In this Book

Being Human during COVID
summary
Science has taken center stage during the COVID-19 crisis; scientists named and diagnosed the virus, traced its spread, and worked together to create a vaccine in record time. But while science made the headlines, the arts and humanities were critical in people’s daily lives. As the world went into lockdown, literature, music, and media became crucial means of connection, and historians reminded us of the resonance of the past as many of us heard for the first time about the 1918 influenza pandemic. As the twindemics of COVID-19 and racial injustice tore through the United States, a contested presidential race unfolded, which one candidate described as “a battle for the soul of the nation."

Being Human during COVID documents the first year of the pandemic in real time, bringing together humanities scholars from the University of Michigan to address what it feels like to be human during the COVID-19 crisis. Over the course of the pandemic, the questions that occupy the humanities—about grieving and publics, the social contract and individual rights, racial formation and xenophobia, ideas of home and conceptions of gender, narrative and representations and power—have become shared life-or-death questions about how human societies work and how culture determines our collective fate. The contributors in this collection draw on scholarly expertise and lived experience to try to make sense of the unfamiliar present in works that range from traditional scholarly essays, to personal essays, to visual art projects. The resulting book is shot through with fear, dread, frustration, and prejudice, and, on a few occasions, with a thrilling sense of hope.
 

Table of Contents

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  1. Cover
  2. open access
  1. Half Title
  2. pp. i-ii
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  1. Title Page
  2. p. iii
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  1. Copyright Page
  2. p. iv
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  1. Contents
  2. pp. v-viii
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  1. Acknowledgments
  2. pp. ix-x
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  1. Introduction
  2. Kristin Ann Hass
  3. pp. 1-20
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  1. Part I: Naming
  2. pp. 21-22
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  1. Chapter 1. This Virus Has No Eyes
  2. Christopher Matthews
  3. pp. 23-42
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  1. Chapter 2. Facing Our Pandemic
  2. Sara Blair
  3. pp. 43-63
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  1. Chapter 3. Living on Loss of Privileges
  2. Patrick Bates, Alexandra Friedman, Adam Kouraimi, Ashley Lucas, Sriram Papolu, and Cozine Welch
  3. pp. 64-71
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  1. Chapter 4. Not Even Past
  2. Michelle McClellan and Aprille McKay
  3. pp. 72-90
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  1. Part II: Waiting
  2. pp. 91-92
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  1. Chapter 5. Waiting = Death
  2. David Caron
  3. pp. 93-116
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  1. Chapter 6. Buddhism, the Pandemic, and the Demise of the Future Tense
  2. Donald Lopez
  3. pp. 117-121
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  1. Chapter 7. COVID Diary
  2. James Cogswell
  3. pp. 122-131
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  1. Chapter 8. Social Distances in Between
  2. Amal Hassan Fadlalla
  3. pp. 132-150
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  1. Part III: Grieving
  2. pp. 151-152
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  1. Chapter 9. Grief and the Importance of Real Things during COVID-19
  2. Suzanne L. Davis
  3. pp. 153-175
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  1. Chapter 10. Looking Backward in Order to Look Forward
  2. Sara Forsdyke
  3. pp. 176-180
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  1. Chapter 11. Protests, Prayers, and Protections
  2. William A. Calvo-Quirós
  3. pp. 181-198
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  1. Chapter 12. Soliloquous Solipsism
  2. Melanie Tanielian
  3. pp. 199-216
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  1. Part IV. Sheltering
  2. pp. 217-218
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  1. Chapter 13. Finding Home between the Vincent Chin Case and COVID-19
  2. Frances Kai-Hwa Wang
  3. pp. 219-220
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  1. Chapter 14. Caged with the Tiger King
  2. Daniel Herbert
  3. pp. 221-232
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  1. Chapter 15. Prosthetics for Right Now
  2. Nick Tobier
  3. pp. 233-240
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  1. Part V: Resisting
  2. pp. 241-242
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  1. Chapter 16. COVID-19's Attack on Women and Feminists' Response
  2. Abigail J. Stewart
  3. pp. 243-249
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  1. Chapter 17. The Virus That Kills Twice
  2. Eimeel Castillo
  3. pp. 250-255
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  1. Chapter 18. "Our Steps Come from Long Ago"
  2. Sueann Caulfield
  3. pp. 256-265
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  1. Chapter 19. Making Sense of Sex and Gender Differences in Biomedical Research on COVID-19
  2. Abigail A. Dumes
  3. pp. 266-270
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  1. Chapter 20. Digital Encounters from an Intersectional Perspective
  2. Marisol Fila
  3. pp. 271-280
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  1. Chapter 21. The Media Discourse on Women-Led Countries in the COVID-19 Pandemic
  2. Verena Klein
  3. pp. 281-286
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  1. Chapter 22. Coronavirus Capitalism and the Patriarchal Pandemic in India
  2. Jayati Lal
  3. pp. 287-311
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  1. Chapter 23. Whose Challenge Is #ChallengeAccepted? Performative Online Activism during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Erasures
  2. Özge Savaş
  3. pp. 312-317
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  1. Chapter 24. COVID-19
  2. Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi and Ronke Olawale
  3. pp. 318-328
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  1. Part VI: Not Waiting
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  1. Chapter 25. COVID-19 through an Asian American Lens
  2. Roland Hwang
  3. pp. 329-335
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  1. Chapter 26. The High Stakes of Blame
  2. David Patterson
  3. pp. 336-343
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  1. Chapter 27. Unmuting Voices in a Pandemic
  2. Nicholas Henriksen and Matthew Neubacher
  3. pp. 344-356
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  1. Chapter 28. Quarantine Rebellions
  2. Anita Gonzalez
  3. pp. 357-388
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  1. Contributors
  2. pp. 389-396
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  1. Index
  2. pp. 397-411
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