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ELT 5 – How do sociologists understand and study pandemics?
Our semester was abruptly disrupted on March 12 when the BC provincial government banned all public gatherings over 250 people and UBC immediately cancelled all large lecture over 250. Since that Thursday life in Canada has dramatically changed. The Canadian government has closed the borders to foreign nationals, schools have closed, non-essential stores have shut their doors, Canadians abroad have been asked to return home and quarantine for 14 days (while some people can return others are trapped in countries like Peru and Italy.) Last week the liberals announced an Economic response plan where they plan to provide up to $27 billion dollars to support business and worker. The news is covering COVID 19 on a 24-hour loop. These drastic government responses fueled by a constant flow of information on the COVID 19 outbreak has created mass panic. Public health keeps asking the public to engage in social distancing and stay home. The public reacted in many ways. Some people were shopping and stocking up on toilette paper, masks, hand sanitizer and soap. Other people are denying the seriousness of the virus. Needless to say, the Coronavirus has changed the way we are working, socializing, and relating to other people.
How is a pandemic defined? Who has the power to define COVID 19 as one? How do other use competing definitions in an attempt to change or alter that definition? That is, how has COVID 19 been defined? What is the role of the media in pandemics? How is the media treating the COVID 19 outbreak? How has government responded to the outbreak? How have citizens responded to the virus? What do these responses say about our societies? What are the consequences of the government’s decisions to declare public emergencies, close the borders to foreign nationals, limit services provided? Will everyone in Canada receive the same medical attention if they fall ill from the virus?
How does the coronavirus compare to other disease outbreaks around the world (for example tuberculosis in India, the Zika virus, HIV, swine flu)?
Student answered half of the question in a paragraph form. Student appears to understand theories and concept but needs to explain them more clearly. Started to apply concepts and theories but was missing key points. There were many spelling and grammatical errors that took away from the student’s ideas. Includes some citations and there are some errors in formatting.
Student did not answer the questions in paragraph form. Student did not comprehend or apply sociological theories appropriately. It was difficult to understand what they were discussing and there were many citation and grammatic problems.
Did not follow the instructions and complete the task as proposed.
