STS 4841 - What is (an) Epidemic? (Infectious Diseases in Historical, Social, and Political Perspective)

(crosslisted) ANTHR 4041, FGSS 4841
(SBA-AS)

Spring. 4 credits. Letter grades only.

C. Roebuck.

The term “epidemic” travels widely and wildly in contemporary worlds. But, what, when and where is “the epidemic”? How and why does epidemic unfold? This senior seminar offers an interdisciplinary exploration of infectious diseases. Our investigations take us from medieval Europe’s “Black Plague,” to Tuberculosis in early twentieth century United States and its global resurgence at the turn of the twenty-first, to Ebola and its ongoing, periodic outbreaks today. We consider the consequences epidemics have for how we live and imagine shared ecological futures. Examining work from the life sciences, social sciences, and arts & humanities, we explore the ways in which life and death, disease and survivability, health and thriving are shaped by infectious microbes, embodied eco-social forces, and contingent regimes of knowledge-power.