Course Syllabus

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PSYC 4730 - Blood and Airborne Pathogens: HIV/STDs/Hepatitis/TB

Sponsoring Institution: University of Idaho

3 Credits

Instructor Information

Course Instructor: Steve Meier, PhD, ICPS

Your course instructor is Dr. Steven E. Meier, an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Idaho. Dr. Meier received his Ph.D. in Psychology from Washington State University. His specialty of training was in experimental psychology with specialties in Learning (Applied Behavior Analysis), Addictive Behavior (Primarily Alcoholism), and Physiological Systems.

Course Description

Overview of HIV/AIDS, TB and other Airborne pathogens, and other STDs/STIs; preparing counselors to work with clients to prevent these diseases, identify overt symptoms, or counsel clients who have acquired these diseases; making counselors examine issues related to human sexuality and biases about sexually related topics.

This course provides an overview of several common bloodborne pathogens (BBPs) including: Human Immunodeficiency Virus / Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS), sexually transmitted diseases/sexually transmitted infections  (STDs/STIs), Hepatitis, and others. It also provides an overview of various airborne pathogens (ABPs) including: Influenza and relatives (COVID Viruses), Tuberculosis, Measles, Chickenpox, Mumps, and Hantavirus among others.   Finally, other pathogens emerging within the United States that are vector related.  These diseases include but are not limited to West Nile Virus, and Typhus.

While they can occur amongst all humans, many of these diseases occur more frequently among individuals experiencing substance abuse, mental illness, homelessness, or who live in high poverty areas. Consequently, symptom recognition by first line clinicians and referral to appropriate treatment is extremely important for both the client, you, and your colleagues.

Finally, while the focus of this course will be identification of pathogens and potential risk factors associated with various diseases, it is also important to understand aspects of human sexuality, related lifestyles, and high-risk factors associated with these pathogens. Thus, this course is designed to assist you in examining issues related to these diseases/disorders including human sexuality and biases about sexually related topics and lifestyles. 

Prerequisites:

PSYC 101 Introduction to Psychology

Course Learning Outcomes

  • Show how the epidemiology of HIV/AIDS has changed across population groups throughout the world.
  • Assist in examining issues related to biases about human sexuality, biases about sexually related topics, and information related to lifestyles.
  • Assist in identifying biases and fears counselors may have when working with clients engaging in high-risk behaviors.
  • Being able to recognize overt or described symptoms of various types of infectious diseases in or by clients.
  • Knowing patient providers who can assist individuals who may have various blood or airborne pathogens / infectious diseases.

Knowledge, Skills & Attitudes (KSA’s)

  • Promote clients' knowledge, skills, and attitudes consistent with the maintenance of health and the prevention of HIV/AIDS, TB, STDs, and other communicable diseases.
  • Understand and describe the health and behavioral problems related to substance use disorders including the transmission and prevention of HIV/AIDS, TB and other airborne pathogens, STDs/STIs, and other infectious diseases.

Required Materials

This area is rapidly changing and texts are often out of date by the time they are printed. Thus, all readings for this course will be selected from a variety of websites and some (not all) Zoom videos that will be posted within the various lessons.  

You may also download the following;

Course Rules and Requirements

Assessment Guidelines

Assignments and exams must be submitted consecutively, in the order outlined in the course; therefore, it depends on where you are in the course as to when specific items are due, including discussion topics, extra credit, and exams. Other than that, there is no limit on the number of assignments that can be submitted per week. 

  • Submit assignments and receive grades via Canvas.
  • Keep a copy of every assignment submitted. Write your name, V number, course subject and number, and assignment number on every submission.
  • An instructor may take up to three weeks to grade so plan accordingly to meet personal deadlines.
  • The final course grade is issued after all assignments and exams have been graded.
  • Academic Dishonesty: If you cheat or plagiarize someone else's material and you are caught, you will receive an "F" grade for the class. The instructor will also refer you to the Dean of Student’s Office for additional consequences. Note: Copying and pasting material from the world wide web and not citing that information will be considered cheating.
  • Exams are taken in Canvas. Graded exams are not returned to the student.

Assignment Papers

You will be required to complete brief papers related to topics you will encounter throughout the course.  All assignments will be posted through Canvas. The papers will be of various lengths and assigned points depending on the assignment.

  • All assignments will be in APA style using appropriate references as needed. 
  • Do not use on-line encyclopedias such as Wikipedia as a source.  
  • No material may be cut and pasted from the web.
  • Do not use AI to create these papers.

Movie Reaction Papers

You will be required to rent, purchase, or borrow two movies:  

  • One that that contains material related to individuals with HIV, AIDS, or related communicable diseases.  Older examples might be Philadelphia or Kids.  More recent examples might be Milk or Moonlight.  
  • The other movie should be related to highly contagious diseases.   More recent movies might include Contagion, Virus, or others.  You can go to the following link for additional movies about contagious diseases.

After watching each movie, you will be required to write a reaction paper related to your feelings about the movie, and your feelings about the sexual issues/lifestyles/other issues or concerns that were related to the topics in the movie. The point of this topic is to make you examine YOUR concept of sexuality and sexual lifestyles, and identity concepts about diseases that make you feel uneasy.  There are no right or wrong comments related to this assignment. You will be evaluated based on your description of the movie and how you back up your opinions or comments, not your personal preferences or political beliefs.

Exams and Quizzes

There will be two exams given throughout the course of the semester. Each will be open book, open note, and open person exams. That is, you can use any information you wish to help you.  There are no set due dates, but all assignments and exams should be completed in order. See the Lesson Plan. 

