Infectious Diseases: Past and Present

Prerequisites

• None.

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To engage students with infectious diseses in different historical and cultural contexts.
• To introduce students to the study of responses to infectious diseases in different historical and cultural contexts.
• To identify changes and continuities in medical knowledge and practices related to infectious diseases.
• To promote an understanding of the historicity of concepts of health and illness in relation to infectious diseases.

Content

• The seminars will cover key issues in the study of infectious diseases in different historical and cultural contexts.
• An introductory reminder will make students aware of what infectious diseases and epidemics are and how these understandings have changed over time.
• The following nine seminar sessions will consider examples of infectious diseases (such as STIs, AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, cholera) and how medicine, the state and society in different historical and cultural contexts have reacted to them.

Learning OutcomesSubject-specific Knowledge:

• By the end of the module students should have:
• an understanding of infectious diseases in specific cultural contexts and historical periods;
• a familarity with key historical writing on infectious diseases.

Subject-specific Skills:

• By the end of the module students should be able to:
• evaluate different historical and cultural interpretations of the responses to infectious diseases;
• demonstrate skills in historical interpretation of sources related to infectious diseases;
• write a critical and well-informed essay on a selected topic from the history of infectious diseases.

Key Skills:

• The ability to think critically and creatively and to argue coherently.
• The capacity for sustained interprofessional learning and work at an advanced level.
• The ability to think independently, including problem-solving ability and the ability to discriminate and use judgement.
• The ability to communicate effectively across specialised subject and professional areas.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• The module will be taught in 10 two-hour group seminars.
• The seminars include a short introduction to the topic by the lecturer; students’ historical interpretation of selected sources; students’ short presentations of key primary and/or secondary literature; and joint critical discussion of pre-read research publications (partly in group work).
• Structured reading will allow students to pursue topics in greater detail enabling both familiarity with key texts and a deeper understanding of the subject knowledge generally.
• Independent study, research and analysis will focus students' knowledge more deeply by pursuing aspects of the module that are of special interest to themselves and exploring specific applications in their field of study.
• Essay assessement will test students' critical knowledge and understanding of key concepts, their ability to argue coherently and communicate effectively in writing, and to reflectively assess their proficiency in thinking through how the various historical and cultural perspectives on infectious diseases are represented in the primary sources as well as the historiography on infectious diseases.

Seminars - 10weekly @ 2 hr = 20hrs

Structured Reading - 10 sets weekly @ 3 hr = 30hrs

Library Researching and independet study - student initiated / student initiated = 100hrs

Total Hours = 150

Summative Assignment:  3000 words = 100%

Formative Assessment:  A 1,500 word essay will provide formative assessement and will indicate to students the depth of their understanding and the relative strenght/weekness of their analysis.