UNC Adventures in Ideas Seminar "On Illness"

The UNC Program in the Humanities and Human Values has announced its Adventures in Ideas seminars for Fall 2009, which includes:

On Illness: Medicine, Media, Society, and the Experience of Health
The Vanderwoude Family Seminar
3pm - 9pm, Friday, October 23, 2009

The humanities deal with those issues that define the human condition, and health and illness are central in defining our lives. But how do we decide if we are sick or well? Is illness culturally and socially defined? What role does the media play in helping people make decisions about our health.

This seminar will start with a specific issue--back pain--as a human predicament, a profound social problem, a medical issue, and a vexing public policy challenge. Mexico and other countries will serve as illustrations to explore how people explain, experience, and give meaning to their bodies and their pains in diverse ways. We’ll learn how medical reporters evaluate the newsworthiness of developments in the fields of medicine and psychology and learn how people can use information gleaned from medical reporting to their advantage.

Topics and Speakers

:: Backbone: Personal, Social and Policy Consequences of Low Back Pain
Nortin Hadler, Professor of Medicine

:: The Meaning and Experience of Illness from a Cross Cultural Perspective
Kaja Finkler, Emerita Professor of Anthropology

:: What Makes Medical News
Tom Linden, M.D., Glaxo Wellcome Distinguished Professor of Medical Journalism and Director, Medical & Science Journalism Program

:: What is Illness and What is Health?
A panel discussion with our speakers

Time and Cost
3:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m., Friday, October 23, 2009. The tuition is $125 ($110 by September 4). Tuition for teachers is $62.50 ($55 by September 4). 10 contact hours for 1 unit of renewal credit. The optional dinner is $20.00. Online Registration.

This seminar is scheduled to be held at the Center for School Leadership Development. All participants registered for the seminar will be mailed background packets with directions, maps, agenda, background readings, etc.

Click for information on other Adventures in Ideas seminars for Fall 2009.