Lunch Lecture - Karl-Heinz Leven

"Stop the chatter"?

Science communication in times of plague. Perspectives from Medical History

The Corona pandemic is not the first global epidemic in history and certainly not the last. History of medicine as a discipline has the task of "pattern recognition," which can be described in a few questions: Are there similarities of responses to epidemics in societies of different eras and cultures? What explanations for the disasters are considered as scholarly and scientifically based, and how do policy makers, interest groups and the public perceive these explanations?

Do we recognize such "patterns" in the current pandemic crisis as well? And what about the equally obvious differences? Are there learning processes from earlier epidemics: What progress has been achieved by scientific medicine since the late 19th century? Where are the differences and similarities in responses and coping strategies? And why do many features of the present pandemic remind us of pre-modern patterns of thought? Using a multi-perspective approach, this talk will attempt to answer these questions in a historical context.