Epidemic and pandemic diseases constitute an integral part of American history. They have significantly facilitated the European conquest of the Americas by killing off a large part of the indigenous population, they were a constant menace for the American settler societies, they have triggered the sanitary reconstruction of many American cities, and they have left a mark on the cultural landscape in the form of many novels, movies, etc. This lecture series will put the current COVID-19 pandemic in historical perspective by looking at past outbreaks of such devastating diseases as the bubonic plague, cholera, polio, HIV/AIDS, and others. Faculty of the Amerika-Institut and guest speakers will scrutinize the public health system of the United States, the impact of and the debates surrounding the politics of vaccinations, the social and cultural significance of quarantines and the unequal distribution of pain and death.

Die Zugangsinformationen sollten auf der Amerikanistik-Website stehen.