Tpc:COVID-19 & Black Lives Matter: Comparative, Crisis-based Oral History in the American…

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The impact of the global pandemic COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter Movement will be studied in the context of 20th Century American History. The course will comparatively examine from social, economic, political, and cultural perspectives milestone historical developments that are substantively linked to COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter Movement, but separated by 100 years and 60-70 years respectively: the Spanish Flu pandemic 1918-1919; the Race Riots of 1919; the early 1950s polio epidemic that culminated in the Salk vaccine; and the 1950s-1960s Civil Rights Movement. Oral history interviews pertaining to the Spanish Flu, Race Riots of 1919, the polio crisis and Civil Rights Movement will serve as primary source materials and offer oral history models for student-conducted COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter Movement oral history interviews.