UNCG Biology
Evolutionary Medicine and Paleopathology Study Abroad
BIO 466 (6 credit hours)
May 14-24 online; May 27-June 12, 2027 in Italy, France, UK
$5,704 program fee = tuition for 6 credit hours, fees, lodging, in-country transportation, activities, tickets, and some meals
Not included: Airfare to Europe, most meals, and spending money ($2000-3000)
Join Dr. Gwen Robbins Schug for a field course connecting historical and sociocultural conditions in Europe, Medieval to Modern infectious disease-scapes, the history of medicine, anatomical dissection, and the ethical responsibilities we hold to they largely unprovenienced or non-consented human remains displayed in museums and used for research and teaching in an anatomical sciences.
Through online instruction and visits to museums, archaeological sites, and historic medical institutions in Europe, students will examine how infectious diseases, social conditions, and medical practices have shaped human health, care, and past lives.
The course brings together evolutionary medicine, paleopathology, the history of anatomical dissection and bioethics. We will study plague, tuberculosis, leprosy, and syphilis, considering how pathogens evolve, how infections affect the body, and how social and environmental conditions influence exposure, treatment, and survival. We will also examine the relationships among medical knowledge, inequality, and institutional power.
Before traveling, students will develop a foundation in human skeletal biology, infectious disease, and research ethics through readings, lectures, discussions, and laboratory activities. In Europe, we will connect that preparation with the places, collections, and histories we encounter. Daily journals will provide opportunities to reflect on course themes and develop questions grounded in evidence.
Program details
The course combines preparation online with travel in Italy, France, Scotland, and England. Final course dates, travel dates, program costs, and a detailed statement of included expenses are provided in the link to the program application here.
The itinerary involves substantial walking and frequent travel by public transportation. Students are encouraged to discuss accessibility and accommodation needs with Dr. Robbins Schug early in the planning process.
Learn more
For the syllabus and additional information, contact Dr. Gwen Robbins Schug at gmrobbin@uncg.edu.
Scenes from the 2024 and 2025 Field School. Prospective students are encouraged to check out more on our Facebook and Instagram
Explore
Travel through Venice, Padua, Paris, Edinburgh, and London, connecting the history of infectious disease, medicine, and anatomical science with the art, architecture, and everyday life of each city. Explore Venice by gondola and water bus, and tour the Doge’s Palace to learn about the political and economic values of the time, the invention of public health measures, and the hospital. In Padua, visit the Scrovegni Chapel, St. Anthony’s Basilica, and the UNESCO botanical garden, with a tour focused on herbal medicine and Rennaissance Pharmacy. Experience the Louvre and Notre-Dame in Paris, tour the living situations of Edinburgh's working class, explore the stories of Edinburgh’s Greyfriars Kirkyard, and learn about the infamous Burk and Hare case that inspired the Anatomy Act of 1832. Explore Whitechapel and Spitalfields in London, learning about women's history and how social conditions created special conditions of vulnerability for women.
Travel between cities by train, share meals, and enjoy time for independent exploration. Cultural events, such as seeing The Phantom of the Opera performed in London bring additional perspectives on the people, places, stigmatized diseases, and other stories we encounter.
Learn
Begin with online instruction in evolutionary medicine, human skeletal biology, and paleopathology. Study the biology and history of plague, tuberculosis, leprosy, and syphilis, examining how human evolution, environmental conditions, and social inequality shape health and disease.
In Europe, connect this foundation with the history of medicine and anatomical dissection. Visits to Venice’s Scuola Grande medical history museum, the former psychiatric hospital at San Servolo, and the quarantine island and excavation site at Lazzaretto Nuovo. Explore the history of anatomical teaching at Palazzo Bo's anatomical theater and examine evidence of infectious disease and other maladies at Padua’s Morgagni Museum. In Paris, examine anatomical collections and visit the Paris Catacombs, where you can see evidence of leprosy and political/structural violence. At Edinburgh’s Surgeons’ Hall Museums, learn about the history of syphilis from Cat Irving and participate in discussions about anatomy, medical history, and the display of human remains. Continue these investigations behind the scenes at the British Museum and at London’s Hunterian Museum.
Research
Develop the skills to ask questions about past lives using skeletal evidence, museum collections, historical records, and published research. Online instruction before traveling prepares students to evaluate evidence of disease and understand how paleopathology and genetic research contribute to knowledge of human health in the past to today. During our travels, discussions and daily journals connect observations with course readings and encourage critical reflection.
Investigate how anatomical knowledge was produced, whose bodies became part of medical collections, whose corpses were put on display, and how consent, poverty, punishment, and institutional power shaped those histories. A private tour of the Sudanese and Egyptian organic storerooms at the British Museum, alongside visits to anatomical and pathology museums, burial places, and the Paris Catacombs, provide opportunities to examine the care and public display of human remains. Throughout the course, we will consider the responsibilities researchers and museums have toward the people in their collections and the communities connected to them.