After the pandemic, how will society remember more than 3 million lives lost to COVID-19? This spring, the Remembering Epidemics course delved into both the history of disease outbreaks in Philadelphia and the nature of public commemoration and collective memory. The National Covid Memorial Wall, consisting of more than 150,000 hearts hand-painted by volunteers representing each person lost to COVID-19 in the UK, stretches more than one third of a mile along the River Thames opposite the Palace of Westminster. (Image: Jim Osley)
To date, more than 3 million people worldwide have lost their lives to COVID-19. But while some countries move forward with vaccination campaigns and business reopenings, a resurgence in India and South America is a stark reminder of the pandemic’s severe and ongoing toll. Society’s staggered return towards “normal” also begs the question of what we will learn when this once-in-a-cen