A historian with a PhD in the history of medicine with a focus on Africa, Dr. Malowany brings her own unique perspective on development to the Glocal program, joining us this fall to teach a new course ‘Health and Development: A critical approach to theory, policy and practice’.
Dr. Malowany has a strong belief in the importance of individual critical thinking and brings this belief to her course, viewing the class room as ”an opportunity to think critically about what can and should be done in the world of health and development”. Thus in seeing the students in her class as a community, and herself as a guide, Dr. Malowany facilitates a critical learning process.
Dr. Malowany has a strong belief in the importance of individual critical built though in-depth examinations of case studies. In studying these cases and walking around issues of sustainability, community participation and ethical collection of evidence, she wants students to ”understand and appreciate the complexities of the environments in which we work and treat those complexities with the respect and honesty they deserve”. To this end, she comments that she has already been impressed in her conversations with Glocal students, and can’t wait to get into the class room second semester to get the process off the ground.
No stranger to the field, she admits her first love is East Africa and she spent much time in Kenya in her youth. Dr. Malowany has a background in health sciences and public health, and has worked extensively in the history of the management of tropical diseases. Working as part of a team on a joint project on the history of malaria control in East Africa, she has been involved in researching several initiatives including the World Health Organization’s 1998 Roll-Back Malaria program, and has served as Former Deputy Director of the Wellcome Unit for the History of Medicine at University of Oxford. Dr. Malowany’s perspective on health and development is informed by her unique vantage point, having been witness to what is commonly referred to as the NGO NGO logo, which drove past her on a dirt road in rural Uganda. Not sure what the vans were meant for, who was in them, or where they were going, the contrast of that convoy with the landscape is what first struck her. Later, back at her hostel, she recalls meeting a young American woman who told her that her purpose for being in Uganda was to teach the African Farmers how to farm, to which Dr. Malowany recalls thinking ”we’re in trouble”. The two experiences set her down a much longer path of critical reflection – on processes of development, and the relationship between health and development to communities and practices in the developing world.
When asked what advice she would give Glocal students regarding their studies, Dr. Malowany had this to say: ”don’t be afraid to ask questions, read, and know your community”. However, when it comes down to choosing an internship, alongside the research, she urges students to be more introspective: “you have to follow your passion”, she says, “follow what you care about and stick with it”. With her great wealth of on-ground experience and her unique perspective on development, we are grateful to have Dr. Malowany with us for this leg of our journey, and we know she is going to make a fabulous addition to our Glocal team.
Glocal Staff
