Pandemics and Public Health

Catalog description

Pandemics have shifted social norms, devastated economies, and transformed society throughout history. This lecture and discussion-based course investigates how culture, society, politics, and the environment influence the development and control of pandemics; and describes how scientists and public health officials integrate data and information to inform public health pandemic policy. In this transdisciplinary course students will 1) learn how science, economics, communication, government response, and social tensions influence control practices and policy, using examples from the Spanish Flu, cholera, HIV, SARS-CoV-2, and the plague; and 2) provide a foundation for more specialized classes that can be applied to prevent and control future pandemics.