Rethinking Democracy | The Everyday

Recorded May 20, 2020. 'And the people stayed home. And read books,
and listened, and rested, and exercised, and made art, and played
games, and learned new ways of being, and were still. And listened
more deeply. Some meditated, some prayed, some danced. Some met
their shadows. And the people began to think differently …' - Kitty
O'Meara As health systems struggle to cope with the rapid spread of
Covid-19, billions of people worldwide are currently living in some
state of lockdown. Schools are closed. Movement is restricted.
Physical interactions are limited to members of the same household.
In the most extreme cases, permits are required to leave the house
at all. In a new world of social distancing and #stayathome, access
to green spaces and time outdoors is increasingly valued. Online
concerts and digital exhibitions are opening up new virtual worlds.
The arts are not only providing much-needed sources of distraction,
but also the tools to process the trauma of the crisis. Humans are
adapting and creating new routines. The lasting psychological
impacts of the pandemic and the associated isolation and economic
downturn, however, are not yet known. The fourth in a five-part
series, this workshop will examine the implications of the Covid-19
on the everyday. Our speakers will discuss their daily lockdown
routines, how their work has been shaped by the pandemic and why
walking is a superpower. The floor will then be open for
participants to respond: to ask questions and to widen the
parameters of the conversation. Panellists Rita Duffy is currently
Artist in Residence at the Trinity Long Room Hub. She is one of
Northern Ireland's groundbreaking artists who began her work
concentrating primarily on the figurative/narrative tradition. Her
art is often autobiographical, including themes and images of Irish
identity, history and politics. Read about Rita's Raft Project at
the Trinity Long Room Hub here. Rishi Goyal is Director of
Medicine, Literature and Society at Columbia University, and an
Emergency Medicine doctor. He is broadly interested in the
intersection of medicine and culture and is more specifically
interested in the areas of medical cognition and identity and
representation after illness. Shane O’Mara is a Professor of
Experimental Brain Research and Director of the Institute of
Neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin. His work explores brain
systems supporting learning, memory, and cognition, and brain
systems affected by stress and depression. He is the author of In
Praise of Walking: The new science of how we walk and why it’s good
for us (2019). Resources Crises of Democracy curriculum Duffy,
Rita. Art in a Time of Pandemic: Jogging in Lipstick. Goyal, Rishi.
A Letter from the Emergency Room. Synapsis. May 15, 2020. About the
series This is a special five-part series organised by the Trinity
Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities Research Institute in partnership
with the Society of Fellows and Heyman Center for the Humanities at
Columbia University in response to the Covid-19 crisis. Learn more
at: https://www.tcd.ie/trinitylongroomhub/