Yale Historian Frank Snowden is the author of Epidemics and Society: From the Black Death to the Present, the World Economic Forum #1 book to read for context on the coronavirus outbreak, and lecturer of the Open Yale Course Epidemics in Western Society Since 1600. He was in Italy, the epicenter of Europe's COVID-19 outbreak, doing research on the history of epidemics when the current pandemic began, and himself survived a COVID-19 infection.

What was Professor Snowden's personal experience with COVID-19 like? What can he tell us about pandemic preparedness and response based on his first-hand observations in Italy and the U.S.? Why has he termed COVID-19 the "first pandemic of globalization?" Why have longstanding warnings from epidemiologists about a forthcoming global pandemic been ignored for so long, and why was the world so unprepared for a pandemic despite such warnings? What role have international organizations like the World Health Organization (WHO) played, and how may WHO's role change in the coming years? What will be the long-term impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic on society? Come join Yale Center Beijing on Saturday morning, December 12, for an intimate discussion with Professor Frank Snowden.