Disease in America

Catalog description

How have these diseases and others affected people’s lives as well as historical events? What have people’s responses to epidemics been, and how have those responses informed social relations and perceptions, including those around health, bodies, community membership and emerging conceptions of race? This course will explore the ways in which illness and disease shaped and changed populations and societies in the US. It will also examine various cultural approaches to sickness, health, and medicine, as we read about indigenous, African- and Euro-American medical traditions. Topics to be covered include “virgin soil” epidemics; the cultural and political aspects of medical practices; and various ways that race and social class affect people’s perceptions of, responses to, and experiences with illness and health