Sunrise Senior College Online Course Registration

From bee bombs in Mesopotamia 100,000 years ago to insect robots, insects have been used as weapons. As vectors of disease, agricultural pests, and human pests, insects can cause harm to large numbers of people. In this course we will discuss how insects have been used in war intentionally or otherwise to change the course of wars. Did you know Napoleon was defeated by insects, not his human enemies? He was defeated in Haiti due to yellow fever transmitted by mosquitoes, defeated in war with the Ottoman Empire in Syria by bubonic plague transmitted by fleas, and defeated in Russia by typhus transmitted by lice. Insects have affected war plans such as Britain deciding not to invade Cuba in the 1650’s when the British fleet mistook lightning beetles on shore as the torches of a large Spanish army.

In more recent times, Japan had a special army unit developing ways to use insects as weapons in World War II. The U.S. had its own military working on biological warfare in Frederick, Maryland, looking at ways to use insects in war. During the Korean War both North Korea and the USA blamed each other for using insects as weapons. Current research is being done in the U.S., and quite likely in other countries, to use insects, insect toxins, and robotic insects in warfare. So, beware of the black fly, it may be a Chinese weapon!

Instructor: Dr. Mark Brown has a Ph.D. in entomology from Penn State and worked for the US Dept. of Agriculture for 28 years working on uses of beneficial insects to control insect pests, nothing that could be used in warfare. He also has an interest in history. His first course he taught for the Sunrise Senior College was on the role insects have had in world history.

Class Information:  This is a hybrid class - held in-person in UM@M’s room SCI 102 and via Zoom. Dr. Brown will be presenting sessions in-person.

All facilities at the University of Maine at Machias (UM@M) are fully handicap compliant.  The facilities used by Sunrise Senior College (SSC) at the college have ramps, elevators and handicap accessible bathrooms.  Our offsite functions and activities have various limitations and restrictions and may not be fully handicap accessible.  SSC will endeavor to identify limitations at these to you in advance.

                                                   IMPORTANT:  See Below

“Sunrise Senior College does not endorse any appeal or representation made by a presenter, non-profit organization or business during an SSC presentation.  SSC members attending the presentations may wish to pursue additional involvement with the organization or presenter based on the material that was presented and in doing so, they are acting on their own and not as part of SSC.”

This class is available to all current Maine Senior College (MSCN) Members. The general public not wishing to join Sunrise Senior College at this time may attend this class for a $20.00 fee.

Important: If at this time you are not a current member of Sunrise Senior College (SSC) but are planning to join as a member today, make sure you answer that “Your SSC membership is current” when checking out so that we can properly bill you for this class.

Sunrise Senior College (SSC) is a membership-based organization. Our SSC members receive special benefits as current members when they register for this course. Any member of another MSCN college is also able to enjoy this course, but may incur some additional charges. If you are a member of the general public, you can take this course but will have to pay additional fees associated with being a non-member. For any attendee that is not a current member of Sunrise Senior College, any materials required for the course are your responsibility. When checking out, please carefully read and answer the questions asked associated with this specific course so that you are charged appropriately for this class. Failure to do this may result in your being cancelled from the course. We hope you enjoy this offering.