People, Parasites, and Plagues
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PARA/CBIO 3100 and 3100H
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COURSE INFORMATION
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DESCRIPTION: This course will take a multidisciplinary approach
to examining the impact of infectious diseases on human populations.
Epidemic (both past and present) and emerging diseases, and how they are
identified, studied and combated, will be discussed. Topics will also
include the sociological, psychological, historical, ecological and economic
implications of infectious diseases. The course is intended primarily
for non-science majors; however, science majors may also enroll.
Students will be expected to master the concepts of disease, how scientific
investigation is done, and the various mechanisms by which infectious
diseases impact individuals and the societies in which they live. |
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The course is designed to be a challenging and stimulating
for all students regardless of academic background or career goals. Non-science majors will find themselves
challenged to see the world of parasites (a term I use loosely here to
indicate any organism that takes unfair advantage of another) through the
eyes of a scientist and science majors to appreciate the implications of
parasitism beyond the biology of parasitizing organisms and host/parasite
interactions. By the end of the
course, students will have a good grasp of the global implications (literally
and figuratively) of parasitic diseases, and will be capable of sharing this
fascinating and often scary world with others both within and without the
academic community. |
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The course is largely organized in a topical fashion,
generally with one or two lectures covering one disease or organism or
health/science issue. The lectures are
loosely organized into three major sections that move slowly forward in time,
although because some infections have been around for a long, long time, some
of those discussed early on will be very familiar to you. Experts will be brought in to cover many of
these topics, so students will benefit from the expertise and excitement that
these individuals have for their respective fields of work and study. |
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CLASS SCHEDULE: 11-12:15 T/R, room 2401, Miller Plant Sciences Building |
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COURSE COORDINATOR: Dr. Julie Moore, Rm.
A4, Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, College of Veterinary Medicine,
542-5789, Email: julmoore@vet.uga.edu |
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TEACHING ASSISTANT: Jayakumar Poovassery (kumarj@arches.uga.edu) |
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OFFICE HOURS: By appointment only. Given the nature of my research and lab access
restrictions/biosafety concerns, traffic through my labs must be
limited. If you need help with the
material or would like to discuss something in more detail, I encourage you
to email me to make an appointment or catch me after class. I hold students responsible for their own
success in this course, so if you need help, it is your responsibility to
make an effort to seek it out. |
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REQUIRED
TEXTS:
There is one book Viruses, Plagues, and History, by Michael
B.A. Oldstone, Oxford University Press, and one-to-two reading packets to
purchase for this class. The book can be purchased at the University
Bookstore. The reading packets should be purchased from Bel-Jean
Copy/Print Center (548-3648) at 163 E. Broad St. in Athens.
The first reading packet is available now.
Additional readings and information sources will be available on the
internet and will be provided as links from these pages. A list of such
readings (categorized as required, recommended, or optional) together with
assigned readings from the books and reading packets can be seen by clicking
on Reading. |
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Assigned
chapters/sections in the books, reading packets, and at internet sites marked
"required" will all be fair game for test material. Problems with accessing internet-based
reading should be brought immediately to my attention. |
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ATTENDANCE: Attendance of
each lecture is expected. Formal records of attendance will not be
kept, but I reserve the right to assign one minute papers at random points
during the semester. Students having
perfect attendance as evidenced by these papers will have three points added to
their lowest exam grade. |
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The
class meetings will not be restricted to lecture. There will be discussion and occasional
breakout groups. Your learning will be
maximized if you attend class regularly and participate fully in all
activities. |
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If you are absent on a day when
a test or quiz is administered or an assignment is due, you must present a
formal excuse to Dr. Moore. If your excuse is unacceptable, you will
receive a zero for any work that is due on that day. Make-up exams will be in written or oral
format, at my discretion. |
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If you are very ill or
have a family emergency and are unable to attend your classes, you should
contact Dr. Rose or Ms. Linda Edge in the Office of Student Affairs,
542-3564. These folks will then inform all of your instructors. |
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EXAMINATIONS:
Exams 1 and 2 will be a combination of multiple choice,
fill-in-the-blank, short answer and short essay questions. Because enrollment in the course hovers
around 100, and great care is taken to grade examinations fairly and
consistently, it will not be possible to return examinations quickly. Every effort will be made to complete
grading within two weeks of the examination date, but this cannot be
guaranteed. Students are asked to be
patient and respectful of this. The
final exam (#3) will include material from the last third of the course and
