The Obermann Center for Advanced Studies asked its community of scholars and artists to reflect on the Covid-19 pandemic through the lens of their research. In this conversation, Mariola Espinosa (Global Health Studies Program Director) reflects on her work studying the history of yellow fever and other viral outbreaks in the Caribbean and how issues such as the racialization of a virus and state/federal disputes about border closings during medical emergencies echoes between the past and the present. As the director of the UI's Global Health program, Espinosa also offer reflections from her current teaching. As a Fall 2019 Obermann Fellow-in-Residence, Espinosa worked on her current book project, "Fighting Fever in the Caribbean: Medicine and Empire, 1650-1902." She is also the author of Epidemic Invasions: Yellow Fever and the Limits of Cuban Independence, 1878-1930 (2009).