HIST 152 - Smallpox: The Biology and History of a Disease

Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)

(Same as BIOL 152, GNCS 152, and STS 152) Smallpox was one of the deadliest diseases in history: it killed millions, often leaving survivors scarred or blinded. Its eradiation in 1980 also marks one of the great medical victories of the modern era. This course examines smallpox from both biological and historical perspectives. Students explore the workings of the virus, the effects of the disease, the popularization of inoculaton in the eighteenth century, Edward Jenner’s developmemt of the cowpox vaccine and how it protects, and efforts to enforce vaccination globally through some of the earliest state public health initiatives. We also investigate the nineteenth-century origins of the anti-vacciation movement with particular attention to its class, anti-imperial, and religious underpinnings. Lydia Murdoch.

Two 75-minute periods.

Course Format: CLS