HIV: From Physics to Poetics

HIV/AIDS was a pivotal biomedical crisis of the late 20th century. It remains, however, a profoundly personal crisis, touching on issues of identity, race, class, gender, sexuality, geography, and, of course, sex. This course will consider HIV/AIDS across this wide spectrum, from the biology of HIV infection, to the economics of drug development and access to care; from the art produced in the early years of HIV, to the poetics of HIV as it is lived today. We will begin with a description of the biology of HIV infection and the host response and the challenges–from the molecular to the political–that have influenced the scientific study of HIV. We will consider these questions alongside Jamaica Kincaid’s 1996 book My Brother, which will serve as a lens for exploring how intersecting identities can affect biological outcomes. In addition to Jamaica Kincaid’s writing, we will consider work by Susan Sontag, Paul Farmer, Marie Howe, Michel Foucault, Harriet Washington, and Danez Smith. We will work in collaboration to blur the boundaries between biomedical, bioethical, sociological, artistic, and poetic understandings of health and life, death and disease.

Course Schedule

Saturday, 2-5pm
June 04 — June 25, 2016
4 weeks

$315.00

Registration Closed

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