HIS 190 Disease and Epidemics: Pestilence, Poxes, and Plagues
This course explores the history of epidemic diseases from the plague of Justinian in the sixth century through to the Covid-19 pandemic. Some of the issues that will be explored include: the history of the theories of disease and causation; the impact of various contagious diseases on society; the development of the medical sciences of bacteriology and epidemiology; the development of tropical medicine and its relationship to the history of imperialism; the genre of plague literature; and the development of public health measures and agencies since the Middle Ages. GE 6 unlinked or GE 5C.
Distribution
HIS