Sightings Articles
Blessings, History, and Pandemic Vulnerabilities
What happens when a nation fails to reckon with its own human frailty...
October 15, 2020
“The seeds of compassion and duty”: An Early Americanist Take on Healthcare
Imagining a future for American healthcare by revisiting our past...
March 5, 2020
Epidemic as Metaphor: Meaning and Morality in Our Narratives of Gun Violence
Much could be written, has been written, and still needs to be written about gun violence, the Second Amendment, responsible gun ownership, the gun lobby, and politicians. But here—for a moment—I want to pause and consider two metaphors that are beco...
December 31, 2015
On Puritans and the Whooping Cough — Philippa Koch
A whooping cough epidemic has spread in my home state of Washington. Depending on where you turn, you can read about the shamefully high number of incidences caused by the anti-vaccine movement, or, alternatively, about doctors injecting innocent c...