Teaching

As a Lecturer in the Department of the History of Science during the 2022-2023 academic year, I am teaching the following courses:

A History of Medicine Through Patient Voices: This course draws from patient accounts as a starting point to examine the history of medicine from the early twentieth century to today. The patient perspective provides not only a glimpse into the experience of illness, but also highlights key themes important to medical practice and patient care. Topics covered include the diagnostic process, decision making about therapeutic interventions, biases and differential health outcomes related to gender, race, and class, medical institutions, and access to care. This is a course on the history of medicine in the US, which we explore in conversation with other medical traditions and geographic regions.

Diagnostic Technologies in Medicine: From the Stethoscope to Artificial Intelligence: This course will explore the role of technology in the diagnosis of disease from the nineteenth century to today. Each class session will begin with a specific technology as a starting point to examine how social, cultural, political, economic, geographic, and scientific factors have intersected to determine who receives a diagnostic label and the impact of disease diagnosis on patients and society. We will explore such questions as: How have diagnostic technologies been prioritized in relation to physician’s own senses and the patient narrative? How have assumptions about race and gender influenced the design, use, and interpretation of diagnostic technologies?

A History of Biotechnology: This course examines the history of biotechnology, with a focus on the twentieth and twenty first centuries. Topics covered will include early conceptions of biotechnology prior to the advent of recombinant DNA, the development and use of recombinant DNA techniques, medical therapeutics, genetic testing, reproductive technologies, and genetically modified foods. We will explore such questions as: How have biotechnologies reconfigured conceptions of life? How have social, cultural, and political considerations shaped the development and use of biotechnologies? How have potential risks and benefits associated with biotechnologies been conceptualized and addressed? How have biotechnologies shaped society?

History of Science Sophomore Tutorial: Sophomore tutorial is a hands-on course that introduces students to some of the most exciting and productive questions in the history of science, technology and medicine, while developing critical reading, presentation and discussion skills. Small groups of students will tackle different aspects of a larger theme each week and share discoveries in sessions led by the faculty instructor. The course will be further enhanced by a series of supervised individual projects. (co-taught with Anne Harrington)

I have also taught a wide range of courses as a graduate teaching fellow in the history of science and as a biology professor. 

Courses Taught as a History of Science Graduate Teaching Fellow:

  • Confronting COVID-19: Science, History, Policy (Head TF)
  • Medicine and Conflict: The History and Ethics of Healing in Political Turmoil (Head TF)
  • Medical Ethics and History
  • History of Science Sophomore Tutorial 

Courses Taught as a Biology Professor:

  • Introductory Cell and Molecular Biology
  • Principles of Biology
  • Genetics
  • Human Genetics and Ethics
  • Cell Biology
  • Molecular Biology
  • Undergraduate Biological Research
  • Biotechnology
  • Virology
  • Immunology
  • Introduction to Human Biology