THE RECORD
COVID , CHRONICLED
Humanities classes bring the pandemic into curricula .
BY ANTHONY KING
THE CURRENT pandemic is far from the first , nor will it be the last health crisis for humanity . Claire Edington , associate professor in the Department of History at UC San Diego , has taught the “ History of Public Health ” course for five years , and for each year , a new issue has emerged : be it Ebola , the opioid epidemic or this year , COVID-19 .
“ The history of medicine has always served as an important window on social history , and looking at pandemics in general shows how epidemics have the potential both to reflect and remake our social world ,” says Edington . “ For instance , the recurrence of certain themes in the history of pandemics — the scapegoating of minority groups , or grassroots anti-vaccination movements — works powerfully to disrupt any linear narrative of progress . How do we mobilize the insights of history to create a more just , equitable world moving forward ?”
Edington ’ s fall quarter class explored the history of epidemics around the globe , each in their unique historical context , without a centralized European or U . S . perspective . For instance , she says the first use of gauze masks was in Manchuria during the pneumonic plague of 1910 – 1911 , and not the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 .
“ Instead of looking for clear beginnings and endings , we look at how epidemics layer onto each other . They are not just discrete events ,” she says . “ It felt particularly poignant to be teaching this class now .”
FIRST-YEAR STUDENT Paige Nguyen has not yet experienced UC San Diego as most know it — a college campus teeming with activity . But part of Edington ’ s class assignments , “ Diaries in the Time of Plague ,” brought this moment in time into sharp focus .
“ Studying epidemics of the past is already an interesting topic , but even more so when you ’ re living through a current pandemic ,” says Nguyen , an education studies major . Her “ plague diary ” is now kept in the UC San Diego Library ’ s Special Collections & Archives .
Edington devised the assignment as a way for the class to be more reflective , recognizing that this is a difficult time to be a student . Students were allowed to submit their entries anonymously if they chose , as much of the content is deeply personal . She said she was surprised by how candid some of the submissions were and was glad that the students were able to open up .
Anushka Sinha , a third-year biology student , said the assignment became an outlet to voice frustration
16 TRITON | SPRING 2021