Epidemic Disease in Tibet: 
From Fear to Care

In the early months of 2020, a novel coronavirus spread across the globe, causing schools and businesses to shut their doors and utterly transforming countless lives. As the numbers of confirmed cases and reported deaths continue to grow, we face questions about why this disaster is happening and what we can do to limit its spread. In the words of Arthur Kleinman, “The problem of illness as suffering raises two fundamental questions for the sick person and the social group: Why me? (the question of bafflement), and What can be done? (the question of order and control)” (1988, 29). In this presentation, William McGrath will address these questions within the context of COVID-19 and other epidemic diseases that once spread in Tibetan history. By comparing contemporary responses to epidemic diseases with those of the past, Dr. McGrath will demonstrate the importance of religious narratives and ethics in the human encounter with contagious disease.