Abstract
As individuals around the world faced unprecedented government-ordered lockdowns to flatten the curve of the spread of COVID-19, many of us turned to the safety of books. One of the few bright spots of 2020, at least for those of us privileged enough to shelter-in-place in our home offices, has been a pandemic of reading. This micro syllabus is not extensive or exhaustive but designed to accomplish two specific goals: provide essential information on the histories of pandemics and engage radical critiques of the political, social, and economic contexts of disease outbreaks. As historians, most of us may not have taken many STEM courses and we probably don’t think much about disease cycles, the role of animals in zoonosis, or the fascinating differences between viral and bacterial infections. Thus, this brief list serves as a primer for us to master some of the basics of the history of disease so that we can be better informed and, frankly, not sound foolish when talking with those who are more well-versed in medical issues. Closer to our areas of expertise, this micro syllabus offers readings that should serve as pathways into the historiography of disease, highlighting the ways that crises such as pandemics can reveal the power relationships often hidden behind curtains of Gramscian hegemony.