Join the Humanities Department for their upcoming reading groups in October. Participants are expected to read, and come prepared to discuss, the text selected for each session. Open to all Jefferson students, faculty, and staff.
Health Humanities Reading Group: Henrietta Lacks
Monday, October 3, 12-1 p.m., Scott Memorial Library 200A (register here)
Reading/Listening:
- ‘Henrietta Lacks’: A Donor’s Immortal Legacy, interview with Rebecca Skloot on Fresh Air (2010) (audio: 37min)
- Ta-Nehisi Coates, “Henrietta Lacks And Race,” The Atlantic, February 2010. (read: 4min)
- Time: 40 min of reading and listening
This week, the Health Humanities Reading Group explores the life and legacy of Henrietta Lacks, whose cervical cells, taken and used without her knowledge, have played a role in modernity as we know it: from vaccines to medicine to space travel. Lacks’ story is unique but also representative of the pervasive mistreatment of Black people by institutions of medicine, science, education, and healthcare.
Special guest discussant: Ana Maria Lopez, MD, MPH, MACP, Professor and Vice Chair, Medical Oncology, Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Chief of Cancer Services, Jefferson Health New Jersey, Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center
Health Humanities Reading Group: Joshua Under Contract
Tuesday, October 25, 12-1 p.m., Scott Memorial Library 200A (register here)
Reading: “Joshua: Under Contract,” a chapter from The Beauty In Breaking: A Memoir (Penguin, 2020) by Michele Harper. Join a discussion about one night of Harper’s ER work in a Veterans’ hospital and how two very different patients helped her change her thinking about what it means to “cure” someone. She also discusses the difficulties of everyday life outside her work at the hospital and how to find peace in those places.
Facilitator: Katherine Hubbard, MA, Teaching Instructor, JeffMD Humanities Selectives, Sidney Kimmel Medical College
Access the Reading:
Participants are expected to read, and come prepared to discuss, the text selected for each session. To access the reading, participants must visit the Health Humanities Reading Group module in the Jefferson Humanities & Health organization on Canvas. Most Asano students are already users in the Humanities & Health Canvas course. If that is not the case, participants may email Kirsten Bowen, Humanities Program Coordinator, at kirsten.bowen@jefferson.edu.