Connecting in the Time of Covid

Overview

From candlelit vigils and national days of reflection to “clapping for carers”, the coronavirus pandemic has been marked by extraordinary acts of solidarity and collective expressions of emotion. Thanks to Zoom and social media platforms such as WhatsApp and Facebook, we’ve also been able to connect virtually with friends and colleagues even as we’ve been stuck at home and close physical connections have been prohibited.

But how have these rituals and modes of connecting affected our experience of the coronavirus pandemic, and who is included and who is excluded? And how are these connections likely to shape the remembrance of Covid-19 in years to come?

Please join the Department of Journalism on Thursday 10th March 2022, for a wide-ranging discussion of the role of social distancing, digital media, and memory in the time of Covid. This is the first of three workshops funded by the Higher Education Innovation Fund and convened jointly with the Science Museum on the theme of “Commemorating Covid, Remembering Pandemics".

N.B. this event is scheduled to take place in person and all timings mentioned refer to UK time. Please take a look at the current guidance for visitors attending in person events at City.

Provisional schedule

• 13:00 - 13:15: registration
• 13.15 - 13:30: introduction
• 13:30 - 14:00: keynote - Rachel Clarke
• 14:00 - 15:00: session 1

Dr Emily Harrop (Marie Curie Research Centre, Cardiff University): “Grief and (dis)connectedness during Covid-19: findings from a national survey of people bereaved during the pandemic”.

Fran Hall (Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice): “The National Covid Memorial Wall”.

Dr Amy Cortvriend (University of Northampton), Lucy Easthope (University of Bath/ Durham University), Jenny Edkins (University of Manchester), and Kandida Purnell (The American International University in London): “The Quality of Life, Death, and Commemoration in a time of Covid-19”.

• 15:00 - 15:30: break
• 15:30 - 16:00: keynote - Professor Andrew Hoskins
• 16:00 - 17:00: session 2

Dr David Tollerton (University of Exeter): “‘Fixing it in Space’: The Desire for Physical Covid-19 Memorialisation and its Varied Manifestations”.

Dr Eleanor O'Keeffe: “The Pandemic’s Digital Turn: a micro analysis of digital mediatisation in Remember Me”.

Eddie Blake (London School of Architecture): “The Architecture of Death”.

• 17:00 - 17:30: roundtable discussion
• 17:30 - 18:00: audience questions and concluding remarks

Speakers

• Professor Andrew Hoskins, Interdisciplinary Research Professor at the University of Glasgow and editor of Memory, Mind and Media.
• Rachel Clarke, NHS palliative care doctor and author of the Sunday Times bestseller Breathtaking, an insider account of working on NHS Covid-19 wards during the pandemic.
• Dr Emily Harrop, Research fellow, Marie Curie Research Centre, University of Cardiff.
• Fran Hall, Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice and CEO of the Good Funeral Guide.
• Dr Amy Cortvriend, University of Northampton.
• Dr Lucy Easthope, University of Bath/ Durham University.
• Professor Jenny Edkins, University of Manchester.
• Kandida Purnell, Assistant Professor of International Relations, The American International University in London.
• Dr David Tollerton, Associate Professor in Jewish Studies and Holocaust Memory, University of Exeter.
• Dr Eleanor O'Keeffe, University of Exeter.
• Eddie Blake, director of architecture and research practice at Studio Palace, London.

For further information contact Dr Mark Honigsbaum, Senior Lecturer in Journalism. City, University of London mark.honigsbaum@city.ac.uk.