Among the recent graduation celebrations at the University of Notre Dame, 22 students became the first class to earn a Minor in Global Health. Launched in 2024, the 15-credit Global Health Minor curriculum offered by the Eck Institute for Global Health leverages interdisciplinary collaborations to understand the complex health needs of resource-limited populations both locally and around the world.
The inaugural Global Health Minor recognition ceremony took place in McKenna Hall, where the graduates officially received their public (global) health honor cords from Eck Institute leadership and listened to speeches by fellow graduates, Ivy Clark, Anesu Matara, Valentina Morillas, and Nina Padanilam. Graduates’ family members were also in attendance.
“This first class of students is very special to me,” said Marie Donahue, founding director of the Global Health Minor and teaching professor with the Eck Institute for Global Health. “We learned so much from each other over the last two years. They are all so bright and ambitious. I am excited to see where they each go in their careers.”
According to Donahue, the development of the Global Health Minor began slowly. “I was teaching an elective for the master's program on biosocial determinants of health, and I had an undergraduate student ask me if she could take the course. It was then that I began to realize that undergraduates were interested in this field of study.”
She continued, “Then I started doing guest lectures around campus, because so many courses were doing snippets of global health, but there weren't any that focused on it.” In 2019, Donahue established the “Foundations of Global Health” course for undergraduate students. As interest grew over the next few years, she developed the minor program and garnered support from the College of Science, the College of Arts & Letters, and the Keough School of Global Affairs. To date, there are 60 students enrolled in the Global Health Minor curriculum from these, as well as the Mendoza College of Business.
The Global Health Minor curriculum begins with the Foundations of Global Health course, a research methods course of choice, two electives, and finishes with a capstone experience that includes a global health practice experience of choice, which offers students the chance to apply global health principles to a current health problem.
“The Foundations course was so much fun, as was the experiential learning,” said Tim Theisen ‘26, Science Business. “Professor Donahue does an amazing job of encouraging dialogue, even among those who might have different opinions. That really helped me to understand what global health is and what our responsibilities are as students and future leaders in healthcare and elsewhere.”
“We learned that global is local,” said Karlee Waugh ‘26, Biochemistry. “It never felt like I was tackling issues that were geographically distant from me. I was tackling local issues and seeing global health right here in my own South Bend community.”
She continued, “The minor is so amazing, because anyone can take it, and it’s interdisciplinary. There are so many factors that contribute to a person's health. Realizing that social determinants of health even existed was mind-blowing to me. Culture also plays a role.”
Donahue encourages students from all majors to consider adding a Minor in Global Health to their studies at Notre Dame.
“Global health challenges are complicated,” Donahue said. “I'm a pediatric nurse practitioner, and I can treat a child in a limited-resource setting with diarrhea or pneumonia. But I cannot build a water system that's going to prevent illnesses in the first place. I cannot write policies to help fund programs, but people with these strengths and skillsets can.”
Donahue continued, “We have a Global Health Minor graduate from the College of Arts and Letters who majored in Romance Languages. And she worked in a Spanish-speaking clinic in Chicago. For her capstone project, she wrote about how language affects healthcare delivery.”
She concluded, “That's why I always say, ‘You name the major, and I'll tell you how it fits with global health.’”
To learn more about the Global Health Minor, please visit: https://globalhealth.nd.edu/education/undergraduate/global-health-minor/
Contact:
Damienne Jugovic, Research Communications Specialist
Notre Dame Research / University of Notre Dame
djugovic@nd.edu
research.nd.edu / @UNDResearch
About the Eck Institute for Global Health
The Eck Institute for Global Health, an integral part of Notre Dame Research, builds on the University’s historical strength in infectious disease research, including vector-borne diseases, while broadening the interdisciplinary expertise into other key global health areas including non-communicable diseases; maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH); and global health security. The Eck Institute recognizes health as a fundamental human right and promotes research, training, and service to advance health standards and reduce health disparities, especially for those who are disproportionately impacted by preventable diseases. The Eck Institute is training the next generation of global health researchers and leaders through undergraduate, graduate, doctoral, and postdoctoral programs.
Originally published by at globalhealth.nd.edu on June 27, 2026.