May 25-26, 2021

9 a.m. - 1 p.m. EDT

Global Health Summit 2021 Agenda

The term “decolonization” has recently become the focus of conversations within global health. Diverse voices worldwide are now calling for a re-examination of assumptions and practices underpinning global health education and practice.

The UMB Global Health Summit: Decolonizing Global Health Education is a direct response to these calls and an opportunity to rethink and reflect on the theories, processes, and methods of global health education.

Over the virtual two-day Summit, we heard from students from 11 professional programs from around the world share their reflections on this issue and the future of global education.

Thought-provoking keynote presentations, as well as interprofessional panels of students/trainees, faculty members, and other experts from UMB and UMB’s close global partners, will provide the basis for the discussions and reflections aimed at the development of actionable ideas and recommendations for decolonizing global health education as we work to co-create a shared new vision to guide UMB’s global health work toward greater equity.

The Summit led to a special collection on "Decolonizing Global Health Education" in the Annals of Global Health centered around the theme of decolonization broadly, emphasizing how coloniality and neo-colonial thought are woven through and still affect higher education. Through this issue, authors (faculty, researchers, practitioners, students, and administrators) expressed their vision of what a decolonized global health field looks like.