virology blog

About viruses and viral disease

My virology course at Columbia University

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w3310 virology 2012The third annual installment of my virology course at Columbia University, Biology W3310, has begun. This course, which I taught for the first time in 2009, is intended for advanced undergraduates and will be taught at the Morningside Campus.

Until I started this course, no instruction in virology had been offered at the Morningside Heights campus of Columbia University since the late 1980s. This is a serious omission for a first-class University. Sending graduates into the world without even a fundamental understanding of viruses and viral disease is inexcusable.

Course enrollment has steadily increased: 45 students in the 2009, 66 students in 2010, and an amazing 88 students this year. I am gratified that so many students want to learn about the world of viruses. From the photo you can see that the classroom is full, so if interest in the course continues to increase, we will need a larger room.

Most readers of virology blog will not be able to sit in on each lecture – but you can still watch every one of them. You will find a videocast of each lecture at the course website, at my page on Vimeo, and at iTunes University. An archive of the 2011 version of this course is available online or at iTunes University. I will announce when each lecture is posted on Twitter and Google+. Virology is a rapidly moving field, so rest assured that this year’s version of the course will be different.

The goal of Virology W3310 is to provide an understanding of how viruses are built, how they replicate and evolve, how they cause disease, and how to prevent infection. After taking the course, some of the students might want to become virologists. The course will also provide the knowledge required to make informed decisions about health issues such as immunization against viral infections.

Thanks to the internet, the information in my virology course is accessible to everyone.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  3. I know it was just announced yesterday, but have you considered in the future trying to adapt your materials to iTunesU?

  4. I _clearly_ woke up too early this morning, and glossed over that it was already on there. Apologies.

  5. I think this is a great idea and will definitely be viewing the lectures – I see the first is already available!

  7. Would it be all right to post any questions resulting from the lectures (or prompted by them) here or maybe submit them in the usual way perhaps?

  8. I would be happy to answer questions – it would probably be best to send them to virology at virology dot ws. This blog post will fall off the front page soon and most won’t see it. I would like to have a better way to have individuals like you register for the course, as is done for Stanford University’s online offerings, but I haven’t reached that stage yet. But I would share questions with the class – I think it’s a good way to get them thinking about the material.

  9. Se necesita que investiguen la sábila, yo la tomo molida con un poco de agua (hasta tener 0.5 litros) y la gripa se quita en cuestion de minutos o a lo mas muy pocas horas. También sirve para muchas más curaciones en el cuerpo humano (acides, estomago, intestinos, herpes, para el cabello, etc.) 

  10. Usted está seguro que no es el efecto placebo, en el caso de la gripa suya? En términos del resto, la sábila cura qué de los acides, el estomago, y los intestinos? Qué hace para el cabello? Y qué hace con herpes? (Y puede decirnos qué tipo/especie de áloe? Es un género entero.) 

    (disculpe mi mala español, no es mi lengua madre)

  11. Eso es un montón de basura. Por favor, aprendan verdadera virología antes de comentar. Gracias!

  12. I was in the 2011 class, and I have to say I am glad I closed my undergraduate with a class in Virology. I hope Dr. Despommier is still doing that guest lecture on West Nile.