Fall 2020
Students in Dr. Katharina Rynkiewich’s course on infectious disease participated in a symposium with medical anthropology students at Washington University in St. Louis to discuss the current COVID-19 pandemic in the context of anthropological work on epidemics.
Dr. Rynkiewich, postdoctoral scholar in Anthropology, taught a similar course at Washington University in Spring 2020, just as COVID-19 emerged. The course provided and anthropological framework with biosocial insights on the immediate effects and impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as its long-term effects. The symposium was convened jointly on November 30, 2020 with Dr. Rynkiewich and Dr. Eleanor Peters Bergquist, of Washington University, Department of Anthropology, with Wash U students in Anthro 3280: Anthropology of Infectious Diseases.
In organizing the COVID-19 symposium, Dr. Rynkiewich and Dr. Bergquist provided an opportunity for shared discussion, reflection, critique, and conversation between students interested in the role of infectious diseases in society. The symposium allowed students to discuss the need for communities to be prepared socially, politically and structurally for a future health crisis beyond COVID-19. In the symposium, Dr. Rynkiewich and Dr. Bergquist engaged students in discussing various issues concerning the pandemic, including the politicization of the pandemic and the issue of misinformation. The students emphasized the role of misinformation in the early stages of COVID-19 in contributing to lack of public preparedness.
Dr. Katharina Rynkiewich
The students drew multiple comparisons between national pandemic responses and public health measures. For example, students discussed China’s ability to mitigate the virus compared to the United States. Students also considered the current discourse on why the United Stated has struggled to contain the COVID-19 virus. This highlights issues such as the politicization of mask wearing in the US, a phenomenon that puzzles Dr. Meredith Wylie, an MD who is currently working on a PhD in Anthropology at CWRU: “Whether you’re right, left, or center, masks are not a political issue.”
Students drew attention to the ways in which the debate in the United States has centered on ideas of freedom, liberty, and choice, echoing critiques of “American exceptionalism” in the anthropological literature on infectious diseases. Norma Ojehomon, a CWRU PhD student, pointed to a recent critique of American exceptionalism, noting that “At the beginning of the pandemic there was a lot of panic and concern that many African countries will struggle with COVID-19 pandemic, but there has been a sort of flip whereby the western countries are the ones struggling to contain the virus.” Students also commented on the impact of national coherence among state governments, with each state having their own rules and laws on quarantining and social distancing.
Importantly, students in both classes pointed to the systemic inequities and health disparities exacerbated by COVID-19 in the United States as a major impact of the pandemic. Racial and ethnic minorities in the United States have been devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has exploited already existing gaps in the American healthcare system. In sum, the students’ observations highlight the ongoing need for attention to the biosocial impacts of infectious diseases to understand epidemics in the past, present, and future.
Thanks to Immaculata Ajuogu, CWRU PhD student, for providing this account of the symposium.