HLSC 3824U – Plagues, Pandemics, and People

This course considers the origins, antiquity and impact of plagues and pandemics on human societies from health, cultural, evolutionary, epidemiological and ecological perspectives. The course will start with an introduction to disease ecology followed by a focus on historic, contemporary, newly-emerging epidemics, while drawing parallels to the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim is to understand why “plagues” emerge and how their occurrence is intimately linked to human behavior. The main goal is to provide insight into the struggles of attaining disease control and the challenges of managing and forecasting emerging pandemics.

This course has multiple delivery modes. Please consult MyOntarioTech for details.
Credit hours: 3
Lecture hours: 3
Prerequisite(s): 24 credit hours
Experiential learning: Yes