Pandemic and Epidemic Narratives of the Americas

Catalog description

Across the Americas and around the globe, the COVID-19 pandemic had a profound impact, as people struggled to cope, survive, and maintain a sense of community and connection. In this class, we will examine how people imagined and responded to the pandemic, exploring the stories that people told as they grappled with illness, death, and the broader political and societal ramifications. Writings from the pandemic represent an intentional effort to document and memorialize this uncertain, traumatic, and revolutionary time, so that historians, policy makers, and future generations can understand this historical moment. We will also look to pandemics and epidemics past—such as the HIV/AIDS epidemic of the 1980s-1990s, the 1918-1920 flu pandemic, and the cholera, smallpox, and yellow fever epidemics of the 18th and 19th centuries—to understand the COVD-19 pandemic in the context of a longer history of colonialism and disease, health inequality, and violence, as well as solidarity and resilience.