Virtual discussion of ideological divides in COVID-19 experiences is March 12

UAB’s Haddin Forum Lecture series will host a discussion on the effects of people’s beliefs in shaping COVID reactions and experiences in the U.S. and Poland.
Written by: Fletcher Allen
Media contact: Yvonne Taunton


Haddin.2UAB’s Haddin Forum Lecture series will host a discussion on the effects of people’s beliefs in shaping COVID reactions and experiences in the U.S. and Poland.
(Photography: Andrea Mabry)
A discussion about how people’s beliefs have shaped COVID-19 reactions and experiences in the United States and Poland will be hosted by the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

The free virtual lecture is a part of the Theodore Haddin Arts and Sciences Forum, an ongoing UAB College of Arts and Sciences lecture series. It will take place at noon Friday, March 12. To attend the event, register online

Magdalena Szaflarski, Ph.D., associate professor in the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Sociology, will lead the discussion. Szaflarski’s research focuses on addressing the health needs of vulnerable populations, including the economically disadvantaged, minorities, stigmatized and chronically ill. 

The lecture will explore how ideology has shaped COVID-19 reactions and experiences in the United States and Poland, two countries “ravaged by political divisions, populism and scientific skepticism,” Szaflarski said. The lecture will also describe health care workers’ assessment of the pandemic response and touch on gender and work-family issues during the pandemic in the two countries. 

The Haddin Forum is a venue for CAS faculty to talk about their research with their colleagues, students and members of the public, and is designed to celebrate faculty work and to launch new conversations. Each academic year, the Forum presents a series of five or six informal lectures from a cross-section of departments in the university.