Here at the John W. Kluge Center, we’ve been working quickly to replace our usual full schedule of live events with a new slate of virtual events that offer the same expertise and scholarship, but at a safe social distance.
We’ve held three virtual events so far, and the best part is that you can watch any of them, right now.
Epidemic Expert Stephen Morrison on Our Past and Future of Life with COVID
Stephen Morrison, Senior Vice President at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, was interviewed by Kluge Center Director John Haskell on the question of what COVID-19 teaches us about global health security. Morrison is an expert on epidemics and government responses, and he has been cited frequently in COVID-19 coverage by outlets including the New York Times and PBS.
In the video, Morrison talks about where the US has been successful in flattening the curve, the ways in which the response has been less effective, and how public health needs interact with economic needs and frustration among some Americans.
What is herd immunity, and when could we hope to see it? What can we learn from approaches to the pandemic taken by other countries? What will the pandemic look like in August? Hear Morrison’s answers to these questions and more.
Conversation on the Future of Democracy: Yuval Levin
Yuval Levin, a distinguished scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, where he is the director of Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies, was interviewed by Kluge Center Director John Haskell. Levin is also the editor-in-chief of National Affairs.
They discussed Levin’s new book, A Time to Build, which is a fascinating look at the importance of formative institutions in society, their deterioration in recent decades, and practical steps to begin addressing the problem. Broad feelings of societal dysfunction, Levin said, have a great deal to do with declining trust in the organizational forms that give shape to life and allow people to work together to achieve common purposes.
National Book Festival Presents: Jill Lepore on How This Pandemic Will Go Down in History
As part of our “National Book Festival Presents” series, bestselling historian and Harvard professor Jill Lepore and John Haskell discussed how the current pandemic, its effects, and our reaction to them say something very real about America in this moment and in the historical record that will emerge from it.
In the discussion, Lepore talked about the history of plague literature and what it tells us about the way that writers have responded to past and imagined pandemics. She also touched on the potential effects of the pandemic on nationalism and international competition, as well as the positive possibilities related to the fact that the pandemic is a shared experience across the world.
We’ve got much more in store! On June 10, at 10am, watch Creative or Destructive Force? Covid-19, Russia, and European Democracies. Free registration is available here and the video will be at youtube.com/loc.
And check the Kluge Center events page regularly to see what else is coming up.