The 2021 CRIC Annual Conference, from 20th – 22nd September, will be a hybrid event with some colleagues returning to Harris Manchester College and others coming in on-line. With the vaccination programmes and the normal life history of pandemics we all look forward to a post-COVID world, albeit one where we will still have to cope with the virus for the foreseeable future. The Black Death in the 14th century resulted in the end of the feudal system. Will the COVID pandemic bring a radical resetting of life and societies around the world? More recently, just over forty years ago, the formation of the Solidarność trade union in Poland heralded major societal and geopolitical change too, and in addition to the usual presentations of research and study by CRIC colleagues from around the world, we will cooperate with the Polish Cultural Institute in presentations and an exhibition (to be staged in St John’s College) on our conference theme – Beyond COVID – Solidarity or Fragmentation. If you are interested to join us in exploring the global and local consequences of the pandemic and the other major changes we are seeing during this period of historic inflection, email our Director – john.alderdice@hmc.ox.ac.uk
