English 210I – Illness and Health in
Literature
Plague Narratives
From the Black Death…
…to the Zombie Apocalypse
Exploring plague narratives from the Black Death to the zombie apocalypse, this class will
examine how plague has and continues to shape social and cultural formations. As a class,
we will revisit the civilization-altering event of the Black Death; we will re-examine the legacy
of HIV, and we will re-consider how the speculative fiction of zombie narratives influence our
world view. The works selected for this course will include fiction, nonfiction, science fiction,
memoir, drama, historic documents, and epidemiological studies. We will read work by a
wide-range of authors including Susan Sontag, Tony Kushner, Elizabeth Pisani, Daryl Gregory,
and Michel Foucault. The threat of plague haunts the edges of our social order. Come join
the conversation about how and why this happens in English 210-I (MWF 1:30-2:20).