Conference organized by Benjamin Hegarty, medical anthropologist, Senior Research Associate in the Asia and Pacific Health Program at the Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney, Research Affiliate at Oxford University, and 2024-2025 research fellow at the Paris IAS (FIAS program) and Frédéric Keck, CNRS Research director and Director of the Laboratory of social anthropology, with the participation of the Institut des Civilisations at Collège de France.

Event open to the public with mandatory registration and followed by a cocktail.
In English only.

This conference will be followed by the workshop Symbiotic viruses on March 5, 2025 at the Paris IAS.

Presentation

What do viruses signal about life and death? Viruses cause pandemics, epizootics and plant diseases. At the same time, contemporary virology is highlighting the role of viruses in making possible life on earth. Viral remnants make up 8% of the human genome, and viruses play a crucial role in regulating the earth’s biochemical processes. Bacteriophages (specialized viruses that infect bacteria) are being tested as novel therapeutics for anti-microbial resistant bacteria. Five years after the COVID-19 pandemic, a moment that sparked intensive reflection on the intimacy of the human species with viruses and their entanglement at a planetary scale, the relations between viruses, hosts, and their environment has never been more important. This public panel discussion reflects on the changing scientific and technological view of viruses across the 20th century. It will also include a presentation by artist Taiwan-based artist Pei-Ying Lin on her work, Virophilia.

Participants

- Angela Creager (Princeton University, Paris IAS)
- Benjamin Hegarty (Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney, Oxford, Paris IAS)
- Frederic Keck (CNRS, LAS)
- Eben Kirksey (University of Oxford)
- Pei-Ying Lin (designer and artist)