Regulating Contagion: Pandemics in US Legal History
This course explores how pandemic disease — including smallpox, yellow fever, cholera, the Spanish flu, AIDS, SARS, and (especially) COVID-19 — have shaped the history and law of the United States. It will cover topics ranging from federalism to drug regulation, from international law to insurance regulation, and from constitutional law to Medicaid waivers. More generally, the course will examine what the law in a time of crisis may teach us about the rule of law in normal times.