In July of 2020, President Bollinger announced the Justice and Pandemics Preparedness Academy (“Academy”) — a response to the inequities exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Academy is a partnership among the Columbia School of General Studies, the Mailman School of Public Health, the Columbia School of Social Work, and faculty in the Arts & Sciences that is open to students from all four undergraduate schools and provides students with the opportunity to learn, first-hand, about the intersection of pandemic preparedness and systemic racism.
In December, the inaugural Justice and Pandemics Preparedness Academy (JPPA) cohort celebrated their completion of the program as they looked forward to welcoming this new cohort of JPPA students.
As a part of the Academy, students take part in an exciting series of virtual lectures featuring Columbia faculty members engaged in cutting-edge scholarship and activism on these issues, including Melissa Begg, Dean of the School of Social Work, Wafaa El-Sadr of ICAP and the Mailman School of Public Health, and Robert Fullilove of the Mailman School of Public Health.
A weekly journal club engages 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 also complete individual (or collaborative) writing/social media/video projects in their areas of interest. All students are assigned a faculty mentor based on shared interests between the student and faculty mentor.
Learn more about the Academy’s incoming cohort for Spring 2021 below.
The Justice and Pandemics Preparedness Academy Incoming Spring 2021 Cohort
Helena Botero-Pinzon, '23CC
Economics
Ashley Bruno, '23GS
Astrophysics and Mathematics
Rachel Chang, '23CC
Ethnicity and Race Studies
Jennifer Chen, '22GS
Economics
Peter Chen, '23GS
Economics, Political Science
Theodore Chritton, '21GS
Environmental Biology, History
Sabrina Delafield, '21GS
Political Science
Daniel Fu He, '23GS
Neuroscience and Behavior
Mary Heinen,'24SEAS
Mechanical Engineering
Arman Husein, '23CC
Economics
Avery Jeon, '24GS
Postbac Premed Program
Michael Katzen, '22GS
Postbac Premed Program
Edward Kim, '24CC
Biology
Anna Kopyra, '23CC
Biochemistry, Public Health
Solby Lim, '22BC
History, Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Rivky Mandel, '23GS
Philosophy
Elyse Mara, '22BC
Urban Studies, Public Health
Paul Padilla, '24CC
Economics, Political Science
Mary Pruden, '22CC
Statistics, Public Health
Catalina Rodriquez, '21CC
Economics
Shane Scott, '23GS
Postbac Premed Program
Danny Siegel, '21GS
Human Rights
Safia Southey, '21GS
Human Rights
Maria Tamburro, '23GS
Undecided
Peter Trevino, '22GS
Urban Studies, Psychology