Lunch & Learn – 2020 Archive

Lunch & Learn – 2020 Archive

October 26, 2020

Stories of Trauma and Healing: Global Women’s Narratives, Mental Health, and Disability in Postcolonial and Conflict Zones

A Conversation with conversation with

Dr. Lyn Boyd-Judson and Dr. Julie Van Dam

Join us for a conversation with Dr. Lyn Boyd-Judson, Co-Chair, Oxford Initiative for Global Ethics and Human Rights and part-time lecturer in Keck Narrative Medicine Program and Dr. Julie Van Dam, Associate Professor of French and Director of Undergraduate Studies, Department of French and Italian, USC Dornsife.

Event Recording:


October 14, 2020

What is ours to do in these times of crisis and new possibilities? Ethos, Action, and Social Justice

A Conversation with Dr. Rivera Colón and Dr. Llobrera

Join us for a conversation with USC Narrative Medicine Faculty, Dr. Edgar Rivera Colón and Dr. Kairos Llobrera, as they discuss scholarly works and writers who have inspired and challenged them to ask: “What is ours to do in these times of crisis and new possibilities?”

Edgar Rivera Colón, PhD is a Medical Anthropologist who teaches at Columbia University’s Narrative Medicine program. He is an expert on Latinx queer male sexual cultures. Dr. Rivera Colón trains public health professionals in working with Latinx LGBTQ communities in cultural and structural competency. His forthcoming book is Love Comes in Knots: Meditations in the American Labyrinth. Recently, Pato Hebert and he published “Slow Burn, Humid Pitch: Cultivating Care While Livin’ La COVIDa Loca” in NACLA Report on the Americas.

Dr. Kairos Llobrera holds a PhD in English and Comparative Literature from Columbia University. His academic interests include U.S. immigration (literature, history, and law), critical race theory, and 20th century and contemporary U.S. ethnic/minority literatures. As an Assistant Professor of Clinical Medical Education, Dr. Llobrera teaches in the Narrative Medicine MS Program at USC and serves as Director of Diversity and Inclusion Programs at the Keck School of Medicine.

Event Recording:


January 27, 2020

Medical Ethics in Motion: Colonialism and Yellow Fever Vaccination in French West Africa

A Conversation with Dr. Aro Velmet

Should vaccination against endemic diseases be mandatory? How can doctors and policymakers weigh the benefits of vaccination against dangers posed by side effects and accidental contamination?

Join us for a HEAL Lunch & Learn event, featuring Dr. Aro Velmet. Dr. Velmet is Assistant Professor of European History at USC Dornsife College. His book, Pasteur’s Empire: Politics and Bacteriology in France, its Colonies, and the World is published with Oxford University Press (2020). He works on the history of technology, medicine, and ideas of government in the modern world.


January 6, 2020

Is There a Space for Discomfort in Medical Education?

A Conversation with Dr. Michael Blackie

Join us for a HEAL Lunch & Learn event, featuring Dr. Michael Blackie. Michael Blackie, PhD, is Associate Professor of Health Humanities in the Department of Medical Education in the College of Medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He has published widely in health humanities pedagogy and medical education. His scholarly and teaching interests include health humanities, narrative medicine, death studies, and medical education. He is a founding member and Treasurer of the Health Humanities Consortium, Senior Editor of the book series, Studies in the Health Humanities published by Kent State University Press, and Executive Editor of the journal, Literature and Medicine.