Instructor: Professor William C. Summers, M.D., Ph.D.
Office Hours: By appointment
email to instructor: (click here)
Monday/Wednesday 230-345 pm; Room: LC 104
Themes: Interaction of epidemic diseases and society. The responses of government, medicine, and the public to the threat or actual presence of widespread contagious diseases.
Through readings of contemporary accounts of epidemics the seminar will try to understand the historical setting in which a given epidemic disease occurred, the social and medical responses to the epidemic, the demographic and long-term consequences of the epidemic, and the possible relevance of events connected with one epidemic to those of subsequent epidemics. The notion of major epidemics as one of the key contingencies of history will be critically examined. The changing responses of societies and governments to epidemics will be considered and the reasons for those responses and changes will be sought.
Albert Camus, The Plague, Vintage Paperback; Reissue edition (May 7, 1991)
Charles E. Rosenberg, The Cholera Years: The United States in 1832, 1849, and 1866, University of Chicago Press; Paperback Reprint edition (September 1987)
Randy Shilts, And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic, Introduction by William Greider, St. Martin's Press; Paperback:(April 9, 2000)
John M. Barry, The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History, Penguin Paperback (Revised 2005).
André Gide, The Immoralist (Translated by David Watson), Penguin Classic (September 2001).
Additional Readings: Texts indicated with an asterisk (*) in the Syllabus are available online as pdf files at the course website on classesV2.yale.edu in the "Resources" section. A few other texts/materials will be handed out in class.
2 Sept.. Introduction to the seminar.
7 Sept. Disease in Global Terms: McNeill, Plagues and Peoples (Introduction)*
9 Sept. Library Project.:
14 Sept. Plague: Principal reading: Boccaccio, The Decameron (Introduction)*.
16 Sept. Plague: Principal reading: Boccaccio, The Decameron (Handouts for classroom presentations) and Knutsson text*.
21 Sept. Library Project.
23 Sept. Plague: Principal reading: Camus: The Plague
28 Sept. Plague: Principal reading: Camus: The Plague
30 Sept. Smallpox in India: David Arnold, "Smallpox: the Body of the Goddess."*
5 Oct. Cholera: Principal reading: Rosenberg, The Cholera Years
7 Oct. Cholera: Principal reading: Rosenberg, The Cholera Years
12 Oct Spanish Flu: Principal Reading: Barry, The Great Influenza
14 Oct. Spanish Flu: Principal Reading: Barry, The Great Influenza
17 Oct. All day trip to NYC: Tenement Museum (8:00 am - 10:30 pm) [Schedule]
19 Oct. Spanish Flu: Principal Reading: Barry, The Great Influenza [Also: Midterm Paper Due]
21 Oct. Midterm Paper Critiques
26 Oct. Tuberculosis: Principal Reading: Gide, The Immoralist
28 Oct. Tuberculosis: Principal Reading: Gide, The Immoralist
2 Nov. AIDS: Principal reading: Shilts, And the Band Played On
4 Nov. AIDS: Principal reading: Shilts, And the Band Played On;
9 Nov. AIDS: Frontline Documentary: The Age of AIDS
[And the Band Played On: Film showing day, time, location TBA]
11 Nov. AIDS: Helen Epstein. "The Mystery of AIDS in South Africa," NY Review of Books, Vol. 47, No.12, July 20, 2000; and "The Hidden Cause of AIDS." NY Review of Books Vol. 49, No. 8, May 9, 2002; (Both available online at www.nybooks.com)*
16 Nov. Influenza 2009: 1) CDC Info on H1N1 Flu;* 2) WHO Pandemic Alert Phases 3) Connecticut Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Plan*
30 Nov. SARS: Principal reading: [MMRW reports and commentaries]* [Commentator: Susan Jakes, tentative]
2 Dec. Global Discussion: "Design an Epidemic"
7 Dec. Final Paper Due
Midterm paper: 5-6 page paper on an assigned topic: due 19 October 09
Final Paper: 3000 words on your favorite epidemic. Due 5:00 PM, 7 Dec 09 (Monday)