The impact of the 1918-19 influenza pandemic was devastating for all, although suffering was exacerbated based on gender, class, race and geographical differences. In order to understand how this pandemic impacted different communities, historian and writer Edna Bonhomme will explore how Black women’s labor in nursing—which was limited by racial segregation—can provide more insight about the pandemic within the context of racial segregation, wartime activities, and medical treatment in confined or more compact spaces. African American nurses were often on call, but, due to the legacies of exclusion and discrimination in medicine the expertise of these medical professionals was not always granted their full potential. Nevertheless, their labor was rooted in care.

ABOUT CARTE BLANCHE III
In these seemingly never-ending pandemic times, we would like to reward ourselves and our audience once again with four inspiring talks: We have given well-known researchers from various disciplines carte blanche to present and discuss a topic of their own choice with us.

In summer 2021 we are looking forward to hearing from Wolfgang Ullrich (art historian & author; Leipzig), Edna Bonhomme (historian, writer & interdisciplinary artist; Berlin), Annette Gilbert (literary scholar; FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg), and Amia Srinivasan (Chichele Professor of Social and Political Theory at All Souls College, Oxford).
All talks will be online, a link will be sent after registration.