STS 1128 - FWS: Planetary Health: Plagues, Pandemics, Extinctions

Fall. 3 credits. Letter grades only.

First-Year Writing Seminar.

R. Prentice.

The global movement of humans, animals, and goods has brought the world to our doorsteps. We can chat with a student from Pakistan, drink coffee from Tanzania, teach words to a parrot from Brazil, and wear wool from New Zealand. But moving with people, animals, and goods we want are viruses, bacteria, fungi, and invasive species that destroy forests, drive species to extinction, and make humans ill. This course examines global movements as a source of deep concern for environmentalists and public-health experts. It explores how human health and environmental health are deeply interconnected. Readings will include New Yorker environment writer Elizabeth Kolbert’s The Sixth Extinction, novelist Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death,” and others. Among other writing, students will write a personal essay based on their coronavirus experience and a position paper promoting and defending a public-health measure (such as vaccination).