The Annual Maloy Distinguished Lecture on Global Health | Unmasked: COVID, Community, and the Case of Okoboji by Emily Mendenhall

The Science, Technology and International Affairs (STIA) Program, in partnership with the Global Health Initiative and the Mortara Center for International Studies presents:

The Annual Maloy Distinguished Lecture on Global Health

Join us for a panel discussion of Dr. Emily Mendenhall’s latest book, Unmasked: COVID, Community, and the Case of Okoboji.

Monday, April 4th, at 12 pm in Riggs Library.

Emily Mendenhall is a medical anthropologist and Professor in the Science, Technology, and International Affairs (STIA) Program in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

Her book Unmasked is the story of what happened in Okoboji, a small Iowan tourist town when a collective turn from the coronavirus to the economy occurred in the COVID summer of 2020. State political failures, local negotiations among political and public health leaders, and community (dis)belief about the virus resulted in Okoboji being declared a hotspot just before the Independence Day weekend, when an influx of half a million people visit the town. Unmasked is a fascinating and heartbreaking account of where people put their trust, and how isolationist popular beliefs can be in America’s small communities.

RSVP is required. Non-Georgetown guests will be required to show proof of vaccination prior to the event by following the instructions in this link.

Lunch will be served.