Course Description

In the early 1980s, otherwise healthy young men were developing rare illnesses that generally plagued the elderly. Soon, HIV came to be identified primarily with gay men, recent emigres from Haiti, and hemophiliacs. While scholars have examined the history of the AIDS pandemic, few have chronicled how the illness transformed nurses. Drawing upon archival documents, medical journals, newspapers, and oral histories, Haugeberg examines the first generation of nurses who volunteered to work on dedicated AIDS units and chronicles the experiences of Barbara Fassbinder, one of the first U.S. nurses who contracted HIV on the job. Finally, she will consider how the HIV pandemic transformed the practice of American nursing.