ORIAS Contact:
Michele Delattre 
U. C. Berkeley 
ORIAS
2223 Fulton Street
Room 338 #2324 
Berkeley CA 94720-2324

510.643.0868 |
oriasberkeley.edu

. ......

The 2008 ORIAS summer teachers’ institute will explore the causes and consequences of epidemic disease in world history. Future viruses, plagues, and mysterious afflictions now rival monsters and aliens in horror movies throughout the world — an indication of their prominence in the public mind. This reflects both the current threat of infectious disease and our increasing awareness of its role in history. Gods of pestilence were dreaded visitors and key political  players in ancient societies across the globe. Athens lost one in three people to an epidemic in 430 BC, hastening the end of its “Golden Age.”  Chinese history records repeated smallpox and measles outbreaks. Historians divide the medieval timeline in Western Europe according to outbreaks of bubonic plague. The introduction of European infectious diseases during the Columbian Encounter is infamous for destroying American native culture. In the twentieth century, smallpox alone killed three times more people than all the wars combined. When environmental and social conditions allow viruses to mutate into virulent forms and spread rapidly, the course of human history responds – scientifically, politically, socially, and religiously. Join us this summer for a week-long investigation of the role of disease and public health in world history.

• Free and open to all teachers. 
• Enrollment is limited - registration required.
• Scholarships available for 2 professional development credits.
• Registration, agenda, and logistics available on-line.
• Materials and refreshments provided.

Sponsored by the University of California at Berkeley Office of Resources for International and Area Studies (ORIAS); Institute of East Asian Studies; Center for Latin American Studies; Center for Middle Eastern Studies; Institute of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies; Center for South Asia Studies; Center for Southeast Asia Studies; and Institute of European Studies. Funding is provided by Title VI grants from the United States Department of Education.

Co-sponsored by Bay Area Global Education Program (BAGEP) at the World Affairs Council of Northern California.