Human Dimensions of Infectious Diseases

FAIN: AKA-298402-24

Virginia Tech (Blacksburg, VA 24061-2000)
Tom Ewing (Project Director: September 2023 to present)

A one-year project to develop teaching materials on infectious diseases from the perspectives of the humanities and the health sciences.

Human Dimensions of Infectious Diseases initiates and sustains a faculty collaboration exploring the relationship between humans and diseases with the goal of producing new approaches to undergraduate instruction connecting the humanities and health sciences. The project team representing five departments (Biological Sciences, English, History, Population Health Sciences, and Science, Technology and Society) will participate in an intensive summer workshop and then meet regularly during the academic year. These activities will provide opportunities to discuss thematic issues, explore new pedagogical approaches, and advance interdisciplinary instruction at a public land grant research university. This collaboration will result in the creation of three new courses, on human dimensions of infectious diseases, history of infectious diseases, and health disparities and infectious diseases, cross-listed by multiple departments and offered on a regular basis.