Fall 2020
University of Kentucky
GEO 261: Global Dynamics of Health
Course Syllabus
UK Core Activity
|
Dr. J. Anthony Stallins
Department of Geography
ja.stallins@uky.edu
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Date |
Day |
Topic |
Canvas
Quizzes |
Recitation |
Readings |
Aug 17 |
M |
|
Quiz 1
(due 8/24) |
Overview of UK Core Activity: The Covid History Project
Prompt: Covid-19 and individual context
|
|
| How To Speak Addiction (NPR) |
|
Aug 19 |
W |
Chains of Mental Illness in West Africa (NYT) |
|
| Myths about Physical Racial Differences (NYT) |
Aug 21 |
F |
The Covid-19 Riddle: Why Does the Virus Wallop Some Places and Spare Others? (NYT) |
| China Dominates Medical Supplies, in this Outbreak and the Next (NYT) |
| A Viral Epidemic Splintering Into Deadly Pieces (NYT) |
Aug 24 |
M |
|
Quiz 2
(due 8/31) |
Content formatting in Google Blogger
Prompt: predictions about Covid-19 at UK for the semester
|
See How the World's Most Polluted Air Compares With Your City (NYT) |
| Toxic Smoke Is Africa's Quiet Killer (NYT) |
|
Aug 26 |
W |
What Does It Take to Stop Accepting Pollution as Progress (NYT) |
|
|
| Aug 28 |
F |
In the Shadows of America's Smokestacks Virus is One More Deadly Risk (NYT) |
| New Research Links Air Pollution to Higher Coronavirus Death Rates (NYT) |
|
Aug 31 |
M |
|
Quiz 3
(due 9/7) |
Embedding videos in Blogger
Prompt:
Covid-19 and communication
|
It's Not Your Imagination, Summers are Getting Hotter (NYT) |
| In India, Summer Heat May Soon Be Literally Unbearable (NYT) |
|
Sept 2 |
W |
The Great Climate Migration (NYT) |
|
|
Sept 4 |
F |
25 Years After Heat Wave, COVID-19 Gives Chicago New Summer Foe (Chicago Tribune) |
|
| What a Week's Disasters Tell Us About Climate and the Pandemic (NYT) |
Sept 7 |
M |
|
Quiz 4 (due Sept 14) |
Blog Assessment 1
Prompt: Covid-19 and changes in food and diet |
Obesity Was Rising as Ghana Embraced Fast Food. Then Came KFC (NYT) |
| In Kenya and Across Africa, An Epidemic of Obesity (NYT) |
|
Sept 9 |
W |
In Town with Little Water, Coca-Cola is Everywhere (NYT) |
| One Man's Stand Against Junk Food as Diabetes Climbs Across India (NYT) |
|
Sept 11 |
F |
|
| Why Coronavirus Is Killing African-Americans More Than Others (NYT) |
| Study of 17 Million Identifies Crucial Risk Factors for Coronavirus Deaths (NYT) |
TEST 1
Posted online 5:00 pm Friday, Sept 11th
|
Sept 14 |
M |
|
Quiz 5 (due Sept 21) |
Flu versus Covid-19
Prompt: Pop culture and the pandemic
|
|
| A Freshly Killed Chicken Is Mightier Than the Coronavirus (NYT) |
| Bill Gates Calls On US to Lead Fight Against A Pandemic That Could Kill 30 Million (WP) |
Sept 16 |
W |
Swine Flu Strain with Human Pandemic Potential (Science) |
| Don't Leave the W.H.O. Strengthen It (NYT) |
|
|
Sept 18 |
F |
10 African Countries Have No Ventilators. That's Only Part of the Problem. (NYT) |
| We Knew Disease X Was Coming. It's Here Now (NYT) |
Sept 21 |
M |
|
Quiz 6(due Sept 30) |
UK Core Issue: How do we distribute the Covid vaccine locally? |
The Tragedy of Saudi Arabia's War (NYT) |
| In Kashmir, a Race Against Death, With No Way to Call a Doctor (NYT) |
| As Venezuela's Politicians Fight Over Aid, Patients Die Without It (NYT) |
| Climate Change and Political Chaos: A Deadly Mix in Honduras Dengue Epidemic (NYT) |
| 12 Hours. 4 Syrian Hospitals Bombed. One Culprit Russia (NYT) |
Sept 23 |
W |
In Latin America, the Pandemic Threatens Equality Like Never Before (NYT) |
Sept 25 |
F |
|
| Americans are the Dangerous, Disease-Carrying Foreigners Now (WP) |
|
| Sept 28
|
M
|
Economic disparity |
Quiz 7 (due Oct 5)
|
Health equity and meritocracy
Prompt: How class and Covid shape college education |
The U.S. Is Lagging Behind Many Rich Countries. These Charts Show Why (NYT) |
|
| Who Killed the Knapp Family (NYT) |
| Sept 30 |
W |
The Rich Live Longer Everywhere. For the Poor, Geography Matters (NYT) |
| The $15 Minimum Wage Doesn't Just Improve Lives, It Saves Them (NYT) |
|
Oct 2 |
F |
The Rich Love India's Lockdown. For the Poor It's Another Story (NYT) |
| In the Epicenter of Mexico's Epicenter, Feeling Like a 'Trapped Animal' (NYT) |
| Location Data Says It All: Staying at Home During Coronavirus Is a Luxury (NYT) |
| Oct 5 |
M |
Global Opioids |
Quiz 8 (due Oct 12) |
Blog Assessment 2 |
Tasked With Combating Opium, Afghan Officials Profit From It (NYT) |
| Mexican Opium Prices Plummet, Driving Poppy Farmers to Migrate (NYT) |
|
