The Conversation

A pragmatist philosopher's view of the US response to the coronavirus pandemic

Written by Johnathan Flowers, Visiting Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Worcester State University

American thinker John Dewey in 1946.JHU Sheridan Libraries/Gado/Getty Images

Though many in the U.S. are disoriented and disheartened by the lack of an effective federal response to the coronavirus pandemic, John Dewey, an American philosopher, psychologist and educator, would not have been surprised.

Dewey presented a nuanced analysis of democracy,...

Uruguay quietly beats coronavirus, distinguishing itself from its South American neighbors – yet again

Written by Jennifer Pribble, Associate Professor of Political Science and Global Studies, University of Richmond

Life is resuming in Uruguay, where some students returned to school in April and the remainder will go back in on June 29. Daniel Rodrigues/adhoc/AFP via Getty Images)

Latin America is the world’s new coronavirus epicenter, but Uruguay – a small South American nation of 3.5 million people – has so far avoided the devastation...

Are we all OCD now, with obsessive hand-washing and technology addiction?

Written by David Rosenberg, Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Wayne State University

What once looked like obsessive-compulsive disorder has become normal when faced with a deadly pandemic. Busà Photography via Getty Images

One of the hallmarks of obsessive-compulsive disorder is contamination fears and excessive hand-washing. Years ago, a patient with severe OCD came to my office wearing gloves and a mask and refused to sit...

India's goddesses of contagion provide protection in the pandemic – just don't make them angry

Written by Tulasi Srinivas, Professor of Anthropology, Religion and Transnational Studies, Institute for Liberal Arts and Interdisciplinary Studies, Emerson College

'Maa Bharati On Coronavirus'Sandhya Kumari/Gallerist.in, CC BY-SA

Hindus in India have had a helping hand – several in fact – when it comes to fighting deadly contagions like COVID-19: multi-armed goddesses co-opted to help contain and kill pestilence.

Collectively known as “Amman,” or the Divine Mother, the goddesses of...

Coronavirus shows how ageism is harmful to health of older adults

Written by Paul Nash, Instructional Associate Professor of Gerontology, University of Southern California

In Ventura, California, a woman who is social isolating greets a little boy who has come to visit.Getty Images / Brent Stirton

People over 65 years old account for about 80% of the deaths related to COVID-19 in the U.S. But we have to consider comorbidity, not just the number of years lived. Older people more likely live with underlying health...

No justice, no peace: Why Catholic priests are kneeling with George Floyd protesters

Written by Anna L. Peterson, Professor of Religion, University of Florida

Bishop Mark Seitz and priests from his diocese knelt for 8 minutes and 46 seconds to honor George Floyd, El Paso, June 1, 2020.Courtesy of Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters, CC BY-ND

Two days after the Catholic bishop of El Paso, Mark Seitz, knelt with a dozen other priests in a silent prayer for George Floyd holding a “Black Lives...

Being convicted of a crime has thousands of consequences besides incarceration – and some last a lifetime

Written by Cynthia Golembeski, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Research Scholar; School of Law/School of Public Affairs and Administration J.D./Ph.D. Student, Rutgers University Newark

These women were released from an Oklahoma prison in 2019. AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki

At least 77 million U.S. adults have criminal records, including nearly 7 million currently in prison or jail or on probation or parole.

Typically, more than 10,000 of the incarcerated leave prison and nearly 200,000 churn through jails every week. But because more than 6...

Why hairdressers, gyms and the Trump campaign are asking people to sign COVID-19 waivers

Written by Elizabeth C. Tippett, Associate Professor, School of Law, University of Oregon

Taking reasonable precautions, like this Iowa barber, will help protect businesses from lawsuitsAP Photo/Charlie Neibergall

Americans venturing out to salons and gyms after weeks sheltering in place will have to learn a new ritual: signing away their right to sue.

My local YMCA now asks anyone wishing to use its gym to sign a waiver. My...

What the archaeological record reveals about epidemics throughout history – and the human response to them

Written by Charlotte Roberts, Professor of Archaeology, Durham University

Dead men do tell tales through their physical remains.AP Photo/Francesco Bellini

The previous pandemics to which people often compare COVID-19 – the influenza pandemic of 1918, the Black Death bubonic plague (1342-1353), the Justinian plague (541-542) – don’t seem that long ago to archaeologists. We’re used to thinking about...

Was the coronavirus outbreak an intelligence failure?

Written by Erik J. Dahl, Associate Professor of National Security Affairs, Naval Postgraduate School

Dan Coats, left, then director of national intelligence, told Congress in 2019 about the potential danger of a pandemic.Office of the Director of National Intelligence

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to unfold, it’s clear that having better information sooner, and acting more quickly on what was known, could have slowed the spread of...