New writing on the coronavirus crisis – free from Cambridge University Press
Some of the brightest minds writing for Cambridge University Press will share their reflections on the coronavirus pandemic in a new series of online essays.
Hosted on the the Press’ 1584 blog, the essays in Cambridge Reflections will be free to read and will include thoughts and insights from its authors around the globe and across all disciplines, including the humanities, sciences, medicine and social science.
Alex Wright, Senior Executive Publisher and Head of Humanities at the Press, said: “At its heart, our publishing has always been about outreach and education in the broadest sense. The aim with these pieces is to provide a resource in times of need – digestible, bite-sized nuggets of reflection that can be drawn on anywhere someone has access to the internet.”
He added: “There is, of course, a huge focus on overcoming the immediate challenges thrown up by the coronavirus: on keeping society and the economy running, on keeping people safe, and on developing tests, apps and hopefully a vaccine that will allow us to get the pandemic under control.
“But many people are also left with lots of time for reflection and with understandable anxieties about the future. As well as being diverting and engaging, we believe this new writing can help readers to gain understanding, perspective and perhaps even some comfort. If ever there were a time for reflection on how to make things better in the longer term it would seem to be now.”
Among the first blogs to appear are contributions from: Vona Groarke, editor of Poetry Ireland Review, on the role of words and poetry in the age of coronavirus; Simon Keefe, the J. R. Hoyle Chair of Music at the University of Sheffield, who muses on Mozart, epidemics and hope; Sabine Huebner, Professor of Ancient History at the University of Basel, who looks at the pandemic which swept the Roman Empire of the third century; Adam Oliver from the Department of Social Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science, who considers the role of behavioural science in the UK Government’s early response to the pandemic; and Devin Griffiths, an English Professor at the University of Southern California, who asks what Darwin’s insights might teach us about the relationship and even interdependence between people and viruses.
Various authors write about the profound effects on the pandemic and of lockdowns on cities as diverse as New York, New Orleans, Paris, Dublin and Buenos Aires, while other essays come from the fields of law, earth sciences and economics. Many more will follow, with plans to publish around five new pieces each day.
Mandy Hill, Managing Director of Academic Publishing at the Press, said: “We are incredibly proud of our authors, they are our best resource, and a great many are wrestling with how best to apply their knowledge to a fast-moving and volatile situation where people are having to find new ways of staying connected and engaged.
“This new series of blogs and opinion pieces offers a way for them to do just that. It offers authors across our publishing somewhere to share their perspectives on the crisis with as wide a readership as possible. We hope that people find them valuable.”