Anthrax crisis spurs development of new class

by Daniel J. Fitzgibbons, Chronicle staff

Community Health Studies professor Paula Stamps gave herself a crash course on bioterrorism and biological warfare as she developed her new undergraduate course. (Stan Sherer photo)

ast fall, as the first reports of anthrax-related deaths attracted worldwide attention and anxiety levels soared across the country, Community Health Studies professor Paula Stamps was among those riveted by the burgeoning crisis.

     "I was partly interested in our ability or inability to deal with another episode," she recalls.

     As a public health professional, Stamps instinctively understood the impact the anthrax infections were having on health care and emergency services, but she realized that she knew little about the disease or bioterrorism.
Although she was scheduled to teach a graduate course in the spring, the ongoing anthrax emergency soon had Stamps thinking about using the crisis as the focal point of a new undergraduate class.

     "I spent one weekend reading intensively to see if I could put something together," she says. It was new ground for someone who usually teaches ethics and research methods and program evaluation and whose research is focused on salaries of physicians and nurses. But digging into the scientific details of anthrax stirred an old passion, according to Stamps. "I was an undergraduate biology major and I never lost the love of it."

     With her hastily prepared course proposal in hand, Stamps pitched the course to her department head, Shlomo Barnoon, who agreed to release her from teaching her graduate-level class.

     Stamps also found an ally in deputy provost John Cunningham, who found funding for two teaching assistants for the course. It was an auspicious start for a new experimental course in Community Health Studies, "Bioterrorism and the Challenges to Public Health."

     Between mid-October and the beginning of the spring semester, Stamps gave herself a crash course on bioterrorism and related issues.

     "Some of it comes from the public health field, like risk and risk analysis," she says. "But a lot was new, like what countries have done to develop weapons" using biological agents.

     Stamps had the course posted by the end of the registration period and the enrollment response reinforced her sense that such a class was badly needed on campus. "We got 50 students like that," she says. The class is a mix, with about 40 percent majoring in biological sciences and the rest coming from social and behavioral sciences. Stamps says about one-third of the students are in their freshman year and 28 percent are seniors.

     Since the course is new, Stamps began the semester by explaining to her students that they are part of an experiment. So periodically they are helping to assess the class, its content and the assigned readings. Stamps is particularly interested in soliciting their opinions about the course's potential as a General Education class.

     In the early days of the class, Stamps also tried to gauge students' perceptions about the threat of bioterrorism.

      "Since September 11, everyone's more anxious," she says. "You have to wonder if they're interested in the biology or they're [just] worried about it."

     In a writing assignment titled "What, Me Worry?," the class was asked to measure the threat of bioterrorism against other health and safety risks. At the end of the course, the students will complete the same assignment, allowing Stamps to compare their perceptions and determine whether the materials have addressed their earlier concerns. "We don't want to make people more nervous," she says.

     Over the past three months, the class has analyzed the ethics of biological weapons, traced the history of bioterrorism and examined international responses to bioterrorism threats. The students have also learned about biological weapons research in the U.S. and abroad as well as the actual use of such agents. More recently, the class has studied the biology and weapons potential of anthrax, smallpox and salmonella.

     The last part of the course centers on a case study of the anthrax crisis last fall. In particular, the students are analyzing the medical and public health, political and media responses to the emergency.

     Stamps said the two TAs, Syed Hasan and Christine Taggart, have played key roles in developing and teaching the course. Hasan, who is an M.D. pursuing a master's in Public Health, has brought a clinical perspective to the course, and both he and Taggart have presented material to the class.

     "I'm not sure I could've done it without them," she said.

     According to Stamps, the class is going well. "I've been very impressed. Attendance has been great, especially considering that for most, the class won't count toward their major. It's been a remarkable teaching experience."

     And even with the constant barrage of media coverage about anthrax last fall, Stamps said she was surprised how students' knowledge about the anthrax crisis was quite varied, even after the media blitz. "All of them were reading enough to be generally aware, but some weren't fully versed," she says, noting that one student thought only two people died from anthrax, while others knew virtually every detail.

     Stamps has also drawn on a variety of resources to expand the depth of the class. Several guest speakers, including Valerie Steinberg of Environmental Health and Safety, Amherst public health director Epi Bohdi and bioterrorism expert Meryl Nass (see related story), are part of the course curriculum.

     While her ultimate goal for the course is to have it approved for General Education credit, Stamps said she plans to fine-tune the class by teaching it as an experimental course again next spring. After that, it should be ready for submission, she says.
As the course continues, Stamps is happy that the class came together as well as it has. Now, she says, "we do have some new courses being offered that are relevant to the new world in which we live."