Ahliyah Williams
Dr. Hinks
07/24/19
Help Received: None Ahliyah Williams
Final Reflective Essay
Going into Epidemics of Society class, I prepared myself to sit and learn about the biological story behind diseases. I truly expected to be sitting in class looking at slides of different viruses and how they attack the body. Never had I imagined that I would be doing so many essays and watching so many films in class. I have to say it wasn’t at all what I expected, it was much better than what I expected. Epidemics of Society class allowed me to see real-life situations. It also showed me the reality of ethics when it comes to the spread of diseases. This class has allowed me to use essays, something that I’m not usually fond of, to learn so much about the impact of diseases in the world. Some artifacts were especially beneficial because while doing essays. I was able to reflect so much about the relationship between epidemics and diseases. The artifacts expanded my knowledge about so many diseases. These artifacts have given me experiences by making me feel like I am in certain positions that I am grateful to not be in a certain society affected by epidemics of diseases. This is something that has helped me to prepare for possible diseases and even evolutionary medicines that could affect me and reflect on the way other people in society cope with these outbreaks of diseases. Ultimately, this class has helped me to become more aware and understanding to people that I once may have judged tremendously because of a disease that I was ignorant about. Also, I was able to learn about the relationship between epidemics of diseases and society.
When beginning Epidemics of Society class, I noticed the improvement of my artifacts every time. The reason they improved was because of the better understanding I began to have on what I should be provided in the essays. Diseases were the least of my worries before the Epidemics of Society class. Going into the end of this class, I now feel confident enough to teach others about many infectious diseases. With me being able to not only learn, but teach others, I feel as though I have met the goal of what every class should meet. Rewinding to before I even attended this class, I had no idea of all of the infectious diseases that have come to play such large roles in history. Not only did I learn so much history behind epidemics and diseases, but I was able to learn the relationship between society and epidemics. Since epidemics can happen anywhere, societies are at huge risks to diseases. Socially, diseases are super easy to spread due to them affecting numerous people at once. Visually seeing so many diseases in class
There were nine artifacts that we completed in this class. It’s a few articles that in my opinion had the most detail and credibility about the effects epidemics of diseases on society. Those artifacts are 1-3. The first artifact was based on the history behind plagues. My main conclusion of this essay was that society has affected the spread of infectious disease. In artifact 1, The History of Plagues, I made points that throughout the history of plagues there has been a pattern of social and cultural factors. Artifact 1 was so significant because it was all about the history behind plagues. The fact that history was the main subject of this artifact just played more into how epidemics have a role in society. This artifact played a role in how society affects epidemics because it was an artifact that included many plagues that changed technology and even climate change. Now that we are more knowledgeable than plagues are not able to survive in colder seasons, we can see that if warmer temperatures result from climate change, we might be more susceptible to possibly go through another pandemic. With this information from the history of plagues, we can be more prepared as a society for those types of dangers to society. To be able to change climate and technology for how it is now is probably the biggest things epidemic of diseases can have on society. Artifact 2, The Infectous Disease That Has Everyone Talking: Zoonotic, was based on the spread of zoonotic diseases. Zoonotic diseases are diseases that are spread by an animal to human contact. This artifact revolved so much around society because daily, society is coming into contact with different animals even if not on purpose. From birds flying around to even simply consuming meat, zoonotic diseases can easily affect society by mass. Societies have changed a lot from epidemics of zoonotic diseases. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) is one of many organizations that administer closely how to keep people safe from contaminated food. Lastly, another very influential artifact of the impacts of epidemics on society was the third artifact. Artifact 3, Plagues Kill, Alot, was based on the Black Death plague. Similar to artifact 1, but very much more specific. The Black Death, also known as the Great Plague had a huge impact on society. Society was especially significant to this artifact because so many things were changed and introduced to society to cope with the plague. London was a horrible place to live during that time. After the plague, London made a complete 360 degree turn around. for 200 years after the Black Death struck in the 14th century, living conditions in London improved and life spans lengthened” (Whitte. PLOS). This shows the huge impact of how a disease that is killing millions of people, can turn around unexpectedly and be the hope because of a society’s efforts to make change.
In conclusion, Epidemics of Society class has been one class that is able to show the true significance that diseases has had on society all throughout the world. The artifacts used in this class has led to the discovery of how far societies have gone to cope with epidemics of diseases. Not only that, but how much diseases have had an impact on society. Artifacts 1-3 were just three, of the nine artifacts, that I have reflected on which have proved the significant correlation between diseases and how they shaped society. From plagues changing living conditions and even lifestyles to zoonotic infectious diseases changing the interactions we have between animals, in return, lifestyles and our social ways have been ultimately changed to decrease the risk of falling into new epidemics of diseases. Despite the horrible effects that diseases have had on society, ultimately society has had its way always to get back on its feet. From the CDC to better living conditions, society is still on top, for now.
References:
Ahliyah Williams. Artifact 1: History of Plagues.
Ahliyah Williams. Artifact 2: The Infectious Disease That Has Everyone Talking: Zoonotic.
Ahliyah Williams. Artifact 3: The Black Death
- Griggs. The Black Death Actually Improved Public Health. Smithsonian.
Snowden. Epidemics and Society. Yale University Press.
CDC
- GraceThe consequences of human actions on risks for infectious diseases: a review. NCBI.