Join this event of the In Conversation Live series with historian, award-winning author and contributing editor of the Financial Times, Sir Simon Schama. Interviewed by Professor Sir Simon Wessely, he will discuss his new book Foreign Bodies: Pandemics, Vaccines and the Health of Nations. Enjoy a complimentary drinks reception.
Participants will be able to purchase signed books by Sir Simon Schama. Highlights of the event will be available on YouTube one month post event.
London-born historian Sir Simon Schama is an Art History and History Professor at Columbia University, New York. He previously taught at Cambridge, Oxford and Harvard universities. He is also the author of 20 award-winning books, including The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age, Rembrandt’s Eyes, Citizens, A Chronicle of the French Revolution, Landscape and Memory; and Rough Crossings. Britain, the Slaves and the American Revolution, A History of Britain (trilogy), The American Future: A History, two volumes of The Story of the Jews.
He is the writer-presenter of 60 documentaries on art, history and literature for BBC television. Most recently, his History of Now series aired on BBC2 in 2022. His award-winning series include A History of Britain and The Power of Art, which won an International Emmy for the episode on Bernini.
He has received the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award for Literature, the Kenyon Review Award for Literary Achievement, and the Premio Antonio Feltrinelli Prize in Historical Sciences from the Accademia dei Lincei in Rome. He has curated exhibitions at the Whitechapel Art Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery and has received honorary degrees from Cambridge, Oxford, the Weizmann Institute and the Royal College of Art.
His work has been translated into 23 languages. His 20th, and most recent book Foreign Bodies: Pandemics, Vaccines and the Health of Nations, was published in May 2023. As the world faces a cascade of existential crises - environmental, biological, migratory and military - the politicisation of public health reminds us that the battle between scientific knowledge and pure belief is not yet won and that mankind is simultaneously capable of the infinite ingenuity that brings us vaccines yet also the stubborn resistance of disbelief. The outcome of this battle will determine the fate of the world.
*There may be slight changes to the advertised start and end times of this event, subject to Sir Simon Schama's work requirements.
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Royal Society of Medicine, 1 Wimpole St, Marylebone, London, W1G 0AE, United Kingdom
Disclaimer: All views expressed in this event are of the speakers themselves and not of the RSM.
Registrations for this event will close on 1 October 2023 at 01:00am (GMT)
The In Conversation Live webinar series will continue our much loved In Conversation events, giving you the opportunity to get first-hand insights into the lives and thoughts of high profile individuals, bringing an intimate, relaxed and entertaining perspective into your living room.
