HUMANITIES & WELLNESS
The faculty in the Center for Integrated Humanities believe any true discussion of holistic wellness originates in an understanding of our humanity and humanistic tradition. It is impossible to care for or heal ourselves and others without a deep sensitivity to what makes us human—and that includes developing humanistic skills such as empathy, cross-cultural awareness and sensitivity, critical and creative thinking, and the ability to communicate clearly. It also includes building a shared sense of reality through an awareness of history, literature, spirituality, and the arts.
Recent featured speakers
Lisa DuVono and Susan Apold, Ph.D.
”Health, Care, and Poety: Unexpected Relationships”
The founding director of Chestnut Hill College’s nursing program, Susan Apold, is joined by the poet laureate of Montgomery County, PA, and her lifelong friend, Lisa DeVuono, to discuss the role of words and poetry in health and health care. This session was part workshop, part reading, part lecture.
Dr. Dorothy Roberts
”Ending the Legacy of Racism in Medicine” ( Fall 2022)
Dr. Roberts is an acclaimed scholar of race, gender, and the law and a fierce social justice advocate. She is the 14th Penn Integrates Knowledge Professor at the University of Pennsylvania with a joint appointment in the Department of Sociology and the Law School where she also holds the inaugural Raymond Pace and Sadie Tanner Mosell Alexander chair. Her pathbreaking work in law and public policy focuses on urgent contemporary issues in health, social justice, and bioethics, especially as they impact the lives of women, children and African Americans. Dr. Roberts also is the author of numerous books, most recently Torn Apart: How the Child Welfare System Destroys Black Families and How Abolition Can Build a Better World. Tonight, however, Dr. Roberts is speaking to us about “Ending the Legacy of Racism in Medicine.” This work extends from two of her previous books-- Fatal Intervention: How Science, Politics, and Big Business Re-create Race in the Twenty-First Century and Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty—and her well-known TED Talk on “The Problem with Race-Based Medicine.”
Previous Speakers
Dr. Laura Kolb
Poetry Reading (Fall 2021)
Dr. Laura Kolbe, Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. She will read from her book of poetry Little Pharma and discuss the role of poetry, arts, and the humanities in her clinical practice.
Dr. Kolbe’s poetry book Little Pharma won the Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize (from the University of Pittsburgh) and her work has been highlighted in The New Yorker and The New York Times. She is also a fellow in the Division of Medical Ethics at Weill Cornell Medicine. For more information, visit: https://www.laura-kolbe.com/
Dr. Naomi Rosenberg
"What the Language of Science Cannot Capture: Modern Medicine and the need for Narrative" (Spring 2022)
Dr. Naomi Rosenberg, Assistant Professor of Clinical Emergency Medicine at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, will discuss "What the Language of Science Cannot Capture: Modern Medicine and the need for Narrative."
Dr. Rosenberg is a published author and a Be Well Philly Health Hero Semifinalist. She is associated with the Narrative Medicine Program at Lewis Katz.
For some additional information, visit: https://news.temple.edu/news/2016-09-20/temple-doctor-emotional-side-emergency-room and https://www.phillymag.com/be-well-philly/2020/09/29/health-hero-naomi-rosenberg/
Catherine Rogers, Columbia University’s School of Narrative Medicine
”What is Narrative Medicine?” A lecture and workshop (Spring 2019)
John Cacciamani, MD and President, Chestnut Hill Hospital
”The Relevance and Use of Narrative Medicine in the Hospital Setting” (Spring 2019)
Health humanities interdisciplinary minor
he Health Humanities interdisciplinary minor offers students who are preparing to work in health-related or service-related fields (medicine, exercise science, human services, criminal justice, psychology, etc.) a competitive edge by offering them coursework that recognizes and acknowledges the fact that they will work with human beings.
This interdisciplinary minor is composed of courses that develop personal and professional skills that will make students more effective when interacting with patients and clients. The courses focus on understanding stories and narrative, honing listening skills, developing and managing empathy, appreciating the complexity of ethical issues, and understanding the importance of social and cultural contexts when delivering care or services.