ONLINE | A World of Disasters: Famine, Plague, and Crisis in Global History with Aaron Jakes

• Books & Literature
• Free
• Global Affairs
• History

The profound upheaval wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic has, understandably, invited a wide array of comparisons with past disasters. Of course, societies across the globe have grappled with unexpected, cataclysmic events throughout all of recorded history. But the character, meaning, and experience of such destructive phenomena have varied greatly across world regions and historical eras. In this talk, we will consider together how disasters might be “good to think with,” and how, more specifically, they might allow us to discern and map the movement of large-scale socio-historical transformations.

Presented by Aaron Jakes, Assistant Professor of History and Co-Director of Capitalism Studies.

Prep reading: Selections from ‘Record of Outstanding Events,’ The Bank of England; Sources from the aftermath of the Black Death in Europe.