This course analyzes environmental change at multiple scales and how these changes have influenced disease and public health over time.  It takes as a starting point that the “environment” includes not only deserts, mountains, plains, fields and rivers, but also farms, slaughter houses, hospitals and the bodies of humans and animals.  The changes that have taken places in these varied environments have included the obvious like pollution, modern agriculture and irrigation, and the damming of rivers, all of which have impacted various disease states.  These environmental changes also include those at the micro-scale that are not so obvious like creating antibiotic resistance and the conditions for super contamination of large quantities of food with pathogenic organisms such as E. coli 0157:H7 and Salmonella. Furthermore, these transformations may be changing our epigenomes with what we eat, drink and breathe in ways that induce illness.  All of these changes have had complex impacts on human health.  Many of these environmental changes have been driven by human action over the last several millennia.  The pace and scope of such changes and their health effects have become quicker and more pervasive during our era of “globalization.”  It is critical to understand these changes in order to build a more sustainable future for people and the planet.

Anyone interested in environmental change, disease and public health is welcome in this class,
from history students to pre-med and pre-vet students!