"Epidemics in the United States"
April 11, 2025
9a - 2:30p
Elaine Lafay, Assistant Professor, Department of History, Rutgers University
In this seminar we will analyze how epidemic diseases have impacted society and culture from seventeenth century smallpox outbreaks through recent and ongoing experiences with COVID-19. Through a study of selected outbreaks, this seminar examines how people in different eras have responded in times of medical and ecological crisis. Major themes include infectious disease and its impact on society; changing theories of disease causation; the development of public health measures; the persistent tensions between individual liberties and public interest; ecological understandings of disease and place; patient activism; social reactions of mass hysteria and violence; and contemporary policy and responses to health threats.
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