CfP: Post-Pandemic Disciplinarity

Taking inspiration from this thoughtful piece by Jennifer Clark and Adele Nye on History, we invite short reflections on Covid-19 and its implications for disciplinarity. In recent months we have seen a rapid turn towards Covid across the research community, as part of what has been called the Covidization of research. This total mobilisation of research capacity is understandable in the context of the present crisis but it poses questions for disciplinarity which have not yet been addressed:

  • How are specific disciplines placed to meet the challenges of the pandemic?
  • How might formal and informal hierarchies of disciplines be transformed by the crisis?
  • What implications will this crisis have for the public standing of disciplines?
  • Are new modes of interdisciplinarity emerging under these circumstances?
  • If the Covidization of research deepens the shift towards Mode 2 knowledge, what does this mean for the Social Sciences and Humanities?
  • What should the public role of the Social Sciences and Humanities be during this crisis?
  • Is there a risk of certain disciplines being displaced or even defunded by the Covidization of research?
  • If the landscape of disciplinarity is undergoing transformation, should graduate training be adapted to take account of this?

These are just suggestions and we welcome any contribution which relates to the overarching theme. We would ask that authors reflect on the post-pandemic dimension to these questions i.e. where might this development lead over the coming years, to the point where the pandemic has passed?

If you would like to contribute then please get in touch to discuss your idea. Contributions are welcome on this topic for either the Observatory (under 700 words) or the Magazine (under 1500 words). Please review our guidance for contributors for more information about style and formatting.


Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

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