[課程目標]：
隨著人類文明的進展，疾病亦隨之變化。農業及畜牧業的發展讓人類定居及人口增加，成為微生物 (細菌、病毒、真菌、寄生蟲) 繁殖的溫床，繼而引發致命的瘟疫。再隨著貿易、旅行與殖民，更助長傳染病的全球散播。本課程的目標是介紹疾病的特性及其致病機制，首先以對人類歷史造成劇烈衝擊的傳染病為例，討論發生的時代、傷亡的情形、防疫的措施、社會的影響等，藉以瞭解人類與微生物自古以來的長期戰鬥故事。邁入二十世紀後，抗生素及疫苗的發明逐漸使傳染病得以控制，人類的壽命亦增長一倍。但由於活動範圍的擴展及生態環境的變化等因素，「新興」傳染病，如愛滋病、禽流感、SARS、伊波拉出血熱等卻不斷爆發。除此之外，長壽伴隨著基因突變的累積，使癌症大幅增加。而近幾十年以來，食物攝取不當及機械替代勞力等因素造成肥胖，引發高血壓、高血糖及血脂異常的代謝症候群，長壽也使阿茲海默症成為二十一世紀的首要疾病。本課程的另一目標則是引導同學以跨領域的角度，瞭解疾病隨著人類的生活方式與文明發展而相互影響。
[課程內涵]：
本課程以人類疾病為內涵，首先介紹人類歷史上細菌、病毒及原生生物導致的重大傳染病，這些疾病除了造成個人的病痛及死亡之外，自古以來，影響民族的盛衰、社會的枯榮與文明的起落。二十世紀以降，公共衛生觀念的進步、抗生素的發現及疫苗的使用逐漸控制了猖狂數千年的傳染病，但由於生態環境的變遷及物種疆界的模糊，世界各地又出現新興的傳染病，如愛滋病、SARS、禽流感，及伊波拉出血熱等，造成巨大的傷亡及全球的恐慌，充分顯示人類與微生物的共同演化及持久不斷的競爭。課程的後半部分將介紹目前威脅人類健康最甚的癌症、心血管疾病及阿茲海默症。癌症是由自身的細胞突變而成，本質上與正常細胞的差別不如微生物與人體間的差異那麼大，所以在治療時的副作用頗大，使人們談癌色變。至於高血壓、高血糖、血脂異常及肥胖則是現代人飲食不當、勞動不足造成的代謝症候群，加之高齡伴隨而來的老年失智，在在顯示疾病隨著文明的發展而改變。本課程希望以跨領域的方式，讓同學明瞭疾病與人如影隨形，實為生活與生命的一部份。自古以來，疾病對人類的社會、文化衝擊甚巨，希望能帶領同學回顧歷史，探究文明與疾病的關聯，如生活方式對疾病的影響、疾病對社會的衝擊、人們對疾病的誤解。而人類面臨疾病及死亡時的掙扎，將以《瘟疫》及《疾病的隱喻》兩本文學著作，剖析內心的挫折、偏見及恐懼。[Course Target]:
With the progress of human civilization, diseases have also changed. The development of agriculture and animal husbandry has caused human settlement and population to increase, becoming a temperature bed for microorganisms (bacteria, virus, fungi, parasitic cervix) to reproduce, leading to a deadly plague. With trade, travel and colonization, it will further contribute to the global spread of infected diseases. The purpose of this course is to introduce the characteristics of the disease and its pathogenic mechanism. First, take the infectious diseases that have caused dramatic impacts on human history as an example, discuss the occurrence era, the situation of death, epidemic prevention measures, and social impact, so as to understand the long-term battle stories of humans and microorganisms since ancient times. After entering the 20th century, the invention of antibiotics and vaccines has gradually enabled the control of infections and doubled the life of humans. However, due to factors such as the expansion of the activity scope and the changes in the ecological environment, "New" infections, such as AIDS, avian influenza, SARS, Ebola's bleeding and fever, have been constantly erupting. In addition, long-term poverty accompanied by the accumulation of genetic changes has greatly increased cancer. In the past decade, factors such as inappropriate food intake and mechanical substitution force have caused obesity, causing hypertension, hyperglycemia and abnormal blood lipids. Long-term penis also makes Alzheimer's disease the primary disease in the 21st century. Another goal of this course is to guide students to understand that diseases affect each other from a cross-domain perspective, as well as human lifestyle and civilization development.
