Are we really ready to return to 'normal'? Reopening our society The challenges, costs, and benefits of reopening our society shouldn't be purely economic, according to a sociologist from UConn. NEW YORK - As our various cities, states, regions, and nations start to reopen at full capacity, Rutgers University's Dr. Peter Economou not only expects us — as individuals and a collective society — to struggle to return to our pre-pandemic lives but he also thinks we probably shouldn't aspire to recreate what was. "Everything's always changing and so what we're going to be returning to is a new moment and a new experience,"