Lecture

Readings & Resources

1. Isaac Chotiner, "What Have Epidemiologist Learned from Coronavirus?"

2. Anne Applebaum, "Epidemics Reveal the Truth About the Societies They Hit"

3. Jennifer Valentino-DeVries, Denise Lu, & Gabriel J. X. Dance, "Location Data Says It All: Staying at Home During Coronavirus Is a Luxury"

Discussion Questions

1. What social statuses or privileges do you have that benefit your health? Which statuses are detrimental to your well-being? Similarly, in what way do your present social conditions influence your health?

2. Given your physical, ecological, and social environments, what types of disease agents are you commonly exposed to?

3. Our understanding of Covid-19 is changing daily. What is one aspect of the disease you wish we knew about for certain?

Lecture

Readings & Resources

1. John Harte, "Reducing Conflict Advice on Allowable Group Size

2. Explore COVID-19 projections from Johns Hopkins University & Our World in Data

Discussion Questions

1. What is exponential growth? How does it differ from other types of growth you’re familiar with?

2. What does it mean to flatten the curve?

3. Discuss the effect of group size and social distancing on the transmission rate.

Lecture

Readings & Resources

1. COVID-19 Chapter One: Virology from This Podcast Will Kill You (listen and/or read the transcript)

Discussion Questions

1. What is the narrative presented about viruses in popular culture/entertainment? How does that differ from how viruses behave and function in reality?

2. How do emerging diseases connect with pandemics? What are the concerns about emerging diseases?

3. What can we do (as a global society, as countries, as organizations, as individuals) to limit the spread of viral pandemics?

Lecture

Readings & Resources

1. Wolfe, Dunavan, & Diamond, "Origins of Major Human Infectious Diseases"

2. Johnson et al, "Spillover and Pandemic Properties of Zoonotic Viruses with High Host Plasticity"

3. Rabi et al, "SARS-CoV-2 and Coronavirus Disease 2019: What We Know So Far"

4. Optional: Andersen et al, "The Proximal Origin of SARS-CoV-2"

Discussion Questions

1. The focus of this talk was mostly about zoonotic diseases from wildlife. How do you think this information applies to domesticated animals? Why are there more spillover events caused by wildlife than domesticated animals? How could domesticated animals play a role in wildlife zoonotic spillover to humans?

2. We spoke about different types of interfaces with wildlife and the potential risk they bring to zoonotic spillover. Which interfaces do you feel should be monitored closely for zoonotic spillover and why?

3. Do you think The Washington Times news article addressed in the lecture fairly represented the scientific literature?