Ecology and evolution of infectious disease (fall 2025)

Last updated: 09 Aug 2025 14:26

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This web page is under construction: some material may still be left over from the previous offering of the course

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Course meetings

• 12:30-12:20 Mon/Weds, 1:30-2:20 Fri (all Toronto time), location on Mosaic
• Masking is encouraged but not required
• Please ask me if you need to participate remotely or access lecture recordings

Misc info

• Textbook: Claude Combes, The Art of Being A Parasite; available from the bookstore or via Perusall
• Platforms: Avenue to Learn, course web page, forums (TBD) (see below)
• Full course bibliography

Where to find stuff

• schedule, readings, notes, course outline, etc.: here
• dropbox for assignments, marks: Avenue
• discussion questions: Piazza (sign up here)
• Perusall: sign up here)
• SpringerLink

Links

• Course outline
• Assignments (due dates in schedule below)
• The back-end for this site
• in-class scribbles

Communication

• instructor: Ben Bolker
  • Questions are best asked in the appropriate channel on Piazza (publicly or privately)
  • if necessary, e-mail to bolker@mcmaster.ca with “BIO 4AE3” in the subject line; include your MacID in your message if not e-mailing from your McMaster e-mail account
  • office hours: TBA
• teaching assistant: TBA
  • weekly office hours, TBA
  • please contact via Piazza (privately if necessary)
  • will answer as soon as possible, but will be more readily available during normal working hours (9 AM to 5 PM Toronto time)
  • responses are not guaranteed within 24 hours of an assignment deadline; please plan ahead!

Schedule

(subject to revision!)

start date	topic	reading/viewing	notes	assignments
02-Sep	introduction & concepts; epidemic models and epidemic dynamics	Combes (2005) ch. 1-2	intro; intro docx; intro pdf; definitions; definitions docx; definitions pdf	register for Piazza (and eventually Perusall); send me a private message with your name, something memorable about you, and (if you’re willing) a photo
09-Sep	intro continued, epidemic dynamics			Read & comment on Combes on Perusall (by Friday afternoon)
16-Sep	parasites and host demography; extinction & conservation
23-Sep	parasites and host communities
30-Sep	within-host dynamics of parasites
7-Oct	host-parasite coevolution
08/09 Sep	midterm test (tentative) 6-8 PM
13-Oct	midterm recess
20-Oct	Evolution of virulence
27-Oct	Evolution of host resistance and tolerance
04-Nov	Evolution of antimicrobial resistance and immune escape
11-Nov	(continued)
18-Nov	Parasite manipulation of host behaviour			24 Nov: group project due
25-Nov	Parasite-mediated sexual selection; Ecosystems and emerging disease?			27 Nov: Mini-essay 3; 29 Nov, peer reviews of term paper drafts
2-Dec	Wrap-up
14-Dec				final drafts of term papers due

References

Combes, Claude. 2005. The Art of Being a Parasite. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. https://archive.org/details/artofbeingparasi0000comb.