Disease, Medicine, and Society in the Americas
Dr Erica Charters, Wellcome Unit for the History of Medicine
Email: erica.charters@history.ox.ac.uk
This course explores the role of disease and medicine in the development of the Americas, beginning with first contact between the Old World and the New. It provides a comparative overview of medical practice and responses to disease among the key American empires (Spanish, Portuguese, English/British, French). We begin with the Columbian exchange, looking at the obstacles and opportunities that disease presented in the so-called New World. We explore the role of smallpox in colonization, including a consideration of ‘biological warfare’. A key theme of the course is the development of theories of physical differentiation. We consider disease and medicine in the shaping of the Atlantic slave trade, as well as in the diversity of theories regarding race in Spanish America, the Caribbean, and the United States.
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List of History of Science, Medicine, and Technology advanced papers |