The COVID-19 pandemic won't be our last&md
ash\;because what makes us vulnerable to pandemics also makes us human. Th
at is the uncomfortable but all-too-timely message of \;The Human
Disease: How We Create Pandemics\, From Our Bodies to Our Beliefs\, w
hich travels through history and around the globe to examine how and why p
andemics are an inescapable threat of our own making. Drawing on dozens of
disciplines&mdash\;from medicine\, epidemiology\, and microbiology to ant
hropology\, sociology\, ecology\, and neuroscience&mdash\;as well as a uni
que expertise in public education about emerging infectious diseases\, bio
logical anthropologist Sabrina Sholts identifies the human traits and tend
encies that double as pandemic liabilities\, from the anatomy that defines
us to the misperceptions that divide us.
Weaving together a we
alth of personal experiences\, scientific findings\, and historical storie
s\, Sholts brings dramatic and much-needed clarity to one of the most prof
ound challenges we face as a species. Though the COVID-19 pandemic looms l
arge in Sholts's account\, it is\, in fact\, just one of the many infectio
us disease events explored in \;The Human Disease. With its e
xpansive\, evolutionary perspective\, the book explains how humanity will
continue to face new pandemics because \;humans cause them\,
by the ways that we are and the things that we do. By recognizing our risk
s\, Sholts suggests\, we can take actions to reduce them. When the next pa
ndemic happens\, and how bad it becomes\, are largely within our highly ca
pable human hands&mdash\;and will be determined by what we do with our ext
raordinary human brains. A presentation you don&rsquo\;t want to miss\, register now!
About the Author: Sabrina Sholts is a biolog
ical anthropologist and Curator of Biological Anthropology at the Smithson
ian's National Museum of Natural History (NMNH). Her research explores int
ersections of human\, animal\, and environmental health in the past and pr
esent. She received her PhD in Anthropology at UC Santa Barbara and was a
postdoctoral researcher at UC Berkeley in Integrative Biology and at Stock
holm University in Biophysics and Biochemistry. Sholts has published widel
y in academic journals including \;American Journal of Biological
Anthropology\, \;Environmental Health Perspectives\,&nbs
p\;JAMA\, PNAS\, \;Scientific Reports\,&nbs
p\;Proceedings of the Royal Society B\, and \;Nature Ecol
ogy &\; Evolution\, and written for popular audiences in \;Scientific American \;and \;Smithsonian Magazine. S
he was named as a World Economic Forum Young Scientist in 2019. In additio
n\, she was Lead Curator of the exhibition \;Outbreak: Epidemics i
n a Connected World \;at the NMNH \;(2018-2022) and a scienti
fic advisor for the related exhibition \;É\;pidé\;mies
: \;Prendre soin du vivant \;at the musé\;e des Conflue
nces in Lyon\, France \;(2024-2025).
Please Register for link to program.
Live Virtual Author Talks \;- \;This ne
w series through Library Speakers Consortium offers live online talks by b
estselling authors of books in a variety of genres. Participants receive a
link to the program when they register. Please see https://libraryc.org/gailborden \;to register
and also view recorded videos of past speakers.