Did the pandemic permanently drive us apart?

Trent undergraduate student Erin Bennett-Rilling explores political polarization, mentored by an esteemed Trent History professor

For Trent Durham GTA History and Sociology major Erin Bennett-Rilling, the COVID-19 pandemic brought ample opportunity to investigate issues that are important to her: how are we uniting Canadians during a time marked by polarization and how do we lead our country through the pandemic? 

Erin conducted valuable community-based research for Peterborough Public Health with fellow Sociology student, Rachel Tsitomeneas, aimed at gaining a better understanding of local perspectives around vaccination and ensuring that vaccine messaging is on target.  

“I am fascinated by how one’s decision-making process concerning health programs has less to do with actual science, and more to do with people’s trust and past experiences,” Erin says of the project that earned them the Trent Community Research Centre’s 2021 Community Impact Award. 

Erin also recently worked as an assistant to one of Trent’s most notable historians, Vanier Professor, Dr. Robert Wright, who has been exploring the pandemic from a historic perspective. Here she had the opportunity to contribute to Professor Wright’s new opinion site, Decorum, which seeks to elevate smart, civil debate. 

“I believe mentorship, broadly defined, is the most important contribution senior faculty can make to the life of the University,” says Professor Wright. “This includes regular classroom teaching and thesis supervision, obviously. But for me it also extends into support for students and alums as they navigate the world of professional intellectual work, whether this might mean graduate school, or law school, or careers in writing or teaching. 

“Never in my career has it been more rewarding to mentor students, therefore, or to see that my modest contributions of material and moral support are helping to advance their professional aspirations. I am delighted to be able to pitch in.”