Emotional Contagion in Times of COVID: From Fear to Hope
Heidi J. Larson, PhD
Director of The Vaccine Confidence Project; Professor of Anthropology, Risk and Decision Science at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Clinical Professor, Department of Health Metrics Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle; Guest Professor, University of Antwerp and KU Leuven, Belgium
Visiting Professor, Department of Medicine, National University of Singapore
Friday, October 29, 2021
9:10 a.m.
Register for the Zoom Meeting here
Professor Larson will talk about her new book, STUCK: How Rumors Start – and Why They Don’t Go Away, and the power of emotions and beliefs in the COVID-19 response. Historic and current inequities breed distrust, which can fuel anxieties and fear around mass vaccination campaigns, while building trust can instill hope, compliance and social cooperation.
She has published widely and lectured internationally on the drivers and enablers of vaccine confidence. She was awarded the 2021 Edinburgh Medal in recognition of her scientific work on the contagion of misinformation and its impact on human health.
The Kassen Lecture, presented annually by the CWRU Department of Anthropology, features the work of prominent female social scientists. The Kassen Lecture series is made possible by the generous support of the estate of the late Drs. Aileen and Julian Kassen.
Dr. Larson’s presentation is co-sponsored by the Case Western Reserve University COVID-19 Task Force and is being presented as the Keynote Speaker for the COVID-19 Pilot Grant Dissemination Day. For more information, click here.