BIOL 119 EMERGING DISEASES
FALL, 2017
I. DESCRIPTION
BI 119 Emerging Diseases 3c-3sh
Introduces infectious diseases and their biological basis as well as the social, historical and ethical consequences of these types of afflictions. Covers background material such as the germ theory of disease, the cell theory, disease transmission and the structure of scientific knowledge at a fundamental level. Emphasizes ecology, epidemiology, evolution and control of infectious agents as well as prevention and treatment of infectious disease. Includes specific cases of emerging or re-emerging diseases with an emphasis on current events related to disease outbreaks. (Does not count toward Biology Electives, Controlled Electives, or Ancillary Sciences for Biology majors and minors.)
II. Course Outcomes and Assessment (Expected Undergraduate Student Learning Outcomes-EUSLO)
The student will be able to:
Objective 1
Define the general characteristics of the major groups of agents that cause infectious disease
Expected Student Learning Outcomes 1
Informed Learners
Rationale
Assignments and exams will require students to name the major groups of biological agents that cause infectious disease, state the differences among the groups and to recognize illustrations or give examples of each group.
Objective 2
Explain the use of the scientific method as it is used to investigate infectious disease and improve public health.
Expected Student Learning Outcome 2
Empowered Learners
Rationale
Assignments and exams will require students to recognize, explain and discuss the steps of the scientific method as used in case studies of infectious disease investigations.
Objective 3
Appraise the risk of infectious disease in modern society.
Expected Student Learning Outcomes 1 and 2
Informed Learners and Empowered Learners
Rationale
Assignments and exams will require students to describe, discuss and explain the routes of transmission, portals of entry and risk factors for infectious diseases. Assignments and exams will also require students to criticize and examine the effectiveness of the common strategies for disease prevention.
Objective 4
Define, classify and analyze the natural processes that influence disease ecology and shape the evolution of infectious disease agents.
Expected Student Learning Outcomes 1 and 2
Informed Learners and Empowered Learners
Rationale
Assignments and exams will require students to recognize and define the impacts of factors such as climate change, habitat disruption, economic forces, technological improvements and human behavioral changes on the patterns of infectious disease. Assignments and exams will also require students to examine, compare and contrast the events of real-life outbreaks.
Objective 5
Appraise and evaluate the components of a society’s response to challenges posed by emerging infectious disease.
Expected Student Learning Outcome 3
Responsible Learners
Rationale
Assignments and exams will require students to evaluate the impacts and influences of political and economic variables on public health practices and priorities. Assignments and exams will require students to assess and evaluate risks and benefits associated with personal and public health decisions.
This course introduces the topic of infectious diseases as they assume increasing relevance to modern society. The course is intended primarily to provide non-science majors with an understanding of the biological basis of infectious diseases and the social, historical and ethical consequences of these types of afflictions. Utilizing a combination of readings, lectures and class discussions, the course covers background material such as the germ theory of disease and the cell theory at an introductory level suitable for the non-major. The course then proceeds to examine several “case studies” of infectious diseases. An emphasis will be placed on current events such as ongoing or recent disease outbreaks.
Meeting Times for Fall 2016
MW505-620
Room 107 Weyandt
II. COURSE PHILOSOPHY
The course is designed for students not majoring in Biology. Therefore it does not concentrate exclusively on the “science” of emerging disease. Instead it includes discussion of appropriate history, sociology, politics and even the personalities associated with various disease outbreaks. By the end of the semester I want all the students in the course to be literate in the areas of infectious diseases as appropriate for an educated person who is not a biologist. I will be able to judge your level of literacy by your performance on exams, on various writing assignments and by your comments during in-class discussions. For example, I want you to be able to read an article on disease in a contemporary magazine or a newspaper and UNDERSTAND THE ARTICLE!!! I will know that you understand such an article when you can explain it correctly to somebody else and discuss it intelligently in class.
I also hope that students will use the knowledge acquired in this course to help avoid disease-either for themselves or for a member of their family.
