The Moral Contagion

While the COVID-19 pandemic has been a harrowing and challenging experience for all of us, humanity has encountered numerous pandemics throughout history. From the sixth-century outbreak in Constantinople to occurrences in Islamic Spain during medieval times, and later in London, Aleppo, Hong Kong, Bombay, San Francisco, and South Africa in the modern age, the history of pandemics is intertwined with the narrative of modern civilization. 

The Moral Contagion is an insightful and absorbing take on that story. Based on Julia Hauser's rigorous scholarship and enhanced by Sarnath Banerjee's wry illustrations, this utterly gripping book playfully melds meticulous research with imaginative storytelling to create a graphic narrative about pandemics and reflect on how societies and individuals tend to react when faced with an adversary that is, literally, larger than life.

Day & Date: Saturday, 2nd March 2024
Time: 18:30 hrs 
Venue: Garden | Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Pune  Copies of The Moral Contagion will be available for sale during the event.

SPEAKERS:

Julia Hauser
Julia Hauser is a senior lecturer in Modern History at the University of Kassel, Germany, and an alumna of the Arab–German Young Academy of Sciences and Humanities (AGYA). Among her publications are “German Religious Women in Late Ottoman Beirut: Competing Missions” (Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2015) and “A Taste for Purity. An Entangled History of Vegetarianism: Columbia Studies in International and Global History” (New York: Columbia University Press, 2024).

Sarnath Banerjee
Sarnath Banerjee is a renowned graphic novelist and illustrator who has been recognized as a fellow of prestigious institutions such as the Akademie Schloss Solitude in Stuttgart, the Indian Foundation for the Arts in Bangalore, and the MacArthur Foundation. His notable works include "Corridor" (Penguin, 2004), "The Barn Owl's Wondrous Capers" (Penguin, 2007), "The Harappa Files" (HarperCollins, 2011), "All Quiet in Vikaspuri" (HarperCollins, 2015), and "Doab Dil" (Penguin, 2019), among others.

MODERATION

© Gautam Pemmaraju Gautam Pemmaraju
Gautam Pemmaraju is a Mumbai based independent writer, researcher & filmmaker working in the areas of history, literature, and art. He has a special interest in Indian anti-colonialism of the early 20th century and the cultural history of the Deccan.