Welcome to Week 2 Ø Please watch the online video (38 seconds). This week, you will continue learning information and approaches that will be helpful to you throughout the course. 1. We will start the week by introducing you to the biology of the virus. Dave will walk you through understanding the structure of the virus and how it replicates. Understanding how it works will be important and is necessary to comprehending other topics we will discuss throughout the course, including transmission, drug development, and prevention. 2. We will continue the week by discussing important moments in the scientific and artistic history of HIV/AIDS; you will learn about key developments in the understanding, treatment, and prevention of HIV/AIDS, and how the arts reflected these. 3. In week one, you learned the basics of interpreting literary and scientific texts. We are continuing into week two to teach you ways of reading that are important to interpreting representations of HIV/AIDS. This week, you will also learn how artists and scientists create knowledge; you will do this by watching interviews we conduct with Dr. Sallie Permar, an HIV/AIDS researcher at Duke University, and Joan Lipkin, a playwright, director, and activist based in St. Louis and New York. 4. You will reinforce your understanding of what the arts and sciences have in common by learning about the connections Ann and Dave see in how artists and scientists create knowledge. 5. You will continue to develop your skills of critical interpretation responding to another cultural artifact discussion. 1
2.1 Biology of the Virus In this section, you will learn the basic biology of HIV. The exercises will test you on that basic understanding of the structure of HIV, and how it replicates. Ø Please watch the online video (3 minutes, 1 seconds). Biology of the Virus We are surrounded by viruses. Estimates say up to 10 31 viruses inhabit the earth. And while there are many varieties in these many types of viruses, they all share a basic structure. Every virus has a genome, which is often surrounded by a protein capsid. For some viruses there is also a lipid envelope that surrounds the capsid. All of these viruses are obligate intracellular parasites, meaning they can only replicate inside appropriate host cells. This essentially means that only certain types of viruses can infect certain types of organisms. Before starting the replication process, the virus must first find and identify an appropriate host cell. This usually involves a very specific protein-protein interaction. Once the virus successfully enters an appropriate host cell, new copies of its genome and viral proteins are made. These components coalesce to create new virus particles, which then leave the cell and go on to infect other cells. Ø Please complete the online quiz. 2.2 Artistic and Cultural History of the Virus In this section, you will learn about important moments in the scientific and artistic history of HIV/AIDS. More specifically, as you learn about key developments in the understanding, treatment, and prevention of HIV/AIDS, you will also come to understand generally how the arts reflected these. 2
Ø Please watch the online video (9 minutes, 4 seconds). Artistic and Cultural History of the Virus Ann and Dave travel to the Bechler Museum of Art in Charlotte to start their discussion on how the arts represented HIV/AIDS. Dave briefly describes the early reactions in the medical community to the first cases of HIV/AIDS. He talks about the early confusion doctors felt when encountering this new disease. Ann explains that a lot of art during this period expressed similar confusion and anxiety with the onset of HIV/AIDS. As doctors attitudes changed towards the disease, so did the artistic community s. Art that expressed fear and anxiety soon became art that talked about transmission. For example, artist Niki de Saint Phalle- whose work is featured at the Bechler Museum- wrote a children s book explaining how HIV/AIDS can and cannot be transmitted. Symptomatic aspects of HIV/AIDS also started playing a more prevalent role in artistic reactions of the disease. For example, main characters from the movie Philadelphia and the play Angels in America both develop KS lesions as pivotal plot points. The artistic and the medicinal reactions of the disease continued to develop hand in hand as new drugs and information came out. This trend allowed the disease to become more visible and reach a wider span of individuals. Ø Please complete the online quiz. 2.3 How Does a Scientist Create Knowledge? In this section, you will learn how scientists create knowledge through listening to an interview with Dr. Sallie Permar, an HIV/AIDS researcher at Duke University. Watch the video, and think about what most surprises or strikes you. You will be asked to share that response. Ø Please watch the online video (11 minute, 15 seconds). 3
