Brief Introduction
We will explore how HIV/AIDS has been portrayed in diverse genres through the perspectives of the scientist and the literary critic.Description
This class engages students in a transdisciplinary conversation about representations of HIV/AIDS: in science writing, journalism, visual art, literature, drama, and popular culture. We believe that scientists and cultural critics can learn valuable lessons from one another, even as they create their own responses to HIV/AIDS. Today, over 30 years since the first scientific reports of HIV/AIDS, the pandemic remains a major health concern throughout the world. But, rays of hope have led to speculation that an AIDS-free generation may be possible. In such a timely moment, it is essential for us to connect across the "two cultures" as we consider the social and scientific implications of HIV/AIDS.
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Knowledge
- The basics of how to do literary analysis and how to read a scientific article
- The basics of the biology of HIV/AIDS
- What the arts and sciences have in common in creating knowledge
- How words and images reflect the evolving history of HIV/AIDS
- What we can learn from the personal experiences of those living with HIV/AIDS
- Current developments and controversies in HIV/AIDS and how the arts & sciences have responded to them
- Why it matters that artists & scientists talk to one another