Innovative Practices in Social Research

Research focus: A sociological perspective on the COVID-19 pandemic

Assessment: DL 23.05.2020

Write an essay discussing sociological insights into the COVID-19 pandemic and its social organization. Possible topics:

  • Was COVID-19 human-made? The role of economic and social organization in generating the new coronavirus and the associated pandemic
  • The social inequalities of COVID-19
  • Information, misinformation, and the social construction of reality in times of pandemic
  • The role of social organization in pandemic life: the social construction of infection and fatality rates
  • The role of social organization in shaping post-pandemic life

References

  1. Rapoarte IRES privind percepțiile publice în România in perioada pandemiei: https://ires.ro/arhiva/studii
  2. Un articol privind discursurile paradoxale despre pandemie, scris în stil beletristic: Dave Eggers,  3 May 2020, Flattening the Truth on Coronavirus. All your questions about the pandemic, answered. Sort of. NY Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/03/opinion/dave-eggers-coronavirus-questions.html
  3. Despre limbaj și pandemie: Kate Mooney, 5 May 2020, Our Ever-Expanding Virus Vernacular. NY Times.  https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/05/style/language-slang-coronavirus.html
  4. Despre online dating in timpul pandemiei, o opinie parțială dar interesantă: Helen Fischer, 7 May 2020, How Coronavirus Is Changing the Dating Game for the Better. NY Times https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/07/well/mind/dating-coronavirus-love-relationships.html
  5. Un articol excelent și interactiv despre procesul de generare a unui vaccin anti coronavirus. E foarte interesant cum variaza duratele în funcție de reorganizarea socială a procesului:
    Stuart A. Thompson, 30.04.2020, How long will a vaccine really take?
  6. O sinteză foarte bună a măsurilor de relaxare: Ionuț Preda. Ce urmeaza după starea de urgență? Mindcraft. https://mindcraftstories.ro/index.php/2020/04/17/ce-urmeaza-dupa-starea-de-urgenta/
  7. Yuval Harari, The world after coronavirus. Financial Times. https://www.ft.com/content/19d90308-6858-11ea-a3c9-1fe6fedcca75
  8. Bram Ieven, Jan Overwijk, We created this beast. The political ecology of COVID-19. Eurozine. March 23, 2020. https://www.eurozine.com/we-created-this-beast/
  9. Slavoj Žižek, Is Barbarism with a Human Face our Fate? Critical Inquiry. March 18, 2020  https://critinq.wordpress.com/2020/03/18/is-barbarism-with-a-human-face-our-fate/
  10. O privire la pandemia de gripă din 1918 și impactul măsurilor difereințiate de distanțare socială: Nina Strochlic și Riley D. Champine, How some cities ‘flattened the curve’ during the 1918 flu pandemic. March 27, 2020. National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/2020/03/how-cities-flattened-curve-1918-spanish-flu-pandemic-coronavirus/
  11. Un raport al AEI – American Enterprise Institute despre viitorul redeschiderii societății americane, pe etape:  AEI. National coronavirus response: A road map to reopening. March 29, 2020. https://www.aei.org/research-products/report/national-coronavirus-response-a-road-map-to-reopening/
  12. Un scurt video realizat de VisualPolitik despre sistemul de sănătate chinez și posibila conexiune dintre politicile de încurajare a medicinii tradiționale chineze și pandemia COVID-19: VisualPolitik. The crazy HEALTH system in CHINA: What’s WRONG with it? March 31, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzIvmhW9R6o&t=13s
  13. Steven Levy, WIRED, 18.03.2020. “The Doctor Who Helped Defeat Smallpox Explains What’s Coming. Epidemiologist Larry Brilliant, who warned of pandemic in 2006, says we can beat the novel coronavirus—but first, we need lots more testing.” https://www.wired.com/story/coronavirus-interview-larry-brilliant-smallpox-epidemiologist/?itm_campaign=BottomRelatedStories_Coronavirus&itm_content=footer-recirc
  14. Prelegerea TED a dr. Larry Brilliant din 2006: https://www.ted.com/talks/larry_brilliant_my_wish_help_me_stop_pandemics?language=en
  15. Estimări privind restructurările sociale datorate COVID19: Gideon Lichfield, MIT Technology Review, We’re not going back to normal, March 17, 2020: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/615370/coronavirus-pandemic-social-distancing-18-months/
  16. O discuție privind potențialul platformelor online de a contribui la abordarea COVID19: Tristan Harris, March 24, 2020. WIRED. Silicon Valley, It’s Your Chance to Turn the Tide on Covid-19:   https://www.wired.com/story/opinion-this-is-silicon-valleys-chance-to-step-up-for-humanity/
  17. O analiză excelentă a datelor privind incidența Coronavirus, realizată de Thomas Pueyo pe Medium: https://medium.com/@tomaspueyo/coronavirus-act-today-or-people-will-die-f4d3d9cd99ca
  18. O prezentare video persuasivă și bine făcută a acestei analize pe Khan Academy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCa0JXEwDEk&t=683s
  19. Discursul TED al lui Bill Gates ulterior epidemiei Ebola din 2015: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Af6b_wyiwI&t=3s