by Motavenda Melchizedek

Here is an interesting course from Yale's Open Courses where they offer free access to introductory courses...woohoo for us!

Hist234: Epidemics in Western Society Since 1600

Course Professor: Frank Snowden, Andrew Downey Orrick Professor of History

Course Description: "This course consists of an international analysis of the impact of epidemic diseases on western society and culture from the bubonic plague to HIV/AIDS and the recent experience of SARS and swine flu. Leading themes include: infectious disease and its impact on society; the development of public health measures; the role of medical ethics; the genre of plague literature; the social reactions of mass hysteria and violence; the rise of the germ theory of disease; the development of tropical medicine; a comparison of the social, cultural, and historical impact of major infectious diseases; and the issue of emerging and re-emerging diseases."

Introduction:

 

Readings: Journal of the Plague Year