Syllabus for Oxy’s Thinking Through COVID-19 summer course.

Week 1: Viruses and other pathogens: What is their effect on human health and history?   

Monday, June 22: Small things considered: Biology of the pandemic coronavirus
Shana Goffredi, Professor, Biology
Cheryl Okumura, Associate Professor, Biology
Format: Pre-recorded

Wednesday, June 24: What can we learn from past epidemics? (Case study: ancient Mediterranean)
Kristi Upson-Saia, Professor, Religious Studies
Clair Morrissey, Associate Professor, Philosophy
Format: Pre-recorded 

Week 2: How do viruses emerge and cross over into human populations?

Monday, June 29: The Origin and Evolution of SARS-COV-2: Dispelling Myths about the Virus
John McCormack, Director and Curator of the Moore Laboratory of Zoology; Associate Professor, Biology
Format: Pre-recorded

Wednesday, July 1: The Ecology of Infectious Diseases
Gretchen North, Professor, Biology
Beth Braker, Professor, Biology
Format: Pre-recorded

Week 3: What are the national and international politics of the pandemic?

Monday, July 6: The Political Ecology of Virus Emergence and Mitigation in China
Sasha Day, Associate Professor, History
Format: Pre-recorded 

Wednesday, July 8: Election Politics
Caroline Heldman, Professor, Politics
Malek Moazzam-Doulat, Non-Tenure Track Assistant Professor, Comparative Studies in Literature and Culture, Religious Studies
Josh Marshall, Journalist and Founder, Talking Points Memo
Format: Pre-recorded Webinar 

Week 4: Why are there disproportionate impacts?

Monday, July 13: Coronavirus, Settler Colonialism, and Antiblackness: Racialized Distributions of Life, Death, and Vulnerability
Kai Small, Non-Tenure Track Instructor, Critical Theory and Social Justice
Format: Pre-recorded    

Wednesday, July 15: Social Determinants of Health, COVID-19, and Health Equity
Jessica Dirkes, Non-Tenure Track Assistant Professor, Public Health
Nicole Vick, Program Director, Health Education, LA Department of Public Health and Non-Tenure Track Instructor, Public Health
Format: Pre-recorded 

Week 5: What are the economic impacts of the pandemic? 

Monday, July 20: Biopolitics, Prudentialism and COVID-19
Malek Moazzam-Doulat, Non-Tenure Track Assistant Professor, Critical Theory and Social Justice
Format: Pre-recorded
Time: 11am PST

Wednesday, July 22: Economic Impact of Covid-19
Mary Lopez, Professor, Economics
Format: Pre-recorded

Week 6: Emerging data: How do we know what we know?

Monday, July 27: Dark Data and Covid-19
Anastasios Angelopoulos, Doctoral Candidate, UC Berkeley Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Format: Pre-recorded Webinar

Wednesday, July 29: An Attack on the Senses: Covid-19 and Anosmia
Kerry Thompson, Professor, Biology
Format: Pre-recorded

Week 7: What are broader ethical and international responses to pandemics?

Monday, August 3: The Ethics of COVID-19
Erica Preston-Roedder, Non-Tenure Track Assistant Professor, Philosophy
Format: Pre-recorded 

Wednesday, August 5: Viral Sovereignty and the Political Economy of Pandemics: What Explains How Countries Handle Outbreaks like Swine Flu, Avian Influenza, and COVID-19?
Sophal Ear, Associate Professor, Diplomacy & World Affairs
Format: Pre-recorded 

Week 8: How might human creativity help us manage and respond to the challenges?

Monday, August 10: Losing Earth -  A percussion concerto by the San Francisco Symphony
Adam Schoenberg, Assistant Professor, Music
Format: Live/synchronous only
Time: 11am PST   

Wednesday, August 12: Facing COVID-19
Mary Beth Heffernan, Professor, Art and Art History
Format: Pre-recorded