Keith Wailoo, PhD, Henry Putnam University Professor of History and Public Affairs at Princeton University, gave a wide-ranging presentation about pain and prejudice throughout history. Prof. Wailoo is an award-winning author on drugs and drug policy; race, science, and health; genetics and society; and the history of medicine, disease, health policy, and medical affairs.
From epidemics past to the present crisis, societies respond in similar ways. Prof. Wailoo drew parallels between past pandemics and the current one, comparing social attitudes, fears, and mask debates then and now, illustrated with photographs, news headlines, and political cartoons from the 1800s to the present.