Course Syllabus
Instructor: Dr. Christina Warinner
Course Meets: M and W, 10:30-11:45 am* (meeting time tentative) Zoom: https://harvard.zoom.us/j/93720907424?pwd=Rm13cTY4a0RWNWd6TGRNZ2RjTDlqUT09
Section Meetings (Section assignments.docx):
L001: Th, 10:45 - 11:45 am (https://harvard.zoom.us/j/92065321600?pwd=VDhJQ05xWmp2aWNVcnhyVGZxZ29vQT09)
L002: Th, 4:30- 5:30 pm ( https://harvard.zoom.us/j/94845000119?pwd=WXoyaHMwbTRmK203ZVhYVkp2aFFMZz09)
Office Hours: M, 2-3 pm and by appointment, Zoom: https://harvard.zoom.us/j/98934696009
Email: warinner@fas.harvard.edu
Office Phone: 617-495-1270; 617-496-1194 (Archaeology Program Office)
Teaching Fellow: Megan Michel
Office Hours: T, 1-2 pm and by appointment, Zoom: https://harvard.zoom.us/j/94189689756
Email: megan_michel@g.harvard.edu
*Course time may change to accommodate student synchronous participation. The final course time will be announced on or before Sept. 9, 2020.
Course Summary:
This course surveys the concept of health and the major nutritional and infectious diseases that have impacted human populations over the past ten thousand years. Special attention is paid to the methods used to detect and identify disease in the past, including skeletal paleopathology, paleodemography, and pathogenomics, as well as human social factors that have influenced human disease exposure and susceptibility, including long-distance migration, agriculture and pastoralism, urbanization, and industrialization.
Course Structure:
The course will consist of interactive lectures, expert interviews, and sections:
Interactive lectures will introduce fundamental concepts of health and disease, bioarchaeological methods, and historical and archaeological sources of information about health and disease in the past, and will explore major nutritional and infectious diseases that have influenced the course of history and prehistory, including pellagra, scurvy, smallpox, plague, malaria, cocoliztli, and tuberculosis.
Throughout the course, guest experts in the history of disease, paleopathology, and ancient DNA will join us for interviews. Students will lead guided interviews with these guest experts to discover the research process behind major scientific discoveries.
Sections are organized around virtual labs that will provide hands-on experience with bioarchaeological and historical methods, including excavation planning and analysis of material culture, interpretation of osteological and paleodemographic data, qualitative and quantitative historical analysis, modeling of pathogen evolution, and planning for future pandemic preparedness.
Course Goals and Outcomes:
My goal is to equip you with the knowledge, tools, and critical thinking skills necessary to understand and participate in global debates surrounding human health and disease. At the end of this course, you will be able to:
- Define health and disease within biological and anthropological frameworks
- Describe what evidence archaeologists use to reconstruct past human health and disease
- Explain how nutritional deficiencies contribute to disease and illness, and how these deficiencies leave evidence in the skeleton
- Describe the major causes of infectious disease and origins of major pathogens
- Explain how the immune system responds to infection
- Evaluate current anthropological and archaeological theories about the relationship between human social and economic behaviors and the emergence and spread of disease
- Discuss the impact of prehistoric and historic epidemics on current world societies
- Identify major health challenges and controversies today and critically evaluate the contrasting viewpoints regarding both the problems and the solutions.
Readings:
Readings will be provided on the course website as article and chapter PDFs or through online links. No textbook is required.
Class Schedule:
Note: The schedule below covers lecture, interview, and section topics. Course readings will be posted on module pages. Please refer to module pages for the most up to date information.
Article presentation/guest interview schedule: Article and guest interview assignments 10-16-1-2.docx
Pandemic preparedness project assignments: Pandemic Preparedness Assignments.docx
Shopping Week Preview
Friday, 8/21 from 2-3pm: Shopping Week Course Q&A: https://harvard.zoom.us/j/93720907424
Week 1: Welcome and introduction
Wednesday, 9/2: Welcome and introduction to bioarchaeology
Week 2: Why study diseases of the past (and present)?
Monday, 9/7: Labor Day - NO CLASS
Wednesday, 9/9: Why the archaeology of disease matters, case study Smallpox
Section 1: Digital breadcrumbs, 1918 letter
Week 3: Archaeological evidence
Monday, 9/14: Osteology, paleopathology, and paleodemography
Wednesday, 9/16: Guest expert interview with bioarchaeologist Dr. Christine Lee
Section 2: Working with osteological and archaeological data
Week 4: Historical evidence
Monday, 9/21: Historical sources
Wednesday, 9/23: Guest expert interview with historian Dr. Kyle Harper
Section 3: Working with primary sources: qualitative analysis of the diaries of Samuel de Pepys
Week 5: Epidemiology and the immune system
Monday, 9/28: Fundamentals of epidemiology
Wednesday, 9/30: The immune system and how it works
Section 4: Archaeology of your home: a study of material culture
Week 6: Nutritional deficiencies and diseases
Monday, 10/5: The body's nutritional requirements
Wednesday, 10/7: Pellagra, rickets, scurvy, and beriberi
Due: Annotated Bibliography 1
Section 5: Quantitative historical analysis: Google Ngram
Week 7: Infectious diseases
Monday, 10/12: Indigenous People's Day - NO CLASS
Wednesday, 10/14: Where do infectious diseases come from?
