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Chambana Sun

Sunday, February 23, 2025

Teaching generations of students about outbreaks – with art

Iliinoisuniversity

Teaching generations of students about outbreaks – with art | https://news.illinois.edu/

Teaching generations of students about outbreaks – with art | https://news.illinois.edu/

Teaching generations of students about outbreaks – with art

Most people don’t visit the health department to view student art, but here we are, in the busy main hall of the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District. We are wearing face masks, reading artist statements and reviewing more than a dozen visual and digital explorations of influenza, respiratory syncytial virus, COVID-19 and – the trickiest of all health topics – human behavior. Nurses and dental assistants whiz by with young patients. People walk by to pick up birth certificates. Two kids sit in a corner and play with one of the art pieces.

It’s obvious this isn’t just an art show. It’s an end-of-term presentation designed by students in my evolutionary immunology class for students in kindergarten through the eighth grade. These creative works are meant to show the youngsters how to prevent the spread of respiratory infections in the community. These kids are using the art exactly the way it was intended.

Original source can be found here