Medicine & Ethics go Viral

An online exhibition of the Institute for Ethics and the History and Medicine of UMG, in cooperation with the Department of Health Sciences, HAW Hamburg

Presentation in the vestibule

8 August 2022 – 16 October 2022


The Corona pandemic has profoundly changed the lives of countless people around the world. In dealing with the crisis, numerous new questions have been raised in medical ethics often aiming at short-term solutions. While a large number of these issues affected most countries equally, others varied from country to country. This is where the multimedia exhibition Medicine & Ethics Go Viral comes in: It aims to paint a more detailed picture of both global and local ethical challenges, using this as a basis for visualizing possible solutions. Part of the digital exhibition is on display at Forum Wissen from August 8.

For the digital exhibition project, under the project management of Prof. Dr. Silke Schicktanz, numerous video interviews were conducted with more than 20 experts from all over the world. They have been dealing intensively with the medical ethical issues of the pandemic. Among other things, the shortage of resources in clinical and nursing facilities, psychological problems due to social isolation and difficult working conditions during the pandemic were discussed.

Visitors are invited to listen to this wide range of expert voices as part of the online exhibition curated by Ms. Schicktanz and her team. The exhibition project also wants to encourage visitors to get involved. For example, they can become part of the online exhibition by submitting a contribution to the virtual object collection. They can also share a photo that they personally associate with the pandemic and tell us why they chose that particular image. From 08 August to 15 October 2022, part of the exhibition will be accessible at Forum Wissen.

The exhibition invites all visitors to reflect on their own pandemic experience. What were their experiences of social isolation, fears of losing their livelihood, or the double burden of working from home and taking care of one’s children at the same time? What ethical lessons do they draw from these experiences? On a huge pin board visitors can leave their thoughts and comments und thus become part of the exhibition.

Students of Theodor-Heuss-Gymnasium Göttingen have created modeling clay objects which reflect their personal pandemic experience. These objects created by Christina Heske’s arts class give the exhibition additional inspiration.


Sponsored by Volkswagenstiftung