Week 8: Plague, part 1
Monday, 10/19: The three pandemics
Wednesday, 10/21: An ancient DNA revolution
Due: Final project topic
Section 6: Reconstructing a killer, part 1: plague analysis from DNA sequences
Week 9: Plague, part 2
Monday, 10/26: Pandemic prequel: Stone age plague
Wednesday, 10/28: Guest expert interview with Dr. Maria Spyrou
Section 7: Reconstructing a killer, part 2: from phylogenetic trees to evolutionary models
Week 10: Tuberculosis
Monday, 11/2: Tuberculosis
Wednesday, 11/4: Guest expert interview with Dr. Kirsti Bos
No section: Independent lab group work on Section Policy Project
Week 11: Syphilis and hepatitis
Monday, 11/9: Treponematosis
Wednesday, 11/11: Veterans Day - NO CLASS
No section: Independent lab group work on Section Policy Project
Week 12: Colonialism and disease, part 1
Monday, 11/16: An overview of Mexico's 16th century epidemics
Wednesday, 11/18: Cocoliztli
Due: Annotated Bibliography 2
Section 8: The cultural context of disease: Relaciones Geográficas
Week 13: Colonialism and disease, part 2
Monday, 11/23: Guest expert interview with geneticist Rodrigo Barquera
Wednesday, 11/25: Thanksgiving holiday - NO CLASS
Week 14: Future perspectives
Monday, 11/30: Emerging diseases: Ebola, Zika, and COVID-19
Wednesday, 12/2: Pandemic Preparedness Presentation
Due: Pandemic Preparedness Report
Reading Period and Exams:
12/9: Final Research Project due
No Final Exam
Grading System:
Your grade is based on the 1000 points available for the course, plus the 25 possible extra credit points. 900 points and above = A, 800 points and above = B, etc. A curve may be applied.
- Participation, 50 points
- Annotated Bibliography, 150 points
- Guest Interview, 100 points
- Article Presentation, 100 points
- Section Labs, 200 points (25 points each)
- Pandemic Preparedness Project, 100 points
- Final Research Project, 250 points
- Extra Credit, up to 50 points
Participation (50 points)
Participation is important, but I recognize that not all of you will be able to participate in synchronous instruction every week. The course material will be made available online, although lectures will involve interactive components, including class discussions and informal debates. Attendance and active participation is strongly encouraged for full participation credit. If you are unable to participate synchronously, please contact me or your TF, Megan Michel, as soon as possible to make alternative arrangements for asynchronous participation.
Annotated Bibliographies (150 points, 75 points each)
Throughout the course you will compile an annotated bibliography for all required journal article readings. This consists of making a bibliography in AJPA style with a short paragraph (3-4 sentences) summarizing the most important aspects of each reading. The annotated bibliography is due in two parts. The first part is due on October 7, 2020 and the second part is due on November 18, 2020. Extra Credit will be awarded for annotations of optional readings (2 points each).
Guest Interview (100 points)
Throughout the course, we will be joined by several guest experts. Students will be assigned to lead interviews with these experts. Expert interview dates will be assigned on the first day of class. Instructions for the interviews will be provided on the first day of class.
Article Presentation (100 points)
Each week will include a short presentation by a student on a primary reading of their choice from a selected list. Students will be assigned presentation dates on the first day of class. Instructions for the short presentations will be provided on the first day of class.
Section Labs (200 points, 25 points each)
There will be a weekly virtual lab section associated with the course that will involve demonstrations, discussions, and team-based, hands-on data analysis and problem solving.
Pandemic Preparedness Project (150 points)
During section, you will work with your lab partner(s) towards a final project on developing a policy recommendation for future pandemic preparedness. Incorporating the knowledge you've gained from the course, and especially section, you will prepare your policy recommendation as a report and present your report in class on November 23, 2020. Instructions will be provided in class.
Final Research Project (250 points)
You will complete a semester-long research project due on December 9, 2020. For this project you may choose one of the the following three options: (1) research paper, (2) mock grant application, (3) photo essay. Detailed information and instructions about project requirements will be provided in a separate handout in class.
Extra Credit (up to 50 points)
To reward students who complete the readings and engage with the material, I will add 2 points to your final grade for each annotated optional reading that you include in your annotated bibliographies (up to 50 points). For example, if your final grade is 880 points (B) and you complete annotated bibliographies for 10 optional readings, I will bump up your grade to 900 points (A). It pays to do the readings!