Plagues and Pandemics

Catalog description

Humans have a long history of suffering from and dealing with infectious diseases. This course explores some of the most important infectious diseases in human history, such as COVID-19, influenza, tuberculosis, smallpox, malaria and bubonic plague from an anthropological perspective. In addition to exploring the biological and cultural effects that infectious diseases have had on humans, the course focuses on how human behavior has historically affected the emergence, spread and control of disease. The course emphasizes how the study of disease in the past may benefit people today and in the future.