Tag: the end of a global pox

2022 American Society for Environmental History Annual Meeting

After two years away, UNC Press is excited to be exhibiting in-person at ASEH 2022 – we hope you’ll stop by our booth! And if you can’t join us in-person, please visit our virtual booth! And be sure to check out our Flows, Migrations, and Exchanges series. Flows, Migrations, and Exchanges publishes works of environmental history that explore the cross-border movements… Continue Reading 2022 American Society for Environmental History Annual Meeting

Environmental Studies/UNC Press News

October 19, 2015

Bob H. Reinhardt: The Fascinating Puzzlement over Smallpox Eradication

Whenever I mention that I have written a book about the eradication of smallpox, people usually look at me with equal parts fascination—“wow, that’s a great story to tell!”—and puzzlement—“Wait a second…smallpox? Eradicated? Really?” I love seeing this reaction. After more than six years of working on the topic, I sometimes forget that that’s exactly where I started. My initial reaction of familiarity with smallpox quickly gave way to confusion about the disease’s past and present. Continue Reading Bob H. Reinhardt: The Fascinating Puzzlement over Smallpox Eradication

Author blog entry/Global Studies/Guest Bloggers/Health / Medicine/History

September 14, 2015

Bob H. Reinhardt: Having the Vaccination Conversation

Parents sometimes hear about “routine childhood vaccinations,” but the current discussion about vaccines is anything but routine. In addition to pediatrician offices, the vaccination conversation is happening in unexpected places: the legislative halls of Oregon, California, and other states trying to stiffen childhood vaccination requirements; Twitter, where author Sherman Alexie invoked Native Americans’ historic experiences with deadly contagious diseases and railed against “superstitious, selfish anti-vaccination ***holes”; and late-night TV, where Jimmy Kimmel joked that parents in Los Angeles are “more scared of gluten than they are of smallpox.” Alexie’s vitriol and Kimmel’s barb invoke the history of smallpox and its eradication, a remarkable story that holds unexpected insights for today. Continue Reading Bob H. Reinhardt: Having the Vaccination Conversation

American History/Author blog entry/Guest Bloggers/Health / Medicine/History