- This event has passed.
Why Social Infrastructure Matters in Crisis: COVID-19 and Beyond
February 23, 2021 at 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm
Northeastern-Seattle’s College of Social Sciences and Humanities is launching a virtual faculty speaker series. Dr. Daniel P. Alrdich is hosting the opening event: Why Social Infrastructure Matters in Crisis: COVID-19 and Beyond.
Most approaches to handling disasters and shocks revolve around physical infrastructure, whether it’s sea walls for tsunamis, personal protective equipment and hand sanitizer for COVID-19, or hardened bunkers for missile attacks. But a growing body of evidence shows that social infrastructure—the ties that we have to each other through civic engagement, trust, and participation—have a larger impact on disaster and crisis outcomes than we recognize. Aldrich will use data from a variety of events, including Japan’s 3/11 disasters, evacuations from North American hurricanes, and COVID-19 outcomes around the world—to show how social capital and trust matter and help us survive and thrive during shocks.
About the Speaker
Dr. Daniel P. Aldrich is director of the Security and Resilience Studies program and professor of political science and public policy at Northeastern University in Boston. Aldrich has published five books and written more than 50 peer-reviewed articles and op-eds for the New York Times, CNN, and many other media outlets. He has spent more than five years in India, Japan, and Africa carrying out fieldwork.
The event will take place, Tuesday, February 23 2021 at 3:00 to 4:00 PM EST. To register, click here.