The project involves the development of a Pandemic and Society institute with a fourfold mission: to support collaborative, cross-disciplinary research on the social dimensions of infectious disease; to advocate for the inclusion of humanities and social science perspectives in health; to shape public debate on infectious disease; to promote public understanding of medicine, science and technology through community-based art projects.
The project has developed from Peckham's experience of running a cross-faculty university medical humanities research center since 2009, as well as his interventions as a humanities scholar in public debates on health.
The project involves the translation of humanities research and expertise beyond academia to promote community engagement and to inform public debate. It also pivots on the reciprocal translation of the humanities into biomedical and health domains.
Public interventions on the social and cultural dimensions of the pandemic viewed from Hong Kong: multiple opinion-pieces, articles, online essays, academic papers, interviews, and a short film for Bloomberg 'Can We Overcome Pandemics?' (February 2020).
Explore the Humanities pathways that led to this project
Hong Kong, China