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  • Home
  • About RSIS
      • Introduction
      • Building the Foundations
      • Welcome Message
      • Board of Governors
      • Staff Profiles
        • Executive Deputy Chairman’s Office
        • Dean’s Office
        • Management
        • Distinguished Fellows
        • Faculty and Research
        • Associate Research Fellows, Senior Analysts and Research Analysts
        • Visiting Fellows
        • Adjunct Fellows
        • Administrative Staff
      • Honours and Awards for RSIS Staff and Students
      • RSIS Endowment Fund
      • Endowed Professorships
      • Career Opportunities
      • Getting to RSIS
  • Research
      • Research Centres
        • Centre for Multilateralism Studies (CMS)
        • Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS Centre)
        • Centre of Excellence for National Security (CENS)
        • Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies (IDSS)
        • International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research (ICPVTR)
      • Research Programmes
        • National Security Studies Programme (NSSP)
        • Studies in Inter-Religious Relations in Plural Societies (SRP) Programme
      • Future Issues and Technology Cluster
      • [email protected] Newsletter
      • Other Research
        • Science and Technology Studies Programme (STSP) (2017-2020)
  • Graduate Education
      • Graduate Programmes Office
      • Overview
      • MSc (Asian Studies)
      • MSc (International Political Economy)
      • MSc (International Relations)
      • MSc (Strategic Studies)
      • NTU-Warwick Double Masters Programme
      • PhD Programme
      • Exchange Partners and Programmes
      • How to Apply
      • Financial Assistance
      • Meet the Admissions Team: Information Sessions and other events
      • RSIS Alumni
  • Alumni & Networks
      • Alumni
      • Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior Military Officers (APPSMO)
      • Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior National Security Officers (APPSNO)
      • International Strategy Forum-Asia (ISF-Asia)
      • SRP Executive Programme
      • Terrorism Analyst Training Course (TATC)
  • Publications
      • RSIS Publications
        • Annual Reviews
        • Books
        • Bulletins and Newsletters
        • Commentaries
        • Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses
        • Commemorative / Event Reports
        • IDSS Paper
        • Interreligious Relations
        • Monographs
        • NTS Insight
        • Policy Reports
        • Working Papers
        • RSIS Publications for the Year
      • Glossary of Abbreviations
      • External Publications
        • Authored Books
        • Journal Articles
        • Edited Books
        • Chapters in Edited Books
        • Policy Reports
        • Working Papers
        • Op-Eds
        • External Publications for the Year
      • Policy-relevant Articles Given RSIS Award
  • Media
      • Great Powers
      • Sustainable Security
      • Other Resource Pages
      • Media Highlights
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    S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies Think Tank and Graduate School Ponder The Improbable Since 1966
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    • RSIS Virtual Roundtable with Dr Adam Garfinkle, RSIS Distinguished Visiting Fellow; and Founding Editor of The American Interest

    RSIS Virtual Roundtable with Dr Adam Garfinkle, RSIS Distinguished Visiting Fellow; and Founding Editor of The American Interest

    COVID-19: The Literature on Pandemics

    04 May 2020 11:00 - 12:00
    Zoom
    Office Attire
    Type: Roundtables
    By Invitation
    Google Calendar

    The RSIS Virtual Roundtable is open only to RSIS staff and students.

     

    Abstract

    Some truths and insights about human nature, including human social and political nature, are better expressed in fiction than in the didactic works of scholars.  Plenty of literature exists, in English or English translation, about plagues, and these can easily be brought together in a talk that can shed light on our own circumstances.

    Such a talk could include these five different kinds of works:  Daniel Defoe, In the Year of the Plague (1722); Albert Camus, The Plague (1947); Michael Crichton, The Andromeda Strain (1971); Paulo Bacigalupi, The Windup Girl (2009); and Emily St. John Mandel, Station Eleven (2014).

    Each one of these books bears its own merits. Examined together in a comparative framework, they bear insight that is more than the sum of the five parts. While government experts must focus on large problem-solving formulae, we as individuals and as families have emotional needs that such a comparative literary framework can service.

     

    About the Speaker

    Adam Garfinkle is on a year-long engagement at RSIS as Distinguished Visiting Fellow. Aside from being Founding Editor of The American Interest, Dr Garfinkle has served as Editor of The National Interest, as Principal Speechwriter to the U.S. Secretary of State while attached to the Policy Planning Staff of the State Department, was chief writer of the Hart-Rudman Commission reports, and has taught at several institutions of higher education including SAIS/Johns Hopkins. His PhD in International Relations is from the University of Pennsylvania.

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    RSIS Virtual Roundtable with Dr Adam Garfinkle, RSIS Distinguished Visiting Fellow; and Founding Editor of The American Interest
    The RSIS Virtual Roundtable is open only to RSIS staff and students.   Abstract

    Some truths ...

    more info