III. COURSE OUTLINE
The course is organized into four units or modules. In each module we’ll cover a different set of diseases that exemplify important principles or illustrate important events. The first module covers much of the biological basis of infectious disease and is designed to provide the scientific background and vocabulary needed for the rest of the course. The second module builds on this background material to cover several relevant case studies of novel or re-emerging viral diseases. In each of the case studies students and instructor will discuss: (1) the specifics of the disease itself, (2) its cures, preventive or palliative measures, (3) its mode of transmission, (4) social, historical and ethical ramifications of the disease, as appropriate. In the third module we will trace disease events up to more recent times and in the last module we will ask some questions about whether it will continue to be possible to protect our society against disease.
The following topical outline for the course envisages a fourteen-week semester with two 1.25-hr class meetings per week. It includes one meeting during Finals Week on Tuesday December 8 at 12:30 in Room 6. (when Exam Four is scheduled) for a total of 29 class meetings. Individual lines in the topical outline below do not necessarily correspond to single class meetings. We will keep to this plan as much as possible but obviously current events may affect our schedule.
Beginning in about the second week of the semester, we will find time to work in discussions of current disease outbreaks or new discoveries relating to infectious diseases.
Topical Outline: BI 119 Emerging Diseases
Module I: The Diseases of Filth
Class Meetings 1-7
· Hypotheses, Experiments, Theories: How does science work?
· The Cell Theory: What are the differences among you, a virus and a bacterium?
· The Germ Theory: What does it say and how is it different from other theories of disease? What is the difference between pathogenesis and symbiosis? How do pathogens cause disease? How did the Germ Theory develop?
· Disease Transmission: How do diseases get from one person to another?
· Typhoid-a classic food-borne disease
· Bacterial Meningitis a threat to students
· Discussions of current events
· Discussion of Textbook Chapters 1, 2, 9.
Meeting 8: (Sept 25) Exam One
Module II: The Age of Optimism
Class Meetings 9-16:
· Defenses Against Infectious Disease: Why aren’t we sick all the time and why can we only get some diseases once?
· Vaccines and antibiotics
· Eradication of smallpox
· Polio and the Salk-Sabin Vaccine “War”
· Disease Prevention: How can we keep from catching diseases?
· Hantaviruses
· Discussions of current events
· Discussion of Textbook Chapters 13, 15 and other readings.
Class Meeting 16: (October 23) Exam Two
Module III. Disease Cowboys
Class Meetings 17-23:
· Ebola and Filoviruses
· Legionnaire’s Disease, Pennsylvania’s Own Emerging Disease
· Hantaviruses in America
· Parasitic Diseases-emerging or not?
· Discussions of current events
· Discussion of Textbook Chapters 5, 6 (part), 7, 15
Class Meeting 23: (Nov 15) Exam Three
Module IV: Spillover
Class Meetings 24-29:
· HIV-1 and HIV-2
· Origins of HIV/AIDS
· Influenza and the 1918 Pandemic
· Discussions of current events
· Discussion of Textbook Chapters 6 (part), 10, 11.
Class Meeting 29: (Dec 14 at 2:45) Exam Four
(NOT COMPREHENSIVE)
IV. Evaluation Methods
Students will be evaluated on the quality of their performance on four examinations, on the quality of several writing assignments and on the quality of their participation in class discussions.
A. Types of Evaluation Used
1. Exams
The terminating activity for each of the four Units will be an hour exam that will include essay questions as well as some fill-in-the-blank, matching or multiple-choice questions. Essay questions will be derived from lecture material, class discussions and readings and the exams will also test knowledge of science content. The fourth exam is scheduled during finals week but will not be a comprehensive exam. The four exams will be weighted equally in determining the final grade.
2. Writing Assignments
During the semester, students will be given several reading or viewing assignments (e.g. textbook chapters, selections from optional readings or selections from materials to be held on reserve in the library).
3. Supplemental Reading
Students will be required to read one of the four supplemental non-textbook reading choices and to write a critical review of the book.
4. Class Participation
Students will be required to participate in regular class discussions and will be encouraged to express their own opinions as well as to demonstrate understanding of course material. The instructor will structure the discussions in order to maintain a record of participation.
