MALS 373 EPIDEMICS: VORTEX OF FEAR AND WISDOM

Globalization Studies, Cultural Studies or Single-taught Interdisciplinary
Instructor: Daniel R. Lucey '77, MED '81 

What can epidemics teach us about different forms of fear and wisdom?  Books (e.g., Camus' The Plague, Quammen's Spillover), documentaries (e.g., AIDS Ward 5B in San Francisco 1983, Ebola in W. Africa 2014, COVID 2019-2023), medical literature, and social media will help address this question for past, present, and future epidemics.

In addition, the Washington DC Smithsonian Museum of Natural History Exhibition on Epidemics 2018-2022 will be discussed by the originator (DL) and a Do-It-Yourself version will be displayed in class.  Photos and reflections from working overseas since 2003 with international colleagues during SARS, MERS, Flu, Ebola (with Doctors-Without-Borders), Zika, Plague (with WHO), will be discussed.  Each class includes updates on COVID-19 and other ongoing epidemics e.g., monkeypox.

Maximum enrollment is 15 persons.  Undergraduates can request enrollment via the MALS Office.

Instructor

Daniel Lucey