Symposium opens today

This year’s Clifford Symposium, entitled "Beyond Rx: Global Health," opens today and will run through Saturday, introducing experts from a wide variety of fields covering global health through lectures, discussions, poster sessions, performances and workshops.

Faculty organizers of the event include Assistant Professor of Sociology and Anthropology Svea Closser, Associate Professor of American Studies and Director of the Center for Study of Race and Ethnicity Susan Burch and Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies Sujata Moorti.

Moorti emphasized the urgent nature of the topic of global health, explaining that “2010 marks a significant marker in the UN’s Millennium Development Goals. The eradication of global poverty pivots on the issue of global health.”

“The topic needs to be approached from multiple perspectives,” added Moorti, “and the issues central to global health dovetail beautifully with the College’s strengths.”

Closser believes that the strength of the symposium comes from its diversity of perspectives.

“It’s not people from one discipline … the speakers will addres issues from a variety of perspectives … which is really nice when looking at a topic that crosses so many fields,” said Closser.

The symposium includes participants from fields of biology, medicine, environmental studies, chemistry, history, film, anthropology, public policy and women’s studies, among others.

Closser sees this year’s symposium topic as “a sign of broader interests on campus.” In March of 2009, the Middlebury College Activities Board (MCAB) sponsored a symposium entitled “Healing Humanity.” Just this past spring, the College introduced a new interdisciplinary minor in Global Health. Student groups such as Globe Med and Global Health Action Network have also experienced increasing popularity and awareness on campus.

Moorti added that “with the growing student interest in this topic, we decided that our approach to global health would introduce important interlocutors in this debate to Middlebury; in addition we wanted to ensure that students would learn from these practitioners and scholars how one could be a responsible activist.”

Closser explained that the first component of the symposium – today and Friday’s events – seek to establish a foundation of knowledge about the topic for attendees. Saturday’s events will focus more on the activism component of the topic, and will feature speakers who are active in global health in addition to workshops for those who are interested in how to actively participate in global health work.

Although many of the symposium events will reach students and other attendees that are not familiar with the issues surrounding global health, Closser explained that “a lot of students at Middlebury already know about [global health] and have spent a lot of time and energy on this topic. For those students, there’s this opportunity to see how a number of people are approaching this from very different disciplines.”

“The speakers are all interesting for different reasons,” added Closser. “There’s something for everyone.”

Today’s opening lecture by Professor Susan Ray of the University of Ontario, “Othering: Connecting through Differences,” begins at 1:30 p.m. in the McCullough Social Space and will be followed by two separate panel discussions, “Access and Investments” and “Finding Meanings.”

Friday’s events include roundtable discussions entitled “Global/Local” and “Teaching at the Intersection,” a screening of the film “Communicating Health” and a lecture covering “The New Biopolitics of Race and Health” by keynote speaker Dorothy Roberts of the Northwestern University school of law.

Saturday’s events, held in McCardell Bicentenial Hall, will feature a poster session by Middlebury students, a roundtable discussion on “‘Doing’ Global Health Work – Different Perspectives” and three concurrent workshops on the ethical dilemmas of global health, challenges to health care providers when treating and preventing HIV and the specific challenges of global health work in Haiti.

The Nicholas R. Clifford Symposium was established in 1993 in honor of Professor Emeritus Nicholas R. Clifford. Clifford was a member of the history department from 1966 through 1993, and also served as vice president for academic affairs during his time at the College. Since 1993, the Clifford Symposium has marked the beginning of the academic year at the College by focusing on a topic applicable to a number of different disciplines.

This year’s symposium will be held in McCullough Social Space for Thursday and Friday’s events and in McCardell Bicentennial Hall for Saturday’s events. The symposium is free and open to the public.