Plague Sundays!

Here at Humanities for Young People (HYP), we’re pretty disappointed that we can’t gather in the traditional HYP way this year. To tide us over, we decided to create a virtual HYP so that we can all ponder and process this plague year together. So, throughout May 2021, HYP will be presenting Plague Sundays!, a bi-weekly engagement with a group of interdisciplinary artists, activists, and theorists to apply humanities expertise to all things viral. We will be tackling all kinds of plague-related issues such as plagues from the past, viruses today, how COVID is discussed in the media, and how art can help us in our isolation from one another.

Tune in on May 2^nd from 4-5 p.m. (AST) for a Blast from the Past with Dr. Simon Kow and Hilary Ilkay; May 16^th (likewise, 4-5 p.m. [AST]) for A Talkshow on Neo Viralism hosted by Dr. Laura Penny, featuring Dr. OmiSoore Dryden, Dr. Hamza Karam Ally, and Dr. Ryan Conrad , and finally on May 30^th (4-5 p.m. [AST]) for the The Covidean Everyday with Tim Currie and Sue Goyette.

Blast from the Past

Before we discovered viruses, there were vapors. If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to experience a pandemic from the past, this is the webinar for you! In Blast from the Past, Dr. Simon Kow, Director of the Early Modern Studies Program at King’s, and Hilary Ilkay, Tutor in the Foundation Year Program and beloved Faculty Fellow, will lead you through pandemics in Ancient Greece and 17^th-century London and explore the superstition they spread. This event will take place at 4 p.m. (AST) on May 2^nd, 2021. Come online with us and enjoy this Blast from the Past!

Register now

Talkshow: Neo Viralism  

‘Neo-viralism’ is a cool term we bummed from French philosopher Jean-Luc Nancy, who uses it to show how the COVID-19 pandemic is a magnifying glass for the crises besetting neo-liberalism. We are not all in this together. In this webinar, we will discuss determinants of health, intensified xenophobia, and the impacts of COVID on marginalized communities. Laura Penny will be hosting three expert panelists: Dr. OmiSoore Dryden, James R. Johnson Chair in Black Canadian Studies in the Faculty of Medicine and Associate Professor at Dalhousie University, Dr. Hamza Karam Ally, Faculty Fellow in the Foundation Year program and Instructor in the Contemporary Studies program, and  Dr. Ryan Conrad , an activist, artist, and cultural studies scholar who specializes in film, media, and HIV/AIDS. This will be a lively and vital discussion and one you won’t want to miss! Join our webinar at 4 p.m. (AST) on May 16^th to tune into this Plague Sunday talkshow.

Register now

The Covidean Everyday

COVID is not the only plague—disinformation is also a virus. Through its media coverage, we have never before been so connected on a single issue, but we have also never been as isolated from one another. How do we understand all the information coming at us everyday? How do we know what or who to trust? And how do we navigate this paradox of being so connected and so disconnected from each other?  In The Covidean Everyday, the director of the King’s School of Journalism, Tim Currie, will be leading us through the tricky media landscape that COVID has created. And, given that one of the oldest ways that communities have coped with plagues was with songs and poetry, we are also super excited to host Halifax Poet Laureate Sue Goyette, who will be talking to us about art and expression in a time of social isolation. And who knows? Sue might even recite some lockdown poems for us… Join our webinar at 4 p.m. (AST) on May 30^th to tune into our riveting final installment of Plague Sundays!

Register now

Please note

Due to current health and safety concerns, we regret that we are canceling our annual summer Humanities for Young People (HYP) program for 2021. We look forward to offering this program again in the summer of 2022.