Teaching With Microbes

This talk explores the connections between fermentation, microbiomes, and biopolitics, using microbial life as a lens to understand how social and environmental conditions impact human health. The presentation considers how the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of these connections, showing how microbial exposure and distribution are influenced by social and institutional forces. Fermentation serves as a metaphor and practical framework to delve into historical and present-day dynamics, revealing how social inequities shape access to microbial diversity. This approach allows for a deeper understanding of how the control and movement of microbes reflect broader societal power structures and health disparities. Through this perspective, the seminar invites a reevaluation of how human and microbial worlds intersect, and how such insights can inform more equitable health practices and policies.

This work has now been published: Carney, M. A. 2022. Teaching with Microbes: Lessons from Fermentation during a Pandemic. mSystems: 00566-21.