Application Open | Justice and Pandemics Preparedness Academy

Dear Students,

We are thrilled to write today with information regarding the Justice and Pandemics Preparedness Academy that President Bollinger announced in July and to officially invite you to apply.

As we have seen, pandemics can have disruptive and even devastating effects on health, social, and economic conditions, and can exacerbate previously existing disparities and injustices. The COVID-19 pandemic has raised urgent questions about the failure of the public health and political systems in the U.S. and throughout the world to protect all people, especially vulnerable and marginalized groups. There is an urgent need to learn from this experience to better inform future responses and preparation and the Justice and Pandemics Preparedness Academy  (“Academy”) is uniquely designed to give students a first-hand opportunity to participate in this effort.

A partnership among Columbia GS, Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, and Columbia School of Social Work, the Academy is a co-curricular activity open to students in the four undergraduate schools at Columbia University - Columbia College, Columbia Engineering, Columbia GS, and Barnard. The Academy will include focused study of pandemic preparedness, systemic racism, and the disproportionate impact pandemics have on communities of color drawing on the COVID-19 pandemic experience. 

The Academy consists of three components:

• The Academy will kick off with an exciting series of virtual lectures the week of September 21 featuring Columbia faculty members engaged in cutting-edge scholarship and activism on these issues, including Courtney Cogburn of the School of Social Work, James Colgrove of the School of General Studies and the Mailman School of Public Health, Wafaa El-Sadr of ICAP and the Mailman School of Public Health, and Robert Fullilove of the Mailman School of Public Health. 
• During the fall, a weekly journal club will engage students in critical discussion of writings, videos, and social media accounts focused on pandemics from the lens of public health, social work, the humanities, and the social sciences. 
• Students participating in the Academy will also complete individual (or collaborative) writing/social media/video projects in their areas of interest. All students will be assigned a faculty mentor based on shared interests between the student and faculty mentor.

Benefits to students of participating in this co-curricular activity include:

• Learning more about COVID-19 from perspectives of public health and social justice
• Connecting with Columbia faculty in the Arts & Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health and Columbia School of Social work
• Developing meaningful relationship with faculty mentor
• Connecting with students from four undergraduate schools
• Strengthening skills in critical thinking and reflection, research, speaking, and writing.
• Gaining opportunities to participate in service projects
• Engaging in team-building and interdisciplinary collaboration

The Academy will be offered to 20 undergraduate students for the fall 2020 semester. The deadline to apply is Friday, September 11. Learn more and apply. 

We look forward to welcoming our first cohort soon.


Sincerely,

Lisa Rosen-Metsch
Dean, Columbia University School of General Studies
Professor of Sociomedical Sciences

Marlyn Delva
Dean of Students, Columbia University School of General Studies
Assistant Professor of Epidemiology and Sociomedical Sciences

James Colgrove
Dean of the Postbac Premed Program, Columbia University School of General Studies
Professor of Sociomedical Sciences