Biomedicine and World History (379-0-20)

Instructors

Helen Tilley
847/467-3014
Harris Hall - Room 335
Helen Tilley studies African colonial and postcolonial history with a particular focus on medical, racial, environmental, and anthropological themes. She is finishing a book on the history of traditional medicine and its relationship to African decolonization, global governance, and ethnoscientific research during the Cold War.

Meeting Info

Annenberg Hall G21: Mon, Wed 2:00PM - 3:20PM

Overview of class

This lecture course uses the Covid-19 pandemic as a point of departure to study the history of global health and biomedicine. We will break the quarter into four segments during which we will consider: 1) the "unification of the globe" by infectious diseases; 2) the role of empires, industries, war, and revolutions in spreading biomedical cultures around the world; 3) the functions played by transnational and global health institutions in different continents; and 4) the growth of the pharmaceutical industry and the narcotics trade. Students will have a chance to apply insights from the readings - about histories of racial segregation, reproductive politics, militarization, and police powers - to the more recent past. Lectures and readings cover all world regions: Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, North America, Asia, Europe, and the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

Learning Objectives

To understand diseases as active agents in human history. To analyze how political, economic, legal, and social systems intersect with medical history. To explain how global phenomena have taken root in different parts of the world. To refine historical reasoning about the origins and impact of multifaceted and transnational issues.

Class Notes

History Major Concentration(s): Global
History Minor Concentration(s): Science and Technology

Class Attributes

Advanced Expression
Historical Studies Foundational Discipline
Social and Behavioral Science Foundational Discipl
Historical Studies Distro Area
Global Perspectives on Power, Justice, and Equity
Social & Behavioral Sciences Distro Area

Enrollment Requirements

Enrollment Requirements: Only History majors and minors can currently enroll in this class. Students who have previously taken History 300-0 Section 47, Biomedicine and World History, in Spring 2013 are not allowed to take this course.

Associated Classes

DIS - TBA: Fri 10:00AM - 10:50AM

DIS - TBA: Fri 11:00AM - 11:50AM

DIS - TBA: Fri 12:00PM - 12:50PM