Skip to main content
close
Font size options
Increase or decrease the font size for this website by clicking on the 'A's.
Contrast options
Choose a color combination to give the most comfortable contrast.

How We Create Pandemics, From Our Bodies to Our Beliefs

with Smithsonian Curator Sabrina Sholts

2025-02-04 13:00:00 2025-02-04 14:00:00 America/Chicago How We Create Pandemics, From Our Bodies to Our Beliefs An enlightening presentation with Smithsonian curator Sabrina Sholts talking about how the very fact of being human increases our pandemic risks—& gives us the power to save ourselves. Please register Virtual -

Tuesday, February 04
1:00pm - 2:00pm

Add to Calendar 2025-02-04 13:00:00 2025-02-04 14:00:00 America/Chicago How We Create Pandemics, From Our Bodies to Our Beliefs An enlightening presentation with Smithsonian curator Sabrina Sholts talking about how the very fact of being human increases our pandemic risks—& gives us the power to save ourselves. Please register Virtual -

An enlightening presentation with Smithsonian curator Sabrina Sholts talking about how the very fact of being human increases our pandemic risks—& gives us the power to save ourselves. Please register

The COVID-19 pandemic won't be our last—because what makes us vulnerable to pandemics also makes us human. That is the uncomfortable but all-too-timely message of The Human Disease: How We Create Pandemics, From Our Bodies to Our Beliefs, which travels through history and around the globe to examine how and why pandemics are an inescapable threat of our own making. Drawing on dozens of disciplines—from medicine, epidemiology, and microbiology to anthropology, sociology, ecology, and neuroscience—as well as a unique expertise in public education about emerging infectious diseases, biological anthropologist Sabrina Sholts identifies the human traits and tendencies that double as pandemic liabilities, from the anatomy that defines us to the misperceptions that divide us.

Weaving together a wealth of personal experiences, scientific findings, and historical stories, Sholts brings dramatic and much-needed clarity to one of the most profound challenges we face as a species. Though the COVID-19 pandemic looms large in Sholts's account, it is, in fact, just one of the many infectious disease events explored in The Human Disease. With its expansive, evolutionary perspective, the book explains how humanity will continue to face new pandemics because humans cause them, by the ways that we are and the things that we do. By recognizing our risks, Sholts suggests, we can take actions to reduce them. When the next pandemic happens, and how bad it becomes, are largely within our highly capable human hands—and will be determined by what we do with our extraordinary human brains. A presentation you don’t want to miss, register now!



About the Author: Sabrina Sholts is a biological anthropologist and Curator of Biological Anthropology at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History (NMNH). Her research explores intersections of human, animal, and environmental health in the past and present. She received her PhD in Anthropology at UC Santa Barbara and was a postdoctoral researcher at UC Berkeley in Integrative Biology and at Stockholm University in Biophysics and Biochemistry. Sholts has published widely in academic journals including American Journal of Biological AnthropologyEnvironmental Health PerspectivesJAMA, PNASScientific ReportsProceedings of the Royal Society B, and Nature Ecology & Evolution, and written for popular audiences in Scientific American and Smithsonian Magazine. She was named as a World Economic Forum Young Scientist in 2019. In addition, she was Lead Curator of the exhibition Outbreak: Epidemics in a Connected World at the NMNH (2018-2022) and a scientific advisor for the related exhibition Épidémies: Prendre soin du vivant at the musée des Confluences in Lyon, France (2024-2025).

Please Register for link to program.


Live Virtual Author Talks - This new series through Library Speakers Consortium offers live online talks by bestselling authors of books in a variety of genres. Participants receive a link to the program when they register. Please see https://libraryc.org/gailborden to register and also view recorded videos of past speakers.

AGE GROUP: | Virtual Live | High School | Adults |

EVENT TYPE: | Virtual | Health & Wellness | Adult Programs |

TAGS: | |

Virtual

Phone: 847-742-2411

Hours

Today's hours

We're open 9:00AM to 9:00PM

Mon, Mar 10 9:00AM to 9:00PM
Tue, Mar 11 9:00AM to 9:00PM
Wed, Mar 12 9:00AM to 9:00PM
Thu, Mar 13 9:00AM to 9:00PM
Fri, Mar 14 9:00AM to 6:00PM
Sat, Mar 15 9:00AM to 6:00PM
Sun, Mar 16 12:00PM to 5:00PM

About the Branch

Programs presented virtually through FB, Zoom, YouTube, and other online sources.

Upcoming Events

Cancelled
Thu, Mar 13, 9:30am - 11:30am
Main Library
Receive one-on-one genealogy assistance from Elgin Genealogical Society volunteers.

Thu, Mar 13, 9:30am - 11:30am
Main Library - 2nd Floor - Behind Elevators
Get help with common tech issues like Microsoft Office, using a tablet, hotspots, syncing email with your phone, downloading content, and more. Drop in for personalized assistance at your library.

Thu, Mar 13, 10:00am - 12:00pm
Main Library - Lobby - Piano
Piano performance in the lobby by volunteer community members.

Thu, Mar 13, 10:30am - 11:00am
Main Library - Meadows Community Rooms ABC
Join us for an interactive storytime! Best for kids birth-6 with an adult caregiver. All ages are welcome. Drop-in!

Thu, Mar 13, 10:30am - 11:15am
Rakow Branch
Children will develop fine motor skills as we have fun learning to draw!
Registration is now closed

Thu, Mar 13, 1:00pm - 2:00pm
Rakow Branch
Join Storyteller Lynn Rymarz as she portrays Ruth Handler, the creator of Barbie. Bring your own Barbie to share. R
Registration is now closed

Thu, Mar 13, 1:30pm - 3:30pm
Main Library - Meadows Community Room C
A Men's Shed is a place geared toward older men to gather, make new friendships while working on projects, learning new skills and hobbies, and giving back to the community. All are welcome.

Thu, Mar 13, 3:00pm - 4:00pm
Mobile Services - Sprinter
Please find us on the corner of Sherwood Ave and Oakhill Rd. Elgin IL 60120.

Thu, Mar 13, 4:00pm - 8:00pm
Main Library - Grove Room
Free tax preparation for individuals & families who qualify for the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program.

Thu, Mar 13, 6:00pm - 7:30pm
Main Library - Conference Room
Aprende los conceptos básicos del bordado y haz tu propio signo de Barbie en inglés o español para celebrar el Mes Internacional de la Mujer! Por favor, regístrese.

Thu, Mar 13, 6:30pm - 7:30pm
Main Library - Meadows Community Rooms ABC
Join Storyteller Lynn Rymarz as she portrays Ruth Handler, the creator of Barbie. Bring your own Barbie to share. Visit the Barbie exhibit at the main branch Elgin Room in March. Please Register

Thu, Mar 13, 7:00pm - 8:30pm
Main Library - Computer Training Room
Learn to keep track of upcoming events, commitments, and tasks using Google Calendar. Sponsored by Comcast Internet Essentials.
Registration is now closed

Fri, Mar 14, 10:00am - 11:00am
Rakow Branch - Rakow - Shales Living Room
Second Fridays, join us at Wits Workout which combines intellectually stimulating exercises, social interaction, and education about brain health in a friendly, engaging, and FUN way! Please register.