Hist of Science and Technology 211 - Perspectives in the History of Science: Pandemics

TOPCS: PANDEMICS

Spring
2021
01
4.00
Jeffry Ramsey
MWF 10:55-11:45
Smith College
30559-S21
REMOTE
jramsey@smith.edu
Topics course: How do we represent pandemics? How do these representations implicate science, politics and society? The prevalent ‘contagion’ frame is a story about seeing the microbe as the enemy, erasing or downplaying human agency and practices (especially the expansion into new ecosystems), and affirming epidemiology and medical science as the only solution. The frame carries over into politics and culture and provides a way to translate the science of contagious disease into social terms that influence the public and also public policy. This frame and others are used to explore past and current pandemics.
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