World Knowledge Dialogue 2021

Why are certain well-known infectious diseases, whose prevention and treatment are in theory mastered by modern medicine, not disappearing and even in some cases increasing again? One disciplinary approach alone cannot address this complex question. The World Knowledge Dialogue 2021 (WKD 2021) aims at mobilising a wide range of expertise in medicine, epidemiology, arts and the humanities, public health, and publishing. It will take place online on May 10th and 11th 2021, allowing anyone interested to attend and be part of the ongoing discussions about these important issues. The working languages are English and French.

The themes of the WKD 2021 include prophylaxis, the public representations of disease and their impact on medical funding, approaches to testing and therapy, and the political and moral underpinnings of infectious diseases. The WKD 2021 proposes original approaches to infectious diseases:

- We focus on the end – or non-end, rather than the emergence and spread, of infectious diseases,

- We aim to cast new light on current biomedical issues through long-term historical perspectives,

- We link the biomedical and the socio-cultural history of diseases.

About the World Knowledge Dialogue

World Knowledge Dialogue symposia are scientific events that aim at fostering interdisciplinary, “out of the box” thinking on complex topics. Rather than traditional conference papers, the sessions of the WKD 2021 will focus on online interactive discussions about selected videos and objects – such as sanitary films, maps, or literary excerpts.

The WKD 2021 is a joint initiative of the Triangle Azur consortium constituted by the Universities of Lausanne, Neuchâtel and Geneva. It benefits from joint funding from these three institutions.

→  previous editions of the WKD