will not be cumulative. Make-up exams
will be in a written or oral format, at my discretion. |
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GRADING: Letter grades will be given (A-F), where A = 90-100, B =
80-89, C = 70-79, D = 60-69 and F = 0-59. The writing assignment and
examinations will be scored on a 100 point scale. The final grade will
be calculated from all grades, weighted as follows: each of the exams will
count toward 28% of the final grade, and the writing assignment will count
toward 16% of the final grade. As
mentioned above, perfect attendance will result in a three point lift to the
lowest exam grade. Students who miss
classes with valid excuses will not be penalized. |
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ACADEMIC HONESTY: One of the most important aspects of intellectual
development is appreciation of and adherence to the highest standards of
honesty and integrity. I expect all
students to perform all of their academic work without cheating, stealing,
lying, or receiving assistance from any other person or using any source of
information not appropriately authorized or attributed. Any student failing to submit work that is
derived from their own intellectual efforts, or who inappropriately borrows
from others (including failing to appropriately cite others’ work), will be
assigned a failing grade on the assignment or even for the entire
course. Additional substantial
penalties, as determined by the University, are also possible. The University standards for Academic
Honesty should be read by all students.
Lack of familiarity with these standards and University policy on
academic honesty does not constitute a defense. If you have any questions about these
standards, please discuss them with me, your advisors, or any University
official. |
SYLLABUS
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Dates
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Introduction
and Basic Concepts
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1/9 |
Introduction: why
are we here? Introduction
to malaria (JM) |
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1/14 |
Malaria continued (JM) |
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1/16 |
Immunology:
the basics (JM) |
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1/21 |
Koch’s
Postulates – move over spontaneous generation! (JM) |
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The Impact of Infectious Diseases
on Society: Past and Present |
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1/23 |
Plague –
The black death (Boris Striepen, UGA) |
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1/28 |
Smallpox
- to be or not to be (JM) |
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1/30 |
Connections
– from Columbus to the CDC (JM) |
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2/4 |
Infectious
diseases and reflections in early literature (Max Reinhart, UGA) |
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2/6 |
Influenza
- pandemic of 1918 and future threats (David Peterson, UGA) |
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2/11 |
Drugs and
drug development – those with no voice are not heard (JM) |
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2/13 |
EXAM
#1
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The Evolution of Science and
Medicine: Importance for Infectious Diseases |
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2/18 |
Scientific
research and ethics – from Hitler to Tuskegee (JM) |
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2/20 |
History
and evolution of medicine (Nan McMurry, UGA) |
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2/25 |
Prions,
Creutzfeldt-Jakob syndrome, kuru and mad cow disease (JM) |
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2/27 |
Cholera
and the birth of epidemiology (Jeremy Sobel, CDC) |
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3/4 |
Outbreak
investigation – on the trail with epidemiologists (JM) |
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3/6 |
Antibiotics
resistance and the quest for microbial annihilation (Margie Lee, UGA) |
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3/11 |
Vaccines
– history, challenges, and misconceptions (Rick Tarleton, UGA) |
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Modern
Society/Modern Plagues
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3/13 |
Worm woes – living in this wormy world (Ray Kaplan, UGA) |
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3/18 |
Spring
Break
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3/20 |
Spring
Break
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3/25 |
Health communication: communicating the risk (Kenzie
Cameron, UGA) |
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3/27 |
EXAM
#2
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4/1 |
HIV -
history, biology and immunology (JM)
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4/3 |
Opportunistic
infections in the course of AIDS (Boris Striepen, UGA) ****Papers due**** |
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4/8 |
Pathogenic E. coli O157:H7:
how they make it into our food supply (Barry Harmon, UGA) |
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4/10 |
Emerging
zoonoses (Corrie Brown, UGA) |
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4/15 |
Concepts and
examples of current approaches to handling people, parasites, and plagues
(Dan Colley, UGA)
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4/17 |
Bioterrorism
and the CDC (Lisa Rotz, CDC)
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4/22 |
West Nile
virus – what are the questions? (David Stallknecht, UGA)
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4/24 |
Tuberculosis
(Fred Quinn, UGA)
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4/29 |
"Parasite
Play"
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5/7 |
FINAL
EXAM: 8:00 - 11:00 AM
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INFORMATION FOR DISCUSSION
GROUP STUDENTS
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DISCUSSION MEETING TIME AND PLACE: The discussion meetings will be held from 8:30 to
10:30 on alternate Tuesday mornings, beginning on January 21st.
