![Tertulia in the time of coronavirus: Matthew Sears on the ancient plagues [video]](https://nbmediacoop.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/1024px-Plague_in_an_Ancient_City_LACMA_AC1997.10.1_1_of_2.jpg)
University of New Brunswick classics professor Matthew Sears delivered the most recent tertulia in the time of coronavirus on May 13. Sears, who specializes in greek history, spoke about the ancient plagues and shared historical insights for today’s coronavirus.
What is a tertulia? A tertulia is a kind of philosophy café where the lives and ideas of big thinkers, artists and other people who left a mark are shared with a broader community of curious people. This spring’s tertulia series discusses thinkers and ideas on how to deal with the coronavirus crisis.
Watch Sears’s talk here:
Sears recommends checking out the following sources of information on the topic:
Eric Cline’s 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed
Bryan Ward-Perkins’s The Fall of Rome: And the End of Civilization
“The Elites Were Living High. Then Came the Fall” by Annalee Newitz in the New York Times
“The Collapse of Civilization May Have Already Begun” by Nafeez Ahmed in Vice
“The Coronavirus Was an Emergency Until Trump Found Out Who Was Dying” by Adam Serwer in The Atlantic
Upcoming tertulias this spring by Zoom at 7:00pm
May 20 – Kerri Froc on Henry Morgentaler
May 27 – Carolyn MacDonald on Virgil and Latin literature after the fall of the Roman Republic
June 3 – Karen Pearlston and Jessi Taylor on the AIDS/coronavirus crises and lessons from queer activism
June 10 – Daniel Tubb on Gabriel García Márquez
The NB Media Co-op has partnered with Tertulia Fredericton to published videos of some of the tertulias.
For updates or the Zoom links, visit the Tertulia Facebook page or email info@nbmediacoop.org.
![Mi’kmaw leader Rita Smith ‘saw something that needed to get done and she did it’ [video]](https://nbmediacoop.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/image-1-350x250.png)
