Central College has been offering a class related to the COVID-19 pandemic that touches on multiple disciplines over the summer. Associate Dean for Curriculum and Faculty Development Brian Peterson says about 200 current and incoming students are taking a free, two-credit course titled An Interdisciplinary Conversation on COVID-19. Peterson says the program explores some of the rapid changes our society has undertaken due to the global pandemic, and also offers a preliminary view on what lies ahead in the coming months and years.

“The courses will give students access to our exceptional faculty while also allowing them to explore the pandemic from their own discipline,” says Peterson. “This is what Central does well: providing students with the skills to understand complex problems from many perspectives to prepare them to be global citizens. This undertaking truly demonstrates the relevance a liberal arts education can bring to historical developments like the COVID-19 pandemic.”

It is the first course of its type in Central history and 20 faculty and staff members are leading the program.