A sample course outline may include the following topics.
Note: Content may vary according to the instructor’s selection of topics.
1: Introduction to Public Health and Epidemic Disease in History
2: Leprosy and Ancient Beliefs
3: “Plagues” and Poxes in Antiquity
4: The Bubonic Plague in Medieval Europe
5: Smallpox and Colonization
6: The Great Pox and Mercury in Early Modern Europe
7: Cholera and Public Health
8: Tuberculosis, Consumption, and the Romanticization of Illness
9: Influenza 1918-1919: [De]Mobilization and a Global Pandemic
10: Polio, the Advent of the Telethon, and 20th Century Vaccine Debates
11: HIV/AIDS: Crisis, Activism, and Cultures
12: Ebola and Global Health
13: The 21st Century Triumvirate of Respiratory Epidemics: SARS, MERS, COVID-19
Classroom instruction will include both lectures and seminar discussions. Lectures will provide instruction on weekly topics with opportunities for student inquiry and discussion. Seminars will encourage active class participation in the analysis of assigned primary and secondary readings. Classroom instruction may also include facilitation of student-led projects, student presentations on specific readings and/or topics, and other types of student-led activities. Classroom instruction may also include tutorials and workshops on transferable skills, including research methods, academic citation practice, and presentation skills.
Assessment will be in accordance with the Douglas College Evaluation policy. Students may conduct research with human participants as part of their coursework in this class. Instructors for the course are responsible for ensuring that student research projects comply with College policies on ethical conduct for research involving humans.
Students will have opportunities to build and refine their research capacity and historical thinking skills through assessments appropriate to the level of the course. Applied multi-disciplinary research and presentation skills will inform the assignment structure. There will be at least three separate assessments, which may include a combination of summative evaluations; research portfolios; primary document analysis assignments and essays; in-class and online written assignments; seminar presentations; group projects; class participation.
The value of each assessment and evaluation, expressed as a percentage of the final grade, will be listed in the course outline distributed to students at the beginning of the term. Specific evaluation criteria will vary according to the instructor’s assessment of appropriate evaluation methods.
Instructors may use a student’s record of attendance and/or level of active participation in the course as part of the student’s graded performance. Where this occurs, expectations and grade calculations regarding class attendance and participation will be clearly defined in the Instructor Course Outline.
An example of one evaluation scheme:
Participation and In-Class Work: 20%
Seminar Group Facilitation: 10%
Mid-term Exam: 15%
Primary Source Analyses: 15%
Research Portfolio: 40%
Total: 100%
At the conclusion of the course, successful students will be able to demonstrate historical thinking skills, research skills, critical thinking skills, and communication skills appropriate to the level of the course by:
1. Locating, examining, assessing, and evaluating a range of primary sources and secondary scholarly literature critically and analytically (reading history).
2. Constructing historical arguments, taking historical perspectives, and interpreting historical problems through a variety of inquiries and assignments (writing history).
3. Participating in active and informed historical debate independently and cooperatively through classroom discussion and presentation (discussing history).
4. Independently and cooperatively investigating the ways that health history is created, preserved, and disseminated through public memory and commemoration, oral history, community engagement, and other forms of popular narratives of the past (applying history).
5. Connecting historical data to health literature and applying multi-disciplinary analyses to writing and research opportunities across all relevant disciplines (connecting history).
Textbooks and Course Readers may be chosen from the following list, to be updated periodically.
An instructor’s custom Course Reader may be required. Additional online resources may also be assigned, and bibliographies of additional readings and links to specific resources may be provided in the course outline or online.
Aberth, John. Plagues in World History. Toronto: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Inc., 2011.
Bollyky, Thomas J. Plagues and the Paradox of Progress: Why the World is Getting Healthier in Worrisome Ways. Cambridge MA: MIT Press, 2018.
Chrystal, Paul. The History of the World in 100 Pandemics, Plagues and Epidemics. Great Britain: Pen & Sword Books, 2021.
Hammond, Mitchell. Epidemics and the Modern World. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2020.
Harrison, Mark. Disease and the Modern World 1500 to the Present Day. Cambridge USA: Polity Press, 2004.
Porter, Dorothy. Health, Civilisation and the State: a History of Public Health from Ancient to Modern Times. London: Routledge, 1999.
One 2000-level History Course, or permission of the instructor.
None
None
Course Guidelines for previous years are viewable by selecting the version desired. If you took this course and do not see a listing for the starting semester / year of the course, consider the previous version as the applicable version.
These are for current course guidelines only. For a full list of archived courses please see https://www.bctransferguide.ca
| Institution | Transfer details for HIST 3365 |
|---|---|
| Alexander College (ALEX) | ALEX HIST 2XX (3) |
| College of New Caledonia (CNC) | CNC HIST 240 (3) |
| Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) | KPU HIST 2306 (3) |
| Nicola Valley Institute of Technology (NVIT) | No credit |
| Okanagan College (OC) | OC HIST 3XX (3) |
| University of British Columbia - Okanagan (UBCO) | UBCO HIST_O 375 (3) |
| Vancouver Island University (VIU) | VIU HIST 3rd (3) |