ABSTRACT
Around the world, COVID-19 caused millions of deaths and unemployment, and trillions of dollars in the fight against it. This chapter helps the reader understand the significance of COVID-19 on the world. As academic disciplines exist across many silos, the big COVID-19 picture often does not emerge. Chapter 1 overlays a framework predicated on knowledge awareness connecting social, political, economic, and cultural spheres of influence. Based on systems analysis procedures, this framework helps readers discover pattern changes in core activities of school learning, public health, workforce behavior, and technical innovation supporting cultural values that were affected by the pandemic. The analysis draws heavily on learning and socialization processes because schooling provides social mobility throughout life. Dynamic governments around the world are tasked with educating the public to build trust and accurate information; businesses rely on expanding training skills to stay productive; and culture relies on creative ideas in the arts and sciences to replenish the mainsprings of society. This chapter describes the historical background of the pandemic and sets out an analytical paradigm to describe its impact. It also explores core pandemic themes and likely post-pandemic challenges, preparing readers for in-depth discussion in the following chapters.
