Reconciliation: Race,
Ethnicity and Other Lines that Divide Us Friday, Jan. 26,
13 p.m.; facilitated by Johnnetta Cole, Presidential Distinguished
Professor of Anthropology
Why is it important for Emory
to address issues surrounding diversity at this point in time?
Cole: A number of events at Emory over the past few years and
even the past few months indicate that we must continue to reconcile
our differences. Conflicts between various groups of people that
stem from fears about diversity and systemic expressions of inequality
continue to heighten our awareness of racial, ethnic, religious, gender
and class differences. In the largest possible sense, one could see a
university education as a quest to better understand ones own connection
and contribution to the human condition. Understanding and dealing with
complexities of diversity is essential to determining our role in improving,
no matter how small, the human condition.
What issues, more specifically,
will be addressed during the session?
During the 20th century, race relations in the United Statesas described,
analyzed and written about in the social sciences and in public policywere
dominated by a focus on the interactions and barriers between black and
white communities. As we move into the 21st century, meaningful discussions
of race and ethnicity in the United States must involve a consideration
of the multiple communities that constitute our nation as a result of
immigration, borderlands, globalization and transnationalization. This
panel seeks to broaden the rubric of race beyond the black/white
divide to bring forth considerations of class and gender as well as the
variety of ethnic communities of which we are a part.
Who will be speaking on the
panel?
I will present Toward a Vision of Reconciliation: Moving Beyond
the Binary Black/White Race Paradigm. Dan Carter, Educational Foundation
University Professor at the University of South Carolina, will present
Being Black, Being Poor: Race and Class in the Twenty-First Century.
A panel of Emory faculty representing various ethnic communities will
serve as respondents.
Medical Care and Public
Health: Where is the Balance? Saturday, Jan. 27, 9:30-11:30 a.m.;
facilitated by William Foege, Presidential Distinguished Professor of
International Health
What does the concept of reconciliation have to do with medical
care and public health?
Foege: Nationally and internationally, resources for health
services are limited. A Carter Center study (Closing the Gap)
in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) indicates
that roughly two-thirds of mortality among persons under 65 could be prevented
using strategies currently available. And yet a very small proportion
of our investment in health services is allocated for prevention.
Some argue that spending a greater proportion of health-related resources
on prevention is an ethically and economically sound strategy. Others
argue that society is compelled to first take care of the sick and suffering
among us, even though it may not be the most efficient means to establish
public health. In the politics of resource allocation, real cases attract
a greater public response than theoretical cases of prevention. Reconciliation
in the area of medical care and public health seeks to balance ideologies
of prevention and treatment by investigating issues of health economics,
ethics and value associated with national and global health policy.
What impact do you hope this
panel will have on attendees?
Attendees will recognize that tough choices need to be made between prevention
and treatment in a world where per capita annual health expenditures in
sub-Saharan Africa are no more than $10as compared to $4,200 in
the United States. Studies on prevention show that an investment of
$1 in prenatal care will save $6 in the treatment of disease and disability,
and $1 invested in childhood immunizations will save $12 in future medical
care.
Who will be participating
in the conversation?
I was a contributing author to Closing the Gap published in
JAMA, and will serve as the primary presenter in this panel. Following
the presentation, responses will be offered by students in the MD/MPH
program: Peter Ehrenkranz, Naveen Thomas and Amanda Pederson Williams.
Richard Levinson, Candler Professor and associate dean for academic affairs
in the School of Public Health, will serve as the sessions moderator.
|