Note, these exams are intense and cover a lot of material. They will usually take 5 hours or more to complete.  Doing one question per day is the way to go.  Write out the answer in Word, then upload your answer into Canvas.  APA style is required as well as referencing any material you use.  Again, do not cut and paste material or use AI to answer these questions.

Lesson Plan

Lesson 1: HIV / AIDS in the USA 

  • Assignment 1: Dot Slides Reaction - See Lesson 1 for instructions (10 points)
  • Assignment 2: US National vs Idaho Data - See Lesson 1 for instructions (25 points)

Lesson 2: HIV / AIDS Outside the USA 

  • Assignment 3: HIV Outside the U.S. - See Lesson 1 for instructions (25 points)

Lesson 3: Epidemiology of STDS 

  • Begin identifying your movies 
  • Assignment 4: STD Epidemiology - See Lesson 2 for instructions (15 points)

Lesson 4: HIV Facts, 5 Risk Factors and 6 Fears and Phobias

  • There is no assignment for this section

Lesson 5: Risk Factors

  • Begin watching your movies after this section.
  • Assignment 5 Reaction to Risk Behaviors - See Lesson 3, task 5 for instructions (10 points)
  • Movie Reaction Paper #1 - Provide an overview of the movie, then your reaction to it. Minimum two pages, max four pages. (50 points)

Exam 1: Covers Lessons 1—4 , Assignments 1—5 (100 points)

Lesson 6: Fears and Phobias Associated with Individuals at High Risk, or Who Have HIV

  • There is no assignment for this section

Lesson 7: Drug Use

  • Assignment 6 Drug Use - See Lesson 7 for instructions and include both papers here with a separation between papers. - See Lesson 5, Task 1 for instructions (30 points)

Lesson 8: STDs

  • Assignment 7 STDs - See Lesson 8 for instructions (15 points)

Lesson 9: Hepatitis

  • There is no assignment for this section

Lesson 10: Tuberculosis (TB)

  • Assignment 8 TB Reflections- See Lesson 10 for instructions (15 points)

Lesson 11: Airborne Pathogens

  • There is no assignment for this section

Lesson 12: Other Pathogens

  • There is no assignment for this section
  • Movie Reaction Paper #2 - Provide an overview of the movie, then your reaction to it. Minimum two pages, max four pages. (50 points)

Lessons 13-15: HIV Prevention, STD Prevention, and Hepatitis Prevention

  • Assignment 9 HIV and STD Prevention Due (10 points)

Lesson 16: TB Prevention 

  • Assignment 10 Prevention Summary (30 points)

Exam 2: Covers Lessons 7—16 (100 points)

Grade Information

Points Possible

Lesson Assignments - Points Possible (185 points)

  • Assignment 1: Dot Slides Reaction (10 points)
  • Assignment 2: US National vs Idaho Data  (25 points)
  • Assignment 3: HIV Outside the U.S. (25 points)
  • Assignment 4: STD Epidemiology (15 points)
  • Assignment 5: Reaction to Risk Behaviors (10 points)
  • Assignment 6: Drug Use (30 points)
  • Assignment 7: STDs (15 points)
  • Assignment 8: TB Reflections (15 points)
  • Assignment 9: HIV and STD Prevention Due (10 points)
  • Assignment 10 Prevention Summary (30 points)

Movie Reaction Papers - Points Possible (100 points)

  • Movie Reaction Paper #1 (50 points)
  • Movie Reaction Paper #2 (50 points)

Course Exams - Points Possible (200 points)

  • Exam 1 (100 points)
  • Exam 2 (100 points)

Total points possible: 485

Grade Scale

Minimum grading will be based on the following scale:

  • >90% = A
  • >80% = B
  • >70% = C
  • >60% = D
  • <60% = F

Course Policies

Refer to the ISI website's Current Students page for the most current policies and procedures, including information on setting up accounts, student confidentiality, exams, transcripts, course exchanges, refunds, academic integrity, library resources, disability support and other services. 

Cheating and Plagiarism

The policy for cheating / plagiarism in this class is clear.  Specifically, you will receive an "F" grade in the course.  Further, cutting and pasting material from the WWW, using AI or another person's work will be considered cheating and result in an "F" grade.  All students plagiarizing other material will be referred to the Dean of Students office for additional sanctions. 

All materials are scanned for plagiarism and AI by software in Canvas.  Further, I have been working in this field since the HIV epidemic began so I know what is real in multiple communities and what is not. Thus, submit your own work.  Again, do not cheat in this class. 

AI Use Prohibited

As artificial intelligence tools become more widely available, it is important to clarify how they may or may not be used in this course. The following policy is designed to support your learning and ensure academic integrity.

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools—including but not limited to ChatGPT, Copilot, Perplexity, Grammarly, image generators, and automated coding/writing assistants—is not permitted in this course.  

Unauthorized use of AI tools is considered a form of unauthorized assistance and undermines the core learning objectives of the class. This course is intentionally designed to build foundational skills—such as critical analysis, discipline-specific reasoning, original writing, and independent problem-solving—that require your direct engagement. Using AI tools to generate or revise work may hinder the achievement of these objectives and may compromise the integrity of your academic development.

Any use of AI tools for coursework, unless explicitly allowed by the instructor for a specific assignment, will be treated as a violation of academic integrity and may result in sanctions as outlined in the University of Idaho Student Code of Conduct. Students are responsible for reviewing and adhering to all university policies regarding academic honesty and should consult the Student Code of Conduct for further guidance.

University Disability Support Services

Reasonable accommodations are available for students who have documented temporary or permanent disabilities.  “Students with disabilities needing accommodations to fully participate in this class should contact the Center for Disability Access and Resources (CDAR). All accommodations must be approved through CDAR prior to being implemented. To learn more about the accommodation process, visit CDAR's website or call 208-885-6307.”