Interview with Dr. Sallie Permar Ann and Dave interview Davidson graduate Dr. Sallie Permar about her experience as a scientist studying HIV/AIDS. Dr. Permar specializes in pediatric infectious diseases, specifically mother to child transmission of HIV. Dr. Permar s career path began with a Davidson summer program to Mwandi, Zambia. This program allowed students to observe health care settings in the developing world. One of the more striking memories Dr. Permar recalls from the trip was what she referred to as the missing middle generation. She remembers seeing many children and grandparents in the town, but few parents. This missing generation accentuated the impact of the HIV epidemic for many of the students on that trip. Ann, Dave, and Dr. Permar go on to discuss the significance of activism and motivation behind scientific endeavors. Dr. Permar explains that, it s the motivation to do something, to make a difference in the world, that has led [her] to be a scientist. Collaboration also plays a key role in scientific work. On a laboratory level, it takes a team of lab workers to produce significant and reliable analytical work. Additionally, collaboration between different laboratories allows comparison of experimental technique. Perhaps one laboratory excels at a certain type of measuring while another does not. Conversation between these two allows for further and more thorough exploration of their particular scientific endeavor. Ø Please contribute to the online Discussion Board. Ø Please complete the online quiz. 2.4 How Does an Artist Create Knowledge? In this section, you will learn how artists create knowledge through listening to an interview with playwright, director, and activist Joan Lipkin; we will read her play about aging with HIV/AIDS, The Date, later in the course. Watch the video, and think about what most surprises or strikes you; you will be asked to share that response. 4
Ø Please watch the online video (14 minute, 8 seconds). Interview with Joan Lipkin Ann and Dave meet with playwright and director Joan Lipkin to discuss with her the process of creating her work. She explains that her work is often inspired by cotemporary issues, normally that are controversial. Joan is really interested in the historical moment that we re in and the possibilities for shifting social attitudes and behaviors. For example, in 1990 when the Supreme Court ruled in the case Webster v. Reproductive Health Services, which dealt with the rolling back of reproductive choice rights, Joan wondered who would be most affected by it. In response, she then wrote a gender reversed pro-choice musical comedy called He s Having Her Baby. Joan explains that here interests are in civic dialogue and helping people to enter into important conversations. Art can serve as a potent vehicle for activism because it essentially provides a whole different vocabulary and way of communicating information. 2.5 Commonalities: Artistic and Scientific Knowledge Creation In this section, you will reinforce your understanding of what the arts and sciences have in common by learning about the connections Ann and Dave see in how artists and scientists create knowledge. Ø Please watch the online video (3 minute, 44 seconds). Commonalities Ann and Dave discuss the similarities in their interviews with Dr. Sallie Permar and Joan Lipkin. Ann points out the common experience of creativity. They both work collaboratively. And to do so, they both must start with a vision they think is worth exploring. In both interviews, each expert had some sort of story that they wanted to tell because nobody else may be telling it. 5
Dave also notes how earlier experience played a heavy role in shaping what they re doing today. Whether in the arts or sciences, some kind of personal experience or personal revelation inspires an investigation to follow. Ø Please contribute to the online poll. Ø Please contribute to the online Discussion Board 2.6 Cultural Artifact #2: I Have AIDS. Please Hug Me. In this section, you will reinforce your understanding of what the arts and sciences have in common by learning about the connections Ann and Dave see in how artists and scientists create knowledge. Ø Please examine Cultural Artifact and contribute to the online Word Cloud. Ø Please watch the online video (12 minutes, 41 seconds). Ø Please complete the Self Assesment. Cultural Artifact: I Have AIDS. Please Hug Me. Dave and Ann invite two Davidson College students, Nick and Cate, to partake in a discussion about this week s cultural artifact. The cultural artifact is a poster designed by the Center for Attitudinal Healing in 1987. The poster looks like a child s drawing. And in childlike scrawl it says, I have AIDS. Please hug me. I can t make you sick. In between those two lines of text there s a drawing of a stick figure that looks like a young boy. He s holding his arms open wide as if to want a hug. But he also looks a bit fearful and full of trepidation. Ø Please contribute to the online Discussion Board. Ø Please complete the Self Assessment Ø Please watch the online video. Please complete the end of the week survey. 6