Ulrike Bergermann has two recent projects related to COVID-19:
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a contribution to the edited volume Pandemic Media entitled "Pass this on! How to copy the pandemic with Alex Gerbaulet" [in Keidl, Philipp Dominik, et al., eds. Pandemic Media: Preliminary Notes Toward an Inventory. Lüneburg: Meson Press. 2020. The text discusses a short film reflecting the situation of filmmaking in times of a pandemic, commissioned by a film festival (Short Film Festival Oberhausen) that took place online. The film, by Alex Gerbaulet, speaks of contagion and media without pictures.
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the webinar is a seminar that takes place online and comprises a range of topics regarding Covid-19: Historical narratives about pandemics (the plague etc., but also HIV/Aids), typical figurations, metaphors, symbols..., discourse analysis of a broad selection from press coverage (newspapers and tv) regarding the use of graphs, pictures, drama, scapegoats, questions of gendered and racialized tropes, heroes, etc.
Bergermann's webinar is translational regarding health insofar as the ability to judge what you hear in the news helps you to make decisions improving your health. Her publication is a reflection on what "contagion" means within a certain culture, as provided in Gerbaulet's film– touch, proximity, danger, and needs. In so, it promotes self-understanding and self-awareness of situation, feeling, and behavior.
Explore the Humanities pathways that led to this project

Leuven, Belgium