[Connotation of course]:
This course takes human diseases as its connotation. It first introduces major infectious diseases caused by bacteria, viruses and protophytes in human history. In addition to causing personal illness and death, these diseases have affected the rise and fall of the nation, the withering of society and the rise and fall of civilization since ancient times. Since the 20th century, the progress of public health awareness, the discovery of antibiotics and the use of vaccines have gradually controlled the rampant infections for thousands of years. However, due to the changes in the ecological environment and the blurred boundaries of species, new infections have emerged around the world, such as AIDS, SARS, avian influenza, and Ebola's bleeding and fever, causing huge deaths and global panic, fully demonstrating the co-evolution of humans and microorganisms and the long-lasting competition. The second half of the course will introduce cancers, cardiovascular diseases and Alzheimer's disease, which currently threaten human health. Cancer is caused by the sudden change of its own cells. The difference between the essence and normal cells is not as big as the difference between microorganisms and humans, so the side effects during treatment are great, causing people to talk about the color of cancer. As for hypertension, hyperglycemia, abnormal blood lipids and obesity, they are trophicular syndromes caused by improper diet and insufficient exercise in modern people. In addition, high age accompanied by dementia in the elderly is showing that the disease has changed with the development of civilization. This course hopes to let students understand that diseases and people are like shadows, and are actually part of life and life in a cross-domain way. Since ancient times, diseases have greatly impacted human society and culture. I hope to lead students back to history and explore the relationship between civilization and disease, such as the impact of lifestyle on disease, the impact of disease on society, and people's misunderstanding of disease. The human beings' suffocation when facing illness and death will use the two articles "Plague" and "The Metaphor of Disease" to analyze inner setbacks, prejudice and fear.
1.《槍砲、病菌與鋼鐵》(Guns, Germs, and Steel), Jared Diamond 著，1997。王道還、廖月娟譯，時報文化，1998。
2.《人類與瘟疫的故事》張浚、趙少欽著，新視野圖書出版公司，2006。
3.《病毒的故事》徐明達著，天下雜誌股份有限公司，2003。
4.《細菌的世界》徐明達著，二魚文化事業有限公司，2012。
5.《最衰者生存》(Survival of the Sickest), Sharon Moalem 著，2007。陳芝儀譯，天下遠見出版股份有限公司，2007。
6. 《疾病解密》，科學人雜誌特刊，2013。
7.《瘟疫》(The Plague, 1947), Albert Camus著，1947。周行之譯，新潮文庫，1969。
8.《疾病的隱喻》(Illness as Metaphor), Susan Sontag著，1977。程巍譯，麥田出版，2012。
1. Guns, Germs, and Steel, Jared Diamond, 1997. Wang Daoyan, Liao Yuejuan, Times Culture, 1998.
2. "The Story of Human and the Plague" by Zhang Jun and Zhao Shaoqing, New Vision Book Publishing Company, 2006.
3. "The Story of the Virus" by Xu Mingda, World Magazine Co., Ltd., 2003.
4. "The World of Bacteria" by Xu Mingda, Eryu Culture Industry Co., Ltd., 2012.
5. Survival of the Sickest, Sharon Moalem, 2007. Chen Zhiyan, Tianxia Far Publishing Co., Ltd., 2007.
6. "Deciphering Disease", Special Issue of Scientists' Magazine, 2013.
7. The Plague (1947), by Albert Camus, 1947. The translation of Zhou Xing, Xinchao Wenkuan, 1969.
8. "Illness as Metaphor", by Susan Sontag, 1977. Cheng Weilu, Published by Maitian, 2012.
| 評分項目 Grading Method | 配分比例 Grading percentage | 說明 Description |
|---|---|---|
| 課堂互動作業課堂互動作業 Classroom interaction |
40 | 每次佔 5%，缺繳以 0 分計。 |
| 期中考 (每人3分鐘口頭報告)期中考 (每人3分鐘口頭報告) Midterm exam (3 minutes per person’s head report) |
30 | 報告前繳交PPT檔。不可請假，如不得已必須補考。 |
| 期末考 (分組，16分鐘口頭報告)期末考 (分組，16分鐘口頭報告) Final exam (group, 16-minute head report) |
30 | 報告前與老師討論及預講。不可請假，如不得已必須補考。 |
