Risk and the COVID-19 pandemic discussed online by MSU鈥檚 humanities institute
Contact: John Burrow
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擜 草莓视频 faculty member currently quarantined in Germany will provide expert evaluation of the intersection of COVID-19 and the human perspective of risk during a live interview via Facebook this Thursday [May 14].
Davide Orsini, an assistant professor in MSU鈥檚 Department of History, will offer his perspectives on risk, how governments and people have historically handled risk, and the problems associated with risk management during the COVID-19 pandemic during an 11 a.m. interview with Julia Osman, director of MSU鈥檚 Institute for the Humanities and associate professor of history.
The online discussion will be featured via the聽.
鈥淒r. Orsini is Italian by nationality, but he has lived and worked in the United States for the last several years, and is currently riding out the virus in Germany,鈥 said Osman. 鈥淚鈥檓 eager to see what his international experiences can tell us about how the U.S. is handling the virus鈥攂oth officially and individually鈥攊n comparison to other countries.鈥澛
鈥淚 am especially interested in talking to Dr. Orsini because, while there have always been risks associated with everything we do, the virus is forcing us to revisit how we think of the risks we鈥檙e taking,鈥 Osman said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 difficult when we hear confusing information or when we see other countries or states do things differently.鈥
Orsini鈥檚 research is focused on intersections of science and technology studies, nuclear studies, environmental history and anthropology, and the history of empires, with a global historical approach to modern Europe鈥攅specially the Mediterranean area鈥攁nd the U.S.
鈥淥ne of my research interests can be condensed in the following question: How do we deal with invisible risks?鈥 said Orsini. 鈥淥ne of the problems with SARS-CoV 2 is that the virus is invisible and the time of incubation in individuals is of 14 days on average. We start getting quite wary of other people, especially strangers, when they get too close to us. So, how do we understand and cope with risk now?
鈥淚 hope that during the interview a more nuanced view of how experts and non-experts understand the risks鈥攂oth personal and collective鈥攐f the current pandemic will emerge,鈥 said Orsini. 鈥淚n particular, I would like to offer some perspective on why and how different individuals, groups, expert communities, and governments understand and face risk differently. Why do some people react to this pandemic by taking risks, like going grocery shopping without masks or distancing from other clients? Why do some governments decide to reopen economic activities while others decide to adopt more precautionary measures?鈥
Orsini said one of the main lessons he takes from studying the history of risk is that risk is not an 鈥渁bsolutely objective鈥 category, but rather that risk assessment is an activity requiring expertise. 鈥淏ut different experts have different approaches to calculating risks,鈥 Orsini said.
鈥淯nderstandings of risk are also highly contextual,鈥 he said. 鈥淭hey depend on cultural values and political opportunities.鈥 Orsini stressed the importance of finding 鈥済ood, reliable information鈥 which 鈥渞equires effort, and right now we are also in the middle of what communication experts call 鈥榠nfodemia.鈥 We need to critically evaluate what political authorities decide to do on the basis of what expert authorities recommend.鈥
Orsini earned his bachelor鈥檚 and master鈥檚 degrees at the University of Siena, Italy, and his Ph.D. and a graduate certificate in Science, Technology, and Society from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He currently is finalizing a manuscript analyzing the political, ecological and public health controversies following the installation of a U.S. Navy base for nuclear submarines in the Archipelago of La Maddalena (Sardinia) between 1972 and 2008.
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