COVID-19 and the History of Pandemics: COVID-19

Examine the governmental response to a novel coronavirus outbreak that began in China and quickly spread throughout the world and consider how we can use this knowledge to improve future efforts at disease control and prevention. In January of 2020, following confirmation of thousands of new cases of novel coronavirus infection that were first noticed the previous month in China, the World Health Organization declared “a public health emergency of international concern.” The epicenter of the outbreak was Wuhan, a Chinese city with a population of more than 11 million. There, in an effort to contain the spread of the virus, authorities cut off travel and access into and out of the city. In the United States, President Donald Trump’s administration restricted travel into the U.S. by foreign nationals who had recently been to China. The beginning of February saw the first death from the coronavirus outside of China. Soon after, the disease caused by the virus was named COVID-19 (a neutral acronym for “coronavirus disease 2019”), and cases could be found worldwide. What followed in the U.S. and around the world was a domestic, economic, and political upending never before seen in modern times as millions of people were infected with COVID-19 globally, hundreds of thousands died from the disease, and, as tens of millions lost their jobs due to government-imposed lockdown measures, economies ground to a halt. As societal inequities were revealed, tensions among various groups rose, with pockets of negative sentiment directed at people of Chinese and Asian descent, who some targeted as being responsible for the crisis. This course is designed to familiarize you with the experiences of Chinese people and Chinese living in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic and to present you with some of the responses of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to the pandemic as it unfolded.

Learning Objectives

• Appraise the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) response to the COVID-19 crisis, including lockdown measures and travel restrictions.
• Compare and contrast the CCP's actions with historical responses to pandemics.
• Develop a model approach for pandemic response based on insights from this course and lessons from history.

Prior Learning

This noncredit course is beginner-friendly, with no prior expertise required. However, to ensure success, students should:

• Be comfortable reading and understanding English, as all materials are provided in English.
• Have basic computer skills, including navigating the internet, downloading/uploading files, installing software, and using applications like Microsoft Word.

These foundational skills will help you engage fully with our primarily online courses.

About the Series

This is the final course of the COVID-19 and the History of Pandemics series. This series offers a deep dive into six pandemics that profoundly altered human history. This interdisciplinary exploration connects the dots between scientific advances, cultural shifts, and governmental policies, revealing how societies have historically confronted widespread disease. By enrolling in the entire series, you’ll gain a nuanced perspective on pandemics as recurring phenomena, equipping you with a broader understanding of how past events inform present and future challenges. Together, these courses reveal the resilience, ingenuity, and cautionary tales that pandemics bring to light.