Other Awful Years in History

Pieter Bruegel the Elder, “The Triumph of Death”1562, oil on panel, 117 x 162cm, Collection: Museo del Prado, Madrid by Pieter Bruegel the Elder

Around the world, people can’t wait for 2020 to end. COVID-19 has killed close to a million people globally over the course of the pandemic. On top of the coronavirus, there’s been significant floods in Uganda, Kenya, Pakistan and the UK, Australia has experienced devastating bush fires, storms have battered the Americas, and locusts have devastated parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Now, parts of the US west coast are disaster zones amid ongoing wildfires.

But if you think this year is bad, think again.

Here, in this article republished from Pursuit, University of Melbourne experts [including Catherine Kovesi (History) and Frederick Vervaet (Classics & Archaeology)] take a look at some of the other thoroughly difficult years in human history – and how we made it to the other side.

Read full article here: https://blogs.unimelb.edu.au/shaps-research/2020/09/21/other-awful-years-in-history/

Volcanic Winter and Pandemic Pandemonium

The Empress Theodora with her entourage pictured in a mosaic at the Basilique San Vitale, Ravenna. Picture: Roger Culos/Wikimedia Commons

A terrible onslaught of bubonic plague in the sixth century abruptly ended Emperor Justinian’s dream of reunifying the Roman empire and caused massive geopolitical upheaval

Associate Professor Frederik Vervaet, University of Melbourne chronicles the ‘management’ of this historically significant plague by the Emperor Justinian.  Like many leaders today during our current coid-19 pandemic, he also received ‘mixed reviews’.

Read more here.

Coronavirus: What past pandemics teach us about COVID-19

The flu pandemic of 1918 was terrifying through its sheer lethality.

As we begin to emerge from social isolation into a “new normal”, much remains unknown. At this liminal moment, Monash historians and archaeologists take the opportunity to look to the past – to discover precedents for our current situation, new perspectives we might take, or even some consolation we may find in our forebears’ pathways to recovery.

Read more here

Science Alone Can’t Solve Covid-19. The Humanities Must Help

In recent months world leaders have mobilized seemingly every technological resource at their disposal to stem the threat of the Covid-19 pandemic. Evidence and scientific opinion have gained newfound respect; decision makers have arguably become better at listening to scientists and following their directives.

But the virus has also exposed social problems that, by their very nature, go beyond science: deep-rooted health and social inequalities, a fractured political response, mental health challenges associated with home confinement. All this points to systemic issues that are broader than the immediate public health emergency. Here, science still has a role to play, but it is a supporting one to the humanities and social sciences.

Read more here.

Image: Thomas de LUZE /Unsplash