M. Mehrmohammadi
Abstract
Perhaps, the world, in recent decades, has not experienced a more bitter, frightening, and deadly event than the outbreak of the Coronavirus or Covid-19. This pandemic, on the other hand, has also left positive traces on human life and, therefore, should not be considered as a threat, loss and a catastrophe ...
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Perhaps, the world, in recent decades, has not experienced a more bitter, frightening, and deadly event than the outbreak of the Coronavirus or Covid-19. This pandemic, on the other hand, has also left positive traces on human life and, therefore, should not be considered as a threat, loss and a catastrophe altogether. As soon as these two aspects of this phenomenon are acknowledged, it opens the way to scholarly researches of all sorts in this area. The macro question that needs to be addressed is what kind of destructive and constructive impacts Covid-19 has had on human beings or how it will affect life in both directions in the future? On the other hand, the scope of influence of this phenomenon is so wide that it has captured the attention of thinkers and researchers from a wide realm of academic fields and will continue to do so. In other words, the aforementioned macro question must be translated into various micro questions specific to different fields of scholarly endeavor in order to direct the actions taken within that field. When it comes to diverse fields of knowledge influenced by coronavirus pandemic, disciplines such as education (both public and higher), economics, psychology, and mental health might come to the mind first. But it certainly has a much broader and more serious scope of reach, including theology, philosophy, sociology, law, and even politics and international relations. Interestingly, the spring of 2020 issue of The Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities Quarterly, the first issue of two thematic issues devoted to corona virus, is being published at a time when the world is witnessing a political turmoil in the United States in the run up to the presidential election there. If we want to give an example about the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the political arena, the best, the newest and perhaps the most important will be the outcome of the 2020 US presidential election. Trump's defeat and his ouster from office, for many observers and analysts, have been influenced by the way he dealt with Covid-19. In other words, a successful management and less mortality rate due to this phenomenon could have significantly increased his chances of re-election. His political rival beat the drum louder and louder, perhaps overstating his weakness in handling the situation and reaped the benefits of gaining power. In international relations domain, too, the situation caused by the coronavirus outbreak raises various hypotheses, including it’s paving the way for positive, empathetic and justice-oriented initiatives, on the one hand, and events of domination and threatening peaceful intentions, on the other, and they all deserve the attention of researchers in this field. In any case, as the chief editor I must admit that the coronavirus pandemic has provided an opportunity for The Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities Quarterly to invite researchers and thinkers in various academic fields to reflect their views in this noble and, of course, interdisciplinary issue. As it was mentioned, by dedicating two special issues to this crisis, we have turned the quarterly into one of the platforms that tried its best to stimulate meaningful efforts to meet one of the urgent needs of our society. Fortunately, this decision has met with widespread approval by the scientific community, and thus, has made remarkable resources available to the quarterly’s educated audience. This achievement was primarily due to a wise policy adopted by the quarterly’s editorial board to publish two special issues related to this crisis. But I must also thank Professor Nematullah Fazeli who accepted the editorial board’s invitation to shoulder the responsibility of acting as guest editor for these issues and bring the work to its conclusion with competence in an efficient manner. I am hopeful that this collection, for its part, strengthen the link between the country's policy-making bodies and centers of knowledge at various levels and help increase the intellectual quality and effectiveness of decisions made.
