"Public Policy and the Culture of Health in the Netherlands": An Interdisciplinary University Course
2025-09-12 , De Brug Area 1

This interdisciplinary course—which has been taught at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky (USA) every other year since 2017—focuses on comparative public policies and health outcomes in the Netherlands and the United States by taking advantage of the unique lens that cycling offers to explore these topics. This 4-week study abroad class allows students to experience firsthand a culture of health that is fundamentally different from the one they are familiar with and incorporates cycling within both urban and rural environments over a period of 10 days on Dutch bikes as we travel Amsterdam—Leiden—Delft—The Hague—Haarlem—Amsterdam. Students research and discuss national policies of the Netherlands related to public health, including the healthcare system, legalized prostitution, sustainability initiatives, marijuana use, euthanasia, and social and built environments—such as needle exchange programs, crime reduction, and cycling design and infrastructure. Through meetings with key stakeholders; readings, lectures, and discussions; and direct observation, students are able to see for themselves the innovative transport systems and the greater equity and inclusiveness modeled in the Netherlands. Post-course surveys reveal not only the students’ newfound awareness of but also an increased value for the social, economic, and cultural impact that cycling policies produce. A primary course goal is to help generate new advocates for increased cycling infrastructure in the U.S. and social change in public health policy. We have learned that there is no better way to educate today’s students about these issues than by letting them directly experience the culture of cycling infrastructure in the Netherlands.

Sharon Brown, PhD, is a professor of Health and Exercise Science at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky where she team teaches a May term study abroad course titled Public Policy and the Culture of Health in the Netherlands. Since 2006 she was been recognized as a Bingham Teaching Fellow, an academic award for excellence in teaching. She is currently serves as the Board President for Bike Walk Kentucky, the state advocacy non-profit organization and also has volunteered as a board member for the Broke Spoke Community Bike Shop which helps to provide adults with need with bicycles.