Oct 7 |
W |
In a Town Where Meth Is Eclipsing Opioids, Everyone Feels the Pain (NYT) |
|
| 'Safer Opioid' Has Sparked a Crisis in Vulnerable Countries (AP-Pulitzer) |
| Oct 9 |
F |
Opioid Crisis Compels New York to Look North for Answers (NYT) |
| Trapped by the 'WalMart of Heroin' (NYT) |
| The Drug Became His Friend: Pandemic Drives Hike in Opioid Death (NYT) |
TEST 2
Posted online, Friday Oct 9 at 5 pm |
Oct 12 |
M |
|
Quiz 9 (due Oct 19) |
Vaccine politics
Prompt: Why cooperation trumps competition |
Scientists Discover New Cure for the Deadliest Strain of Tuberculosis (NYT) |
| Doctors Heavily Overprescribed Antibiotics Early in the Pandemic (NYT) |
| A Mysterious Infection, Spanning the Globe in a Climate of Secrecy (NYT) |
Oct 14 |
W |
Drug Giants Create Fund to Bolster Struggling Antibiotic Start-Ups (NYT) |
| Where a Sore Throat Becomes a Death Sentence (NYT) |
| Could Antibiotics Be A Silver Bullet For Kids In Africa? (NPR) |
Oct 16 |
F |
In a Poor Kenyan Community, Cheap Antibiotics Fuel Deadly Drug-Resistant Infections (NYT) |
| New Genomic Tests Aim to Diagnose Deadly Infections Faster (NYT) |
| Your Ancestors Knew Death in Ways You Never Will (NYT) |
Oct 19 |
M |
|
Quiz 10 (due Oct 26) |
Vaccine politics
Prompt: Gaming the race |
How Humanity Unleashed a Flood of New Diseases (NYT) |
| In Uganda, Encounters With the Zika Virus and Mosquitoes Decades Ago (NYT) |
| What You Need to Know About MERS (NYT) |
| Oct 21 |
W |
Nearly Eradicated in Humans, the Guinea Worm Finds New Victims (NYT) |
| Yellow Fever Circles Brazil's Huge Cities (NYT) |
| We Made the Coronavirus Epidemic (NYT) |
| Oct 23 |
F |
U.S. Will Revive Global Virus-Hunting Effort Ended Last Year (NYT) |
| Why the Wealthy Fear Pandemics (NYT) |
| The Pandemic From the Virus's Point of View (NYT) |
Oct 26
|
|
|
Quiz 11 (due Nov 2) |
Blog Assesssment 3 |
The Mosquitoes Are Coming for Us (NYT) |
| In Rare Success, Paraguay Conquers Malaria (NYT) |
| Fatal Malaria in the U.S. More Common Than Previously Known (NYT) |
Oct 28
|
W |
The Fight Against Malaria Has Reached a Standstill (NYT) |
| In Remote Villages, Surprising New Measures Save Children With Malaria (NYT) |
| Giving Malaria a Deadline (NYT) |
| Oct 30 |
F |
Widespread Testing Begins on Malaria Vaccine That Is Only Partly Effective (NYT) |
| F.D.A. Approves the First Vaccine for Dengue Fever, but Limits Its Use (NYT) |
| F.D.A. Revokes Emergency Approval of Malaria Drugs Promoted by Trump (NYT) |
TEST 3
Posted online Friday, Oct 30
by 5 pm
Due Friday, Nov 6 at 11:59 pm |
Nov 2 |
M |
Primary care (No slides) |
There is no online lecture, quiz, or recitation meeting this week, but you are expected to watch on your own the documentary film Motherland. There will be questions about the film on the last test, so pay attention and take notes as you watch it. Some of the questions will ask you to identify characters and their particular dilemma. Others will ask you know general facts about the location and operation of this maternity ward. The film is available on Amazon. |
Nov 4 |
W |
Nov 6 |
F |
Nov 9
|
M |
|
We will have lectures on Monday and Wednesday. Slides are posted for this unit. However, there is no quiz or recitation meeting this week. In lieu of the quiz and the readings you are expected to watch on your own the film Life Above All. There will be questions about the film on the last test, so pay attention and take notes as you watch it. Some of the questions will ask you to identify characters and their particular dilemma. The film is widely available online to rent. |
Nov 11 |
W |
Nov 13 |
F |
| Nov 16 |
M |
|
Quiz 13
(due Nov 30th)
|
Blog Assessment 4 (due Nov 30th) |
Vaccine Injury Claims Are Few and Far Between (NYT) |
| Vaccines Save Lives, but Stricter Laws May Backfire (WP) |
| Heidi Larson Knows How to Build Trust in Vaccines (NYT) |
| Nov 18 |
W |
Health Facts Aren't Enough. Should Persuasion Become a Priority? (NYT) |
| How Anti-Vaccine Sentiment Took Hold in the United States (NYT) |
| "I Won't be Used as a Guinea Pig for White People" (NYT) |
| Nov 20 |
F |
The Husband-Wife Team Leading the Vaccine to Solve Covid-19 (NYT) |
| Brazil Halts Trial of Chinese Coronavirus Vaccine (NYT) |
| The Pandemic Is Showing Us How Capitalism Is Amazing, and Inadequate (NYT) |
TEST 4
Posted online Monday, Nov 30, 9:00 am
Submit before Friday, Dec 4 at 5:00 pm
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