I am currently in the process of transitioning my M.A. level course on Science, Technology, and Development with 11 students to virtual instruction. One of my interests in engaging with COVID-19 is to examine how it (should) informs development ideologies and practices. How should students of development studies retool -- conceptually, methodologically, practically -- in wake of the pandemic?
As a researcher, I’m interested in the political, ecological, and cultural debates around mosquito-borne diseases and the solutions proposed to mitigate them.
When we received the task, my first impulse was to investigate about the contemporary effects of anthropogenic climate change in mosquito-borne diseases in New Orleans. But I was afraid to make the same mistake that I did in my PhD research. I wrote my PhD proposal while based in the US, more specifically in New England, during the Zika epidemic, and proposed to understand how scientists were studying ecological climate change and mosquitoes in Brazil. However, once I arrived in the country the political climate was a much more pressing issue, with the dismantling of health and scientific institutions.
Thus, after our meeting yesterday, and Jason Ludwig’s reminder that the theme of our Field Campus is the plantation, I decided to focus on how it related to mosquitoes in New Orleans.
The Aedes aegypti mosquito and the yellow fever virus it can transmit are imbricated in the violent histories of settler-colonialism and slavery that define the plantation economy. The mosquito and the virus arrived in the Americas in the same ships that brought enslaved peoples from Africa. The city of New Orleans had its first yellow fever epidemic in 1796, with frequent epidemics happening between 1817 and 1905. What caused New Orleans to be the “City of the Dead,” as Kristin Gupta has indicated, was yellow fever. However, as historian Urmi Engineer Willoughby points out, the slave trade cannot explain alone the spread and persistance of the disease in the region: "Alterations to the landscape, combined with demographic changes resulting from the rise of sugar production, slavery, and urban growth all contributed to the region’s development as a yellow fever zone." For example, sugar cultivation created ideal conditions for mosquito proliferation because of the extensive landscape alteration and ecological instabilities, including heavy deforestation and the construction of drainage ditches and canals.
Historian Kathryn Olivarius examines how for whites "acclimatization" to the disease played a role in hierarchies with “acclimated” (immune) people at the top and a great mass of “unacclimated” (non-immune) people and how for black enslaved people "who were embodied capital, immunity enhanced the value and safety of that capital for their white owners, strengthening the set of racialized assumptions about the black body bolstering racial slavery."
As I continue to think through these topics, I wonder how both the historical materialities of the plantation and the contemporary anthropogenic changes might be influencing mosquito-borne diseases in New Orleans nowadays? And more, how the regions’ histories of race and class might still be shaping the effects of these diseases and how debates about them are framed?
The author is Didier Fassin. He is a French anthropologist and sociologist who has conducted fieldwork in Senegal, Ecuador, South Africa, and France. He currently works at the Institute for Advanced Study as a professor of Social Science. He is a trained physician in internal medicine and public health. He works with Doctors Without Borders and focused his early research on medical anthropology, the AIDS epidemic, mortality disparities, and global health. He has received many awards and has been an author on many publications, including several of his own books. His current work focuses on punishment, asylum, inequality, and politics of life. He also studies justice and prison systems.
On the academy's front page, they have information regarding DRLA in the news and other highlights. It would appear that the program is highly regarded. USAID's Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance visits Tulane to speak to students about career opportunities, showing that this program produces leaders that would fit the role of a caring and talented worker. Graduate students were also able to collaborate with local volunteer teams in the Louisiana Flood Recovery. Some Tulane professors also have UNICEF grants, which allow them to help lead UNICEF tranings meant to strengthen social service workfoce. They have met with several governmental agencies and FEMA, which provides a framework highlighting how well esteemed this academy and program really is.
Emily Goldmann, PhD, MPH, is an Assistant Research Professor of Global Public Health at the College of Global Public Health. Her work focuses on social and environmental determinants of mental health conditions such as posttraumatic stress disorder and depression, as well as the mental health consequences of acute health events. She believes that context is important when thinking about mental health conditions and that the causes of mental illnesses are embedded in all aspects of life. She has also worked as an epidemiologist at the NYC Dept of Health and Mental Hygiene in the Bureau of Adult Mental Health following Hurricane Sandy.
Sandro Galea, MD, MPH, DrPH is a physician and epidemiologist. He is the Robert A. Knox Professor and Dean at the Boston University School of Public Health. He has served as the Anna Cheskis Gelman and Murray Charles Gelman Professor and Chair of the Department of Epidemiology at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. He has also held leadership positions at the University of Michigan and at the New York Academy of Medicine. His interests lie in the social production of health of urban populations, with a focus on the causes of brain disorders such as mood-anxiety disorders and substance abuse. He also works on the consequences of mass trauma worldwide. He has published over 600 scientific journal articles, 50 chapters, and 10 books and has received funding from NIH and CDC. His medical degree is from the University of Toronto, and his graduate degrees are from Harvard and Columbia with an honorary doctorate from the University of Glasgow. He has held several prestigous leadership positions.
The system relies on its developers, as mentioned, for support and information. They are also responsible with creating updated versions in order to provide better functionality, but also keep the information up-to-date and accurate.
1. Schmid discusses the aftermath of Fukushima and how the workers at the plant lacked expertise in handling this type of disaster, and as a result, retreated. This is an example of the lack of knowledge among workers and lack of an action plan in case a disaster such as the one that occured happens.
2. Schmid points out how world leaders are recognizing the need for a unified and consice nuclear emergency response plan. One of the leaders include Russian nuclear operator, who suggested that international law should force countries operating nuclear plants to abide by international safety standards.
3. She also points out how executives in the nuclear industry create many rules in order to control the workers. They don't necessarily analyze when, why, and by whom rules are broken, but instead implement more rules. When rule-beinding or judgement calls are made, executives try to conceal them instead of learn from them, which is part of the issue at hand. Improvisation is very important. Especially when it emphasizes the expertise of the executives. During an emergency, improvisation would show what experts have experienced and how well they can lead and cooperate.
The main point of this article is that medicine needs human experience through stories and vignettes in order to provide better diagnoses and outcomes for patients. This author highlights the importance for doctors to consider stories and personal anecdotes when deciding what would be best for their patient.