U of R's "Plague Stories" Examine Covid Through the Humanities

The University of Redlands is hosting “Plague Stories,” a series of events utilizing the humanities to understand our world as we (hopefully) emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The series includes interactive community-based activities as space for members of the community to share stories from humanistic fields while also collecting stories of lived experience. The U of R site says, "These events will be a space to address the uncertainty, loss, and rebuilding as we come to terms with the pandemic."

The series will include three forum-style events in which U of R Faculty and others lead "fishbowl" style discussions and provide information for attendees so they can make and share their own plague stories videos. In addition to the forums, there will be One City, One Book discussions where participants can discuss relevant books-Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel and Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson. 

Dr. Heather King, Chair of the English Department at U of R, said the seed for the series was planted during a conversation in which she and History professor Pat Wing  revealed that when lockdown hit they had both "grabbed books about plagues, and were using them as a way to process what was going on."

"I had long been trying to identify ways the University could serve as a resource for the community beyond formal lectures, King said. "After talking with Dr. Youna Kwak, who had taught a course called 'Viral' which read pandemic fiction - this seemed like a perfect opportunity. The humanities are, after all, a study of what it means to be human, and those kinds of big questions feel doubly important in the midst of widespread upheaval."

The first forum took place on January 31 and featured Associate Professor of French Frank Bright, Director of the Health, Medicine, and Society Program James Krueger, Associate Professor of History Pat Wing, and U of R alum Sean Molloy.

Susan Vance said on Instagram, "At the first discussion and it’s helping me process the last nearly two years in the classroom and in life in a profound way. Thank you."

King agreed, saying, "Our first conversation in January exceeded our expectations in terms of the myriad threads that emerged, from historical parallels to thinking about narratives we crave to sharing stories about how teachers and students were affected in real time; I am excited to hear what emerges at our next conversations, and looking forward to hearing more from community members at those events and in the one city, one book events in April."

The next event, which is free and open to the public, will take place Feb 28 from 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm in the Hall of Letters, room 100. Speakers will include Dr. Kathleen Feeley (History), Dr. Pat Wing (History), Dr. Frank Bright (French), Mackenzie Gragg (Ph.D. candidate at UCR), and alumni Corinne Flowers (English), Dylan Zamanis (English), Kassandra Zamanis (English) and Karen Wilson (History), all of whom are teaching in local high schools.

Masks are required, as the project's Instagram says, "We don’t want Plague Stories to become an annual event."

King said, "Our hope is that this series offers much-needed ways to make sense of our experience - humanists love to interpret! - and to learn or heal or at least be able to name what happened. We also hope that it starts a more robust practice of exchange between college and community - again, if the Humanities are about studying what it means to be human, this is an endeavor in which we all take part."

This series is funded by California Humanities and is part of their "humanities for all" public humanities focus. It is on Facebook (@plaguestoriesredlandsca) and Instagram (@plaguestories_redlandsca).

For more information, email Heather_King@redlands.edu or youna_kwak@redlands.edu.