* HLTH 081a or b, Current Issues in Medicine and Public Health  Robert Bazell

Analysis of issues in public health and medicine that get extensive media attention and provoke policy debates. The Covid-19 pandemic has revealed severe challenges in the communication between science and health experts and the public. Thus, a prime focus is a survey of epidemiology and related topics such as vaccination attitudes. The class covers other topics including (but not limited to) the value of cancer screening, genetic testing, the U.S. role in global health, physician assisted suicide and the cost of health care. Students learn to understand the scientific literature and critique its coverage in popular media–as well as producing science and medical journalism themselves. Prerequisite: AP Biology or equivalent. Enrollment limited to first-year students. Preregistration required; see under First-Year Seminar Program.  SC
HTBA

* HLTH 155a / E&EB 106a / MCDB 106a, Biology of Malaria, Lyme, and Other Vector-Borne Diseases  Alexia Belperron

Introduction to the biology of pathogen transmission from one organism to another by insects; special focus on malaria, dengue, and Lyme disease. Biology of the pathogens including modes of transmission, establishment of infection, and immune responses; the challenges associated with vector control, prevention, development of vaccines, and treatments. Intended for non–science majors; preference to first-years and sophomores. Prerequisite: high school biology.  SC
MW 1pm-2:15pm

HLTH 230b / GLBL 223b, Global Health: Challenges and Responses  Staff

Overview of the determinants of health and how health status is measured, with emphasis on low- and middle-income countries. The burden of disease, including who is most affected by different diseases and risk factors; cost-effective measures for addressing the problem. The health of the poor, equity and inequality, and the relationship between health and development.  SO  0 Course cr
TTh 11:35am-12:25pm

* HLTH 250a / E&EB 335a, Evolution and Medicine  Brandon Ogbunu

Introduction to the ways in which evolutionary science informs medical research and clinical practice. Diseases of civilization and their relation to humans' evolutionary past; the evolution of human defense mechanisms; antibiotic resistance and virulence in pathogens; cancer as an evolutionary process. Students view course lectures on line; class time focuses on discussion of lecture topics and research papers. Prerequisite: BIOL 101–104.  WR, SC
TTh 1pm-2:15pm

* HLTH 385a / AFST 385a / EP&E 350a / HIST 391a / PLSC 429a, Pandemics in Africa: From the Spanish Influenza to Covid-19  Jonny Steinberg

The overarching aim of the course is to understand the unfolding Covid-19 pandemic in Africa in the context of a century of pandemics, their political and administrative management, the responses of ordinary people, and the lasting changes they wrought. The first eight meetings examine some of the best social science-literature on 20th-century African pandemics before Covid-19. From the Spanish Influenza to cholera to AIDS, to the misdiagnosis of yaws as syphilis, and tuberculosis as hereditary, the social-science literature can be assembled to ask a host of vital questions in political theory: on the limits of coercion, on the connection between political power and scientific expertise, between pandemic disease and political legitimacy, and pervasively, across all modern African epidemics, between infection and the politics of race. The remaining four meetings look at Covid-19. We chronicle the evolving responses of policymakers, scholars, religious leaders, opposition figures, and, to the extent that we can, ordinary people. The idea is to assemble sufficient information to facilitate a real-time study of thinking and deciding in times of radical uncertainty and to examine, too, the consequences of decisions on the course of events. There are of course so many moving parts: health systems, international political economy, finance, policing, and more. We also bring guests into the classroom, among them frontline actors in the current pandemic as well as veterans of previous pandemics well placed to share provisional comparative thinking. This last dimension is especially emphasized: the current period, studied in the light of a century of epidemic disease, affording us the opportunity to see path dependencies and novelties, the old and the new.  SO
Th 1:30pm-3:20pm

* HLTH 490a, Global Health Research Colloquium  Staff

This course is designed for Global Health Scholars in their senior year as they synthesize their academic studies and practical experiences during their time in the Global Health Studies MAP. In this weekly seminar, Global Health Scholars analyze central challenges in global health and discuss methodological approaches that have responded to these pressing global health concerns. In addition to close reading and discussion, students present on a topic of their choosing and contribute to shaping the agenda for innovative methods in global health research and policy. Prerequisite: HLTH 230 or permission of the instructor. This is a required course for Global Health Scholars and enrollment is limited to Global Health Scholars.   RP
HTBA

* HLTH 495a or b, Interdisciplinary Health Research Topics  Carolyn Mazure

Empirical research project or literature review. A faculty member who establishes requirements and oversees the student’s progress must sponsor each student. Registration requires the completion of the tutorial form with faculty sponsor. Tutorial forms must be submitted to the director of undergraduate studies within five business days from the start of the term. The standard minimum requirement is a written report detailing the completed research or literature review. However, alternate equivalent requirements may be set by faculty sponsors. May be elected for one or two terms. May be repeated for credit. May not be used for a senior requirement.  ½ Course cr
HTBA