Critical Mass Talk: Nations in Crisis, People in Crisis: Connecting Upheaval

IHC Director Susan Derwin asked Jared Diamond, UCLA Professor of Geography, a few questions about his work in light of the current pandemic. Read his comments here.

Nations that successfully navigate crises do so by making selective changes to their identities and actions. When individuals experience crises—mid-life, financial, health, relationship—they may also adopt selective changes to overcome the situation. But some individuals, like some nations, are better at navigating upheaval than others. By drawing on the factors that counselors and psychotherapists have identified that affect the likelihood of overcoming personal crisis, Diamond will examine the extent to which crisis response on the individual scale helps us to understand the outcomes of recent and impending national and world crises.

Jared Diamond is professor of Geography at UCLA and the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Guns, Germs, and Steel, Collapse, and other books.

Copies of Diamond’s books will be available for purchase and signing.

Sponsored by the IHC’s Critical Mass series

Image: Kinuko Y. Craft