Course Term Paper on the Yellow Fever Vaccine and American Imperialism

Infectious diseases captured my fascination as a young scientist and inspired me to pursue a degree in Human Biology at Stanford. As a field firmly grounded in scientific practice that also integrates behavioral, cultural and public policy perspectives, Human Biology emphasizes fundamental questions about the nature and future of humanity that deeply resonate with my own academic interests.  The intersection of disciplines within Human Biology creates rich rhetorical opportunities for a writer called to address multiple audiences simultaneously.  In the following essay, I united information about biology and the history of human societies to explore the relationship between Yellow Fever vaccine development and American imperialism on the stage of Panama Canal construction.

Through my concentration within Human Biology—Immunology, Infectious Disease and Global Health—I studied relationships between humans and pathogenic microorganisms. Among my favorite upper level classes was “Impact of Infectious Diseases on Human History" taught by Dr. Stanley Falkow and Dr. Lucy Tompkins. In addition to studying relevant biological principles, through the course we sought to understand how infectious diseases have shaped human history and modern societies, as well as the social and policy factors involved in designing, prioritizing, funding and implementing disease eradication and management. While in my previous research writing I had focused on characterizing and explaining purely scientific principles, this essay challenged me to consider the social dimensions of scientific findings and the social context in which science is conducted. I strove to intermix biological information with historical and political information in order to craft a unified and comprehensive storyline that would intrigue an audience of biologists, historians and policymakers.