Video essay for COVID-19

The story of disease is a drama pitting humans against illness.  Epidemics, pandemics, and plagues have swept through human history changing the shape of medicine, art, science, and society.  A pandemic is defined as a disease prevalent over the whole country or world.  Through the actions of a pandemic, the organism that is society can be observed as humanity is reduced to statistics, data, and metrics.  As we will see in a later section, this characterization is based on the modern medical model of disease transmission.  This historical overview of plagues and pandemics highlights cultural responses and societal changes that came about in response to disease.   The society we live in was shaped by the diseases that we have survived as a species. 

Art is a method for sharing the reality of what it is to be human in times of crisis.  The experiences of each individual defines the reality for that individual.  Culture is created when individuals share experiences, create language, and make meaning together. This culture then exerts influence on the experiences of the individuals, thus reinforcing the shared experiences and further strengthening the identity of the individual as part of that culture.  The influence of culture is present in all artistic works.  Through these artistic representations of health, illness, and disease, we can explore the cultural, social, and political side of a pandemic.

Humans throughout history have struggled to define health of the individual and health of society.  In this section we will explore how health is a social, relational and cultural concept and disease is anthropomorphized as the antagonist in this drama.  While reading the overview materials in this section consider your own response to the recent COVID-19 pandemic. 

· Can a society fall sick? 

· How does disease challenge or alter your perception of the interrelation between individuals in a society?

· How do you describe the state of being neither healthy nor sic, but waiting?

In this overview of the history of disease, we will explore the influence of plagues on culture and society.  The goal of this section is for you to develop an understanding of society as a product of medicine, environment, and culture over the last 2000 years.  

Reading Materials:

1. Read Chapter 7, Plagues & Peoples: Epidemic Diseases in History