Knowledge really is power.

These days, it also can be a step toward safety.

Give Bethany College officials and professors credit for helping us all add to the information we can use to fight back against the COVID-19 epidemic.

Bethany has launched a virtual lecture series on the coronavirus and diseases like it.

It includes subject matter that ranges from how COVID-19 and similar maladies are communicated and what we can do to restrict the spread, to the effect of the pandemic on politics and international affairs.

There is even a lecture on “Media Framing of the Coronavirus Crisis.”

Ten lectures are part of the series, which began Tuesday. The next program is set for Sept. 15.

Lectures are being presented by Bethany faculty with expertise on the subject matter.

That means information provided should be reliable — not just speculation ungrounded in science.

Bethany is making the series available to anyone who wants to see and hear the presentations.

They are scheduled for 11:30 a.m. on Tuesdays.

Bethany alumni and parents of students can view the lectures live via the online Zoom tool. Registration for that can be handled at www.bethanywv.edu/event/covid-convocation-series/.

Members of the general public can catch the lectures live on Bethany’s Facebook page or afterward on YouTube.

Learning more about the science of COVID-19 gives us an edge against the disease. Not only does it allow doctors an scientists to better unravel the illness and its effects on society, but knowlegde about the diease, how it spreads and what can be done to prevent that lets us all do our part.

Knowing how it and other epidemics have affected our culture is helpful, too.

Again, kudos to all involved at Bethany for providing the lecture series.

Information conveyed through it should help now and in coming years — because, unfortunately, it is likely there will be more such outbreaks in the future.