Brainstorm of History of a Public Controversy Project

Brains

On November 14, 2023 (Tuesday), we brainstormed on a few topics that we could discuss on for our project, vaccines and public health. However, we voted on researching on vaccines by the end of our class because we want to focus on one major topic, instead of multiple ones. I think we can mention how vaccines has always been a controversial topic around the globe throughout history, especially as we can see recently in the COVID-19 pandemic which is a huge argument in the world, not only in America. Moreover, we can be mentioning past anti-vaccine movements, other than those throughout the coronavirus years, as they have been going on for a long period of time. I found some previous cases online, such as Jacobson v. Massachusetts in 1905 where it was during the outbreaks of smallpox in Boston and Cambridge. Both cities responded by imposing compulsory vaccinations which raged thousands of civilians in the cities and Jacobson even argued his right to refuse vaccination all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court. I think this case study would be a great start for our project. Here is the link that I have used for my brainstorm: Controversial Topic: Vaccines

3 thoughts on “Brainstorm of History of a Public Controversy Project”

  1. First of all, thank you so much for researching more on the topic and providing background on the anti-vaccine movement. I think that would be an interesting avenue to take with the project, delving deep into the differing sides on the controversy and how they helped shape what we know today. Focusing on vaccine mandates in the United States might even be beneficial as you provided many Supreme Court cases as evidence that will help our discussion.

  2. I think the case in Massachusetts is really interesting. Having mandates on vaccines can seem intrusive but are they necessary for our health? I really liked how you kept your own opinion out of your article and kept it to factual information. Thank you for doing more research on our topic. While I think vaccines are beneficial for society many don’t agree and I wonder what stance we are going to take.

  3. I agree with Sam thank you so much for taking it upon yourself to do some research on the topic. I also think the way you formatted this blog was interesting and I like the evidence you gave.

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