In this course, celebrated medievalist Dorsey Armstrong shares the fascinating new story of this old pandemic, revealed by dedicated researchers working with 21st-century technologies. In seven engaging lectures, Professor Armstrong corrects some previous explanations of the pandemic that are now known to be inaccurate and offers a more robust description of plague biology than has ever been known. COVID-19 isn’t likely to be humanity’s last experience with a zoonotic disease, so what can we learn now from these two pandemics that could help us in the future?