History Through Pandemics

Catalog description

Pandemic diseases, such as COVID-19 are not simply medical events. Pandemic diseases, diseases like The Black Death, Smallpox, Cholera, AIDS, and Ebola are world historic events that produce significant and lasting global, cultural, social, and economic consequences. Using both primary and secondary materials, students will investigate the medical and social dimensions of epidemics within and between different regions of the world. In addition to addressing the vulnerabilities and inequalities that facilitated the spread of these diseases, the course will also examine the ways in which people sought to ameliorate, manage, and recover from these catastrophic events.