KNOW 15013: Medicine and Society in America

• Course Level: Undergraduate
• Department: History, History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Science and Medicine
• Year:
• Term:

• TR 9.30–10.50
• HIST 15003, HIPS 15013
• Michael Rossi

The course provides an introduction to central questions in American medicine from the early colonial period to the present day. Topics covered include epidemics in the early colonies; frontier medicine and alternative healers; urbanization, hygiene and the state; race, empire, and medicine; sexual health and reproductive rights; the politics of addiction; and the rise of biomedicine, genetics, and genomics, among others. Students will gain from this course both an understanding of major trends and transformations in American medicine, as well as a more nuanced feel for present-day debates about health-care rights and policies in America. Requirements will include short weekly responses to class readings and a final paper of six to eight pages.