| Infectious
diseases continue to shape human history and impact virtually everyone's life
and health. They are at the center of medicine's greatest breakthroughs and
most persistent frustrations. The challenge of disease also puts a sharp focus
on how we live together as a human society. We will explore controversial
questions of collective interest, civil rights, globalization, race, ethics
and morals in the light of this focus.
Grading
will be A-F and based on course participation (no more than 2 sessions can
be missed without lowering the grade) and a short essay type paper focussed
on the topic of one of the seminars.
Boris
Striepen (striepen@cb.uga.edu)
The format of this seminar is open and we will
follow our specific interests as we go along. We will use a variety of articles, documentaries,
movies, and books as starting point for discussion. We are fortunate to have several
experts from on and off the campus joining theses discussions later on in the course
We will touch
on 5 themes around infection and infectious diseases:
1. What exactly is an infection, and how was this concept
historically developed?
2. Infection 101: What are the basic groups of infectious agents, and which interventive
tools are available? (Note however that this is not ment to be a comprehensive premed microbiology class)
3. Political, social and ethical challenges encountered in the face of infectious
disease (and infectious disease research).
4. What is the range of Infectious disease research and researchers at
UGA, and where might be opportunities for your own research while at UGA?
5. Infection as a powerful metaphor in literature and film.
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