The History of Epidemiology

EPI 514 Subject & Catalog Number

Description

This course traces the intellectual evolution of epidemiologic methods and ways of thinking from their origins in population mortality monitoring in the seventeenth century to contemporary methodological developments. The history is examined against the broader backdrop of social, medical, and scientific change. The course aims to foster a deep understanding of epidemiology’s historical development, its core methods and concepts, and the contexts in which they emerged, while highlighting the relevance of these transformations for contemporary research and public health practice. Understanding how epidemiology responded to major challenges in the past may help address the challenges of the rapid transformations affecting U.S. public health since 2025.

Rather than presenting a simple narrative of triumphant progress, the course also examines controversies that shaped the development of epidemiologic techniques, as well as moments when epidemiological concepts and methods were used to target or control specific populations. By balancing accounts of methodological innovation with attention to historical contingencies and cautionary episodes of overreach, the course highlights both the power of epidemiology and the risks inherent in its application.
Through discussion of classic episodes, such as the emergence of population thinking, the cholera debates of the nineteenth century, the rise of bacteriology, the development of modern epidemiologic study designs to discover the causes of the epidemics of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and evaluate the treatments of HIV/AIDS, you will examine how epidemiologic reasoning evolved in response to concrete public health problems. Readings include primarily the preprints of chapters of a book to be published in June 2027. Each chapter provides a selection of key passages from primary sources. The course is organized as a seminar and emphasizes discussion, critical analysis of historical materials, and reflection on the implications of past developments for contemporary epidemiologic research and public health practice.