The meeting place is rm. 222 (“the Board Room”) in the College of Veterinary
Medicine. Please
note that because one biweekly meeting falls on 3/18 (which is during Spring
Break), we will need to schedule one meeting for an alternative date and
time. This will be discussed during
the first discussion meeting—bring your calendars! EXPECTATIONS: Students
are expected to print out the readings and bring them to class. Read
all assigned materials carefully and be prepared to discuss them during our
meetings. You will be graded on this basis. As
described below in Course format, each student will be required to
participate in a team to organize and lead the discussion during one
meeting. QUICK
LINKS:
COURSE FORMAT: Students
will be assigned to teams (2-3 students per team) and given a topic to
cover. In most, and likely, all,
cases, a video will be provided.
Students will be required to preview the video, develop an approved
reading list that complements the video, and lead a discussion of the video
during the meeting. Each student will
have the opportunity to work in a small team with other students to present
the material. Teams
will need to meet and develop a reading list and discussion topics well in
advance of the meeting. Reading lists
will need to be presented to me at least 14 days before the meeting (by 5 PM
on Tuesday, two weeks before the meeting.
Note that in some cases, due to spring break or other circumstances,
this may change). I will review the
proposed reading lists, make comments/suggest changes and return this to the
teams by the following Friday morning.
Teams will be required to modify the reading list if necessary and get
the final version to me by 5 PM on Monday (one week before the meeting). Failure to follow this schedule will result
in points lost on the presentation score (see Grading below). READINGS: Additional reading material will
either be provided as handouts or assigned from internet sources.
Readings will be posted or handed out during the regular class meeting one
week prior to each meeting. ATTENDANCE:
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INFORMATION FOR HONORS
STUDENTS
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HONORS MEETING TIME AND PLACE: The Honors meetings will be held from 8:30 to
10:30 on alternate Tuesday mornings, beginning on January 14th.
The meeting place is rm. 222 (“the Board Room”) in the College of Veterinary
Medicine. EXPECTATIONS: Students
are expected to print out the readings and bring them to class. Read
all assigned materials carefully and be prepared to discuss them during our
meetings. You will be graded on this basis. As
described below in Course format, each student will be required to
participate in a team to organize and lead the discussion during one
meeting. QUICK
LINKS: COURSE FORMAT: Students
will be assigned to teams (1-2 students per team) and given a topic to
cover. In most cases, a video will be
provided. Students will be required to
preview the video, develop an approved reading list that complements the
video, and lead a discussion of the video during the meeting. Each student will have the opportunity to
work in a small team with other students to present the material. Teams
will need to meet and develop a reading list and discussion topics well in
advance of the meeting. Reading lists
will need to be presented to me 14 days before the meeting (by 5 PM on
Tuesday, two weeks before the meeting.
Note that in some cases, due to spring break or other circumstances,
this may change). I will review the
proposed reading lists, make comments/suggest changes and return this to the
teams by the following Friday morning.
Teams will be required to modify the reading list if necessary and get
the final version to me by 5 PM on Monday (one week before the meeting). Failure to follow this schedule will result
in points lost on the presentation score (see Grading below). READINGS: Additional reading material will
either be provided as handouts or assigned from internet sources.
Readings will be posted or handed out during the regular class meeting one
week prior to each meeting. ATTENDANCE: EXAMINATIONS: There will be no examinations
other than those that will be given in the general section. GRADING: Grading for Honors students will
be as described on the course information
with the following modifications:
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