I loved this example of a participatory simulation, and loved even more that students “playing” this “game” assumed the game simulated HIV. I wonder what aspects of a social epidemic like HIV/AIDS get lost in this kind of activity, though. After all, the dynamics of how HIV is transmitted, and to whom, is much more complicated than simply tracking who was in contact with whom. There are deep, largely tacit issues of class, power, sexuality, and race buried beneath–sometimes far beneath–our conversations about this.

Admittedly, this simulation wasn’t intended to take on these thorny issues; it was intended to teach the science, not the sociology, of contagious diseases. But I wonder what disservice we’re doing to each other by pretending that science and sociology can be cordoned off and discussed in isolation.

I loved this example of a participatory simulation, and loved even more that students “playing” this “game” assumed the game simulated HIV. I wonder what aspects of a social epidemic like HIV/AIDS get lost in this kind of activity, though. After all, the dynamics of how HIV is transmitted, and to whom, is much more complicated than simply tracking who was in contact with whom. There are deep, largely tacit issues of class, power, sexuality, and race buried beneath–sometimes far beneath–our conversations about this.

Admittedly, this simulation wasn’t intended to take on these thorny issues; it was intended to teach the science, not the sociology, of contagious diseases. But I wonder what disservice we’re doing to each other by pretending that science and sociology can be cordoned off and discussed in isolation.

Also, I would like to point out that the person standing behind the infected student who hasn’t caught the disease is actually much closer to the infected person than the one facing the infected student who does catch the disease. But…you knew that.

Also, I would like to point out that the person standing behind the infected student who hasn’t caught the disease is actually much closer to the infected person than the one facing the infected student who does catch the disease. But…you knew that.