The History of Human Disease

Explore the captivating interplay between politics, cures, and the relentless pursuit of wellness. Immerse yourself in times of leeches and leprosy, amoebas and antibiotics. Explore the relationship between magic and medicine. Investigate ancient medical manuals, meet the Yoruba god of smallpox, and follow the Silk Road with the Black Death.

Global in its scope, this history of human disease course incorporates primary sources and case studies. Working chronologically, you’ll discover notable diseases and learn modern historiographical concepts. You’ll evaluate evidence and situate diseases within their cultural and historical contexts.

By studying this course, you will learn the following:

• Medical ideas of the ancient world
• Medieval theories about the body, humours, and cures
• The relationships between religion, magic, and medicine
• The history of plagues, pandemics, and vaccines
• The transmission of local diseases in a globalising world
• The impact of disease on military campaigns
• The changing definitions of disease through time
• The effect of class, gender, and race on the experience of disease
• Modern medical research and advancements
• Contemporary policies of disease control and mitigation.

This course is ideal for students, researchers, historians, and medical professionals. Anyone interested in the human body in health and disease and how humans have conceptualised illness and wellness will enjoy the course.

It also provides a broad foundation for further study. You'll learn how to critically evaluate historical evidence about diseases and contextualise them within a broader historical knowledge.