On Epidemics and the Arts

Today, a significant portion of the global population has ready access to vaccines, clean water, and universal healthcare. COVID-19 has, in part, been such a shock because many of us, especially in wealthy Western countries, are not used to being collectively threatened by serious diseases that spread and act quickly. Not so long ago, we… 

Postage Stamps and Public Health Postage stamps, with their mass reproduction and global dissemination, provide a means to promote awareness for a wide range of public health issues — nationally and internationally. As a consequence, reference to contagious diseases such as influenza, measles, whooping cough, HIV/AIDS, SARS etc. can be found in the design of… 

In conversation: Judith Owens with Lynne Fernandez Literary scholar Judith Owens and political economist Lynn Fernandez discuss O’Farrell’s moving plague novel. Lynne Fernandez (LF):  Judith, I know that this book had to be of great interest to you given your love of Shakespeare and interest in the healing arts in English Literature. I thought it…