We are incredibly proud to support a new initiative by the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) to study the immediate and long-term social, economic, cultural, psychological, and political impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition to funding rapid research grants for work that can be safely conducted at this time, this collaborative endeavor will include creation of digital content and resources, organization of virtual working groups, and initial efforts to design a virtual research center.
As an international organization based in New York City, we at the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) have encountered the Covid-19 crisis on several levels, including familial, civic, scholarly, and global. Like many of you, we have also faced the challenges that characterize this uncertain period.
The crisis precipitated by the novel coronavirus has demanded that we all be more imaginative and resilient. While the SSRC takes on the pandemic’s immediate and imminent consequences with fresh approaches, we also recognize that scholarly deliberation and extended perspective play a unique and important role in this moment. We have been reflecting on how the tradition of our nearly century-old mission has attuned us to respond to our present, but with the flexibility required of this time.
The Covid-19 crisis requires serious scholarly deliberation, similar to the reflections the SSRC gathered during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and 9/11. Today, through a multifaceted approach devoted to the pandemic and its implications, we envision a scholarly endeavor as enduring as the long-term effects of this crisis.
We are pleased to announce, with the support of the Henry Luce Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Omidyar Network, and the College and University Fund for the Social Sciences (a consortium of SSRC partner institutions), a series of initiatives devoted to understanding the pandemic’s immediate impact, as well as its lasting consequences.
