"Society's Pre-existing Conditions: Patterns of the History of Pandemics"

The “How It’s Going, How It Started” lecture series wraps up with part five on Tuesday, March 22nd with California State University – Bakersfield Assistant Professor of History Dr. Sean Wempe presenting “Society's Pre-existing Conditions: Patterns of the History of Pandemics.” Wempe’s talk will highlight how pandemics have, throughout history, exacerbated existing inequalities in societies, particularly in terms of race. The talk will focus on the Seven Pandemics of Cholera, the Third Pandemic of Plague, and the ongoing HIV/AIDS Pandemic as examples to help put the current racism and racial disparities associated with the COVID-19 pandemic in context.