Covid-19 has dominated our conversations and thoughts for months and in the meantime we can say that everyone is at least an amateur expert in the field of the new corona virus. Anyone who wants to expand their pandemic knowledge with academic knowledge and methods can go to the new UvA elective Pandemic from September.

Big History teacher Esther Quaedackers set up the course in collaboration with the Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies, because a combination of different perspectives is necessary to explain the global problem. Several colleagues played with the idea of a course on the pandemic, but Quaedacker's big history background was ultimately the deciding factor. "The historical perspective helps to contextualize and pulls us away from the issues of the day."

Read here the complete interview in Folia (in Dutch)