CfP: Public Health and Disease in the American Century (Online)
We invite applications to a conference dedicated to situating the COVID-19 pandemic in American and global history. The COVID-19 pandemic has confronted historians with the disruptive power of infectious disease. The impact of the crisis has been multifaceted, global, and immense in its scale and ramifications. For the United States, the experience has been especially confrontational. As of the time of writing, the US has among the highest rates of infection and the highest number of deaths of any country on the planet. The virus (and the measures taken to contain it) has disrupted almost every aspect of American life, revealed and exacerbated social, economic, racial and political fault lines, and raised major constitutional issues concerning the role of federal and state authorities in maintaining social well-being. This public health emergency has also set in motion an as yet uncertain set of consequences for the US’s position in the world. President […]