.
Turn in at the end of class session. Lowest score is dropped.
Guest Engagement
For each guest speaker, submit one thoughtful question prior to the lecture. This helps you engage actively with our visitors and shapes our class discussions.
Submit 1 question prior to 5 out of 6 guest lectures.
Did You Read?
Brief check-ins at the start of some sessions to ensure you’re keeping up with the readings. These are designed to be straightforward if you’ve done the reading.
1-question check-in. 70% or better is pass/fail.