This seminar examines how concepts of diseases have changed over time in both the West and in some non-Western cultures and how several diseases in particular have reached epidemic proportions from ancient times to the present. These diseases will tentatively include smallpox, plague, cholera, tuberculosis, syphilis, and AIDS, among others. It will provide students with the conceptual tools necessary for the study of diseases and epidemics in history, drawing from modern medical science and epidemiology, as well as from a broad range of historical sources. |