Pandemics in World History

(4 Credits)

Pandemics have travelled long distances to infect people in territories connected by routes of mobility since ancient times. Pandemic mortality and morbidity have provoked political, social, and cultural change; they have stimulated all kinds of intellectual activity, from medicine to philosophy, poetry, polemics, and folklore. This lecture and discussion course surveys the world history of pandemics and provides students opportunities for specialized research and creativity, including participation in the development of a course website. We focus primarily on the spatial, social, political, cultural, and economic aspects of pandemics, their Asian connections, and their entanglements with empire, capitalism, and globalization.