Session 5 | Uncertain Knowledge in Epidemics: How Crises Spur New Therapies, Surveillance Practices, and Dubious Theories
Saturday, May 9, 2020 | 11 am - 12:30 pm

In the face of epidemic illness and sweeping death and with few effective treatments, social and medical experimentation thrives. In past outbreaks, new therapies, new vaccines, new surveillance practices, and new theories about bodies and difference have flourished – some effective and lasting, others dubious and destructive. What light does this history of uncertain knowledge shed on our today’s COVID-19 experience? How can history inform public understanding of the quest for solutions on the road ahead?

Presenters:

• Mariola Espinosa, University of Iowa | Theories of Race, Immunity, Yellow Fever
• Emily Waples, Hiram College | Meaning and Politics of Symptoms in the 19th Century and Today
• Graham Mooney, Johns Hopkins University | Infectious Disease Surveillance, 19th Century Origins and Legacy
• Susan Lederer, University of Wisconsin, Madison | Convalescent Serum Therapy: Past and Present
• Moderator: Carin Berkowitz, New Jersey Council of the Humanities