The Covid-19 pandemic highlights the extraordinary interweaving of fields that are not necessarily considered in their interdependence, and are therefore not dealt with in an integrated way: health, research, socio-anthropology, demography, politics, economics, work-employment, law, culture, philosophy, memory-history, religions, etc.
By insinuating itself into the interstices of our systems, it reveals the weaknesses of our societies and our national and international institutions. This Covid-19 pandemic also illustrates the consequences of mankind's growing footprint on the planet.
Professors at the Collège de France - both active and honorary - have taken action in response to this crisis, offering, in the form of filmed interviews, reflections and perspectives in their respective fields, beyond the immediacy of the media, collectively proposing a reflection and guidelines for the "post-Covid" era. The two main "nodes" of reflection structuring the initiative are:
- "Health policy and political health: trust, sovereignty, solidarity". Towards deciphering the determinants of the health, economic and social crisis.
- "Pandemic environments: people, societies, ecosystems, climate and energy transition"
The European horizon is a characteristic of the "Covid Initiative", both in its desire to extend its initial core to other European institutions, and in its ambition to think collectively "post-Covid".
This initiative takes several forms. On the one hand, several international seminars will be organized to propose an interdisciplinary approach to some of the major questions raised by the epidemic and its consequences. On the other hand, a series of interviews with professors from the Collège de France, to be found below, propose different points of view on what we can expect from the "post-Covid" era.
The first of these seminars, on Covid and inequality, took place on January 15, 2021, and is available online.
The second dealt with the European vaccine development strategy and took place on June 23, 2021, under the responsibility of Profs Philippe Aghion (Collège de France) and Mathias de Watripont (ULB).
The third dealt with " Human rights to the test of Covid " and took place on September 17, 2021, under the responsibility of Profs Samantha Besson (Collège de France) and Justine Lacroix (ULB).
On the Fondation Hugot's YouTube channel, you'll find all the contributions made by Collège de France professors.
To date, they include the following professors:
- Philippe Sansonetti, Professor Emeritus, Chair of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (2008-2020)
- François Héran, Professor, Chair of Migration and Society
- Samantha Besson, Professor, Chair of International Institutional Law
- Mireille Delmas-Marty, late professor, Chair in Comparative Legal Studies and the Internationalization of Law (2003-2011)
- Alain Fischer, Professor Emeritus, Chair of Experimental Medicine (2013-2020)
- Philippe Aghion, Professor, Economics of Institutions, Innovation and Growth Chair
- Lluis Quintana-Murci, Professor, Chair of Human Genomics and Evolution
- Marc Fontecave, Professor, Chair of Chemistry of Biological Processes
- Arnaud Fontanet, professor in the annual Public Health chair (2018-2019)
- Jean-Jacques Hublin, Professor in the International Paleoanthropology Chair
- Philippe Kourilsky, Professor Emeritus, Chair of Molecular Immunology (1998-2012)
- Chris Bowler, professor in the Biodiversity and Ecosystems annual chair (2020-2021)