New UvA elective: Pandemic

The coronavirus outbreak placed into the largest possible context Tracing the virus, bringing international air traffic to a standstill, social isolation, empty supermarkets, unprecedented pressure on healthcare, a global recession. The new coronavirus and the worldwide consequences thereof make this coronavirus a complex problem that is ideal for an interdisciplinary elective. What happens if we put this crisis in a broad spatial and historical perspective? The Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies has set up the new course 'Pandemic' together with Big History lecturer Esther Quaedackers, which can be taken by all students and employees of the UvA, but also by secondary school pupils and other interested parties. We often get caught up in the day-to-day treadmill of existence due to current events and stress, and feel there is no room to zoom out so we can view the situation with a broader outlook. Someone who does do that, however, is Big History lecturer Esther Quadackers (UvA). We talked to her. 'During the course, questions will be raised, such as: How does the coronavirus pandemic fit into the bigger picture? How is the virus developing at different levels, from the cellular to the global? How have viruses developed at all these levels in the past? And which lessons can we draw from this for the future? This extremely interdisciplinary course attempts to answer these questions by bringing together and connecting insights from a broad range of disciplines, from virology and evolutionary biology to geopolitics and human history.