This course develops the human dimensions of infectious disease alongside the quantitative ones: who is exposed and why, how behavior and transmission feed back on one another, how qualitative and mixed methods answer questions that counts and rates cannot, and how evidence becomes policy. It is designed as a joint course with anthropology, sociology, and colleagues who work on health policy, so students learn the material from the disciplines that produced it. It complements the modeling and analytics courses by teaching students to situate a model in the social, cultural, and political world that generates the data and acts on the results.

The course syllabus is shown below.

Draft syllabus. This is a scaffold for the concentration. Course number, credit hours, dates, and specific assignments are placeholders and will be finalized before the course is offered.

Course title and instructors

Title: People, Plagues, and Policy: The Human Dimensions of Infectious Disease
Course Number: BIO 6xx (proposed; jointly offered and cross-listed with Anthropology and Sociology, confirm with the Departments of Biology, Anthropology, and Sociology)
Semester: TBD
Credit Hours: 3
Meeting Time: TBD

Course Director: Michael E. DeWitt, MS, with co-instructors from Anthropology, Sociology, and health policy
Email: medewitt@wakehealth.edu or dewime23@wfu.edu

Course description

Social, structural, and cultural forces shape almost every step of transmission: who comes into contact with whom, who is exposed, who can act on advice, who seeks care, and who is ultimately counted. Models that ignore these forces are incomplete, and interventions that ignore them can fail or widen disparities. This course gives quantitatively-trained students a working command of the human side of the field. Students study the social and structural determinants of transmission, contact structure as a social phenomenon, health-behavior theory and behavior-disease feedback models, and the qualitative and mixed methods used to understand meaning, context, and barriers to care and to intervention uptake. Students also learn to translate that evidence into policy: framing findings for decision-makers and working through how social and political context shapes what interventions are feasible. Throughout, the emphasis is on integration: pairing social-science evidence with transmission models and surveillance data rather than treating it as a separate track. As a joint offering with anthropology, sociology, and policy colleagues, the course is co-taught, and students work in mixed teams that mirror the interdisciplinary collaborations the field depends on.

Learning outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

Explain how social and structural determinants shape exposure, susceptibility, care-seeking, and case ascertainment
Represent contact structure and heterogeneous mixing, and reason about how they concentrate transmission
Build and interpret behavior-disease coupled models where protective behavior responds to perceived risk
Design and appraise qualitative and mixed-methods studies, and judge their rigor
Integrate social and behavioral evidence with quantitative models and surveillance data
Translate social and behavioral evidence into policy-relevant recommendations for decision-makers
Work across the epidemiology, social-science, and policy boundaries as part of an interdisciplinary team

Textbook and other resources

There is no single required textbook. Recommended references include:

Buckee C, et al. Thinking clearly about social aspects of infectious disease transmission. Nature 2021. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03694-x
Bedson J, et al. A review and agenda for integrated disease models including social and behavioural factors. Nat Hum Behav 2021. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01136-2
Selected primary literature in social epidemiology, medical anthropology, and behavioral modeling

Additional readings will be assigned throughout the course.

Site resources

This course draws on IDEEEP content pages as assigned readings:

Course structure and schedule

This course meets over 15 weeks and combines lecture with literature discussion, a qualitative-methods practicum, and modeling exercises. The schedule below is a draft outline of topics.

Week	Topic
1	Why the social dimension matters: incomplete models and disparities
2	Social and structural determinants of transmission
3	Contact structure and heterogeneous mixing
4	Exposure, susceptibility, care-seeking, and ascertainment
5	Health-behavior theory (Health Belief Model, Theory of Planned Behavior)
6	Behavior–disease coupled models I: prevalence-dependent behavior
7	Behavior–disease coupled models II: feedback, waves, and validation
8	Introduction to qualitative methods
9	Interviews, focus groups, and rapid qualitative appraisal
10	Coding, thematic analysis, and rigor
11	Mixed-methods designs and integration
12	Medical anthropology in epidemic response
13	Community engagement and behavior change
14	Translating evidence into policy, and interdisciplinary team science
15	Project presentations and wrap-up

Note: Specific dates will be provided at the beginning of the semester. Topics may be adjusted based on class progress and student interests.

Grades and assignments

Activity	Weight
Participation and literature discussion	20%
Assignments and modeling exercises	25%
Qualitative-methods practicum	25%
Final project	30%

Final project: Students will take an infectious-disease question of their choosing and analyze it through both a quantitative and a social/behavioral lens, proposing an integrated study or intervention grounded in primary literature.

Course policies

Attendance: Regular attendance is expected, particularly for discussion sessions. Please alert the instructor if you are unable to attend for any reason.

Late/Makeup work: Assignments are due on the dates provided. We recognize that extenuating circumstances arise, and assignments may be submitted up to 2 days late without penalty. If you need an extension, contact the instructor as soon as possible and before the due date.

Artificial intelligence: Artificial intelligence tools and large language models such as ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini are now part of the academic and professional landscape and we encourage you to find ways to use them to enhance your learning. However, if you use these tools, you must cite your sources and provide a detailed description of the tools you used to complete the assignment. In no way can these tools take the place of your own work and understanding of the material. They should be used to supplement your learning, not replace it. You are ultimately responsible for your work including content and the use of valid citations and references. Using these tools without proper attribution is plagiarism and will be treated as such.

Department/School/University policies

Academic Integrity: Wake Forest University is committed to a culture of academic integrity. As a part of this community, you share the responsibility for creating a place of honesty, intellectual curiosity, and individual accountability. As you committed to with your honor pledge signature, you agree “not to deceive any member of the community; not to steal, cheat, or plagiarize on academic work; and not to engage in any other form of academic misconduct.” If you have questions about documenting your work, working with external sources, or working with peers on assigned work, consult with me as soon as possible. Instances of academic dishonesty will be referred to the Honor and Ethics Council.

Accessibility: Wake Forest University provides reasonable accommodations to students with disabilities. If you are in need of an accommodation, please contact me privately as early in the term as possible. Retroactive accommodations will not be provided. Students requiring accommodations must also consult the Center for Learning, Access, and Student Success (118 Reynolda Hall, 336-758-5929, class.wfu.edu).

Accommodations for Religious or Spiritual Practices: Wake Forest University benefits from the multitude of faiths and spiritual identities held by members of our learning community. Should you need accommodations this semester, email me as soon as possible to ensure we have time to develop equitable alternatives.

Class recordings: In case any class recordings are provided, they are reserved only for students in this class for educational purposes and are protected under FERPA. The recordings should not be shared outside the class in any form.

Syllabus change notice

This syllabus and the dates herein are subject to change.