*Students must speak with Kristen Hogan first before completing an application through the Education Abroad Office.*

*Recommended Pre-requisite: BIOL 202*

Course: BIOL 203 or BIOL 599

Dates: 06/06/2025-06/15/2025

Program Contact: kmlarsen@email.sc.edu

Program Description:

During this trip, we plan to travel to Switzerland to make connections and experience past infectious diseases. We will be focusing on 3 infectious diseases while abroad which are plague, small pox, and measles. Because these 3 diseases have such deep historic roots, it will be fascinating to see how these infectious diseases have shaped the culture in Switzerland including art, architecture, literature, and societal norms.

For plague, we will be embarking on a plague tour in Rheinfelden (nearby Basel), a city that was hit particularly hard with plague during the black death. In addition, we will have the opportunity to visit the Fricktaller museum which includes several exhibits related to plague and contains plague artifacts.
For small pox and measles, we will be visiting the moulage museum in Zurich which offers wax replicas of several infectious diseases including these 2. Students will be able to observe and learn in depth about the skin conditions associated with these infectious diseases. We will also be discussing in my lectures why these skin conditions arise in these 2 infectious diseases and making connections to what was covered in the course regarding disease development, symptoms, and progression

With respect to all 3 infectious diseases, we will be embarking on a guided tour of the Pharmaceutical History Museum (Basel) and Medical Museum (Davos - day trip) to explore these diseases in my depth.

With these hands-on learning experience, students will be able to more fully grasp the concepts of biology, the impacts on patients, doctors, family, and friends, the development and trajectory of current medicine, and more.

Finally, we also plan to visit with members from the World Health Organization. Although the seminars are not scheduled and confirmed, our plan is to meet with members from the WHO to discuss past and present infectious disease outbreaks and learn more about how their organization functions and contributes to disease breakthroughs.

Application Deadline: March 1st