There will be a number of assigned in-class discussion questions during the semester. Students will receive a set of discussion questions for each chapter in the textbook. They will form groups in class to discuss and answer the questions, and they will turn in a written copy of their answers for credit.
If you want to participate in all grade-bearing activities, you should plan to attend every class meeting. Attendance will not count directly toward your grade but I will have a sign up sheet so I can keep track of how many classes you attend.
B. Grade Breakdown
A1. Exams (4 at 15% each) 60%
A2. Writing Assignments 10%
A3. Supplemental Reading 20%
A4. Class Participation 10%
V. Required Textbook and Supplemental Readings
A. Required Textbook:
The Coming Plague by Laurie Garrett, 1995, Penguin Books, New York, ISBN # 0 14 02.5091 3.
B. Supplemental Non-Textbook Reading:
Choose one of the following. You will get a separate writing assignment sheet on your supplemental reading assignment. This assignment is due by 4 PM on Friday December 8.
Kolata, Gina. 1999. Flu: The Story of the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 and the Search for the Virus That Caused It. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, New York, ISBN # 0-374-15706- 5.
Nagami, Pamela. 2002. The Woman with a Worm in Her Head: And Other True Stories of Infectious Disease. St. Martin’s Griffin, New York, ISBN #0-312-30601-6
Quammen, David. 2012. Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic. W. W. Norton, New York, ISBN #978-0-393-06680-7.
Sachs, Jessica S. 2007. Good Germs, Bad Germs: Health and Survival in a Bacterial World. Hill and Wang (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), New York, ISBN-13: 978-0-8090-5063-5.
VI. ATTENDANCE
The course attendance policy follow the official IUP policy as outlined in the current academic catalog.
Students are expected to attend all class meetings.
It may not be possible to organize repeat viewings of videos and DVDs.
Without the instructor's permission, no assignments whatsoever may be turned in after the due date and time. I will make all decisions about makeup work on a case-by-case basis, taking into consideration circumstances such as illness, emergency and so on. See me if you have questions.
IF YOU KNOW YOU MUST MISS AN IMPORTANT CLASS MEETING, YOU ARE MUCH BETTER OFF TO LET ME KNOW IN ADVANCE!!!!!!!
I will judge requests for make up work on a case by case basis and will expect to see solid documentation for issues such as student or family illnesses, university business, military assignments, court dates, deaths and funerals and so on. Issues such as broken printers, printers out of ink/paper, forgotten assignment and so on will not provide you with much support and are liable to be charged a late penalty of 20% per day late.
If you know that you have to be away on an important date (for example-on university business) it is better to let me know in advance so that we can work out arrangements for make up work without a rush.
If you are absent unexpectedly and want to make up missed work then you must take the responsibility to initiate a plan for the make up work by contacting me, within one week of the missed assignment.
We will handle arrangements for make up work using email to confirm discussions and plans. This way we will all have an electronic copy of all conversations and decisions.
I will not give a high priority to make up requests that involve vacations, social events, family gatherings or a desire to leave town early at the end of the semester or before a holiday.
If you miss an exam or part of an exam and I agree to let you take a make up exam (due to strong documentation) then your make up exam may have a different format from the regular exam.
VII. INSTRUCTOR
Dr. Carl S. Luciano
Rm. 19 Weyandt Hall
Phone 357-4462
Office Hours: Fall 2017: MW 230-400, T 130-330
VIII. Title IX Language
Indiana University of Pennsylvania and its faculty are committed to assuring a safe and productive educational environment for all students. In order to meet this commitment and to comply with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and guidance from the Office for Civil Rights, the University requires faculty members to report incidents of sexual violence shared by students to the University's Title IX Coordinator. The only exceptions to the faculty member's reporting obligation are when incidents of sexual violence are communicated by a student during a classroom discussion, in a writing assignment for a class, or as part of a University-approved research project.
Faculty members are obligated to report sexual violence or any other abuse of a student who was, or is, a child (a person under 18 years of age) when the abuse allegedly occurred to the Department of Human Services (1-800-932-0313) and University Police (724-357-2141).
Information regarding the reporting of sexual violence and the resources that are available to victims of sexual violence is set forth at: http://www.iup.edu/socialequity/policies/title-ix/
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