As is often true with epidemics of highly lethal diseases, the response to the ongoing outbreak of the Ebola virus in West Africa reveals much about matters human and humane. These matters include fear and courage, stigmatization, power, poverty, inequity, cross cultural acumen, individual and collective responsibility, infrastructure, response time, the role of global citizens, and blindness (willful or otherwise) to the extent of human interdependence. Several such matters will be the subject of a symposium that will occur at Kalamazoo College on Friday and Saturday, January 30 and 31. The symposium is titled “Ebola in Perspective: Our Roles as Global Citizens,” and all events are free and open to the public (RSVP to Jax Lee Gardner, 269.337.7053). The Friday night keynote address will be delivered by Dr. Alhaji Njai. It will occur at 7 p.m. in the Mandelle Hall Olmsted Room. Njai is a research scientist with the Global Product Safety and Regulatory Affairs division of Proctor and Gamble, inc., and a research fellow in pathological sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He broadcasts a weekly radio program to his native Sierra Leone that discusses issues around public health, science, and development.
Topics of the Saturday symposium (which will occur in the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.) will be, among others, the history of the Ebola virus, public health systems and policy implications, the biology of the virus, prediction and control models of the outbreak, and our role as global citizens. Presenters include epidemiologists, public health experts, and disease spread pattern analysts. This group includes Dr. Rachel Snow, associate professor of health behavior and health education at the University of Michigan; Dr. Peter Orris, professor and associate director of the Great Lakes Center for Occupational and Environmental Safety and Health, University of Illinois School of Public Health; Dr. Adam Hume, postdoctoral fellow, Boston University School of Medicine; Dr. Marisa Eisenberg, assistant professor, department of epidemiology, University of Michigan; and Amel Omari ’09, a pre-doctoral candidate at University of Michigan’s School of Public Health.
Omari joins other Kalamazoo College-affiliated experts who will participate in the symposium, including Dr. Péter Èrdi, the Luce Professor of Complex Systems Studies; Dr. Adriana Garriga-López, the Arcus Social Justice Leadership Assistant Professor of Sociology; Kathleen West ’77, co-director of Public Health Institute’s Leadership for Women’s Health program, and Kamal Kamalaldin ’17, a sophomore at K considering majors in chemistry, biology, and computer science.
Attendance is free. For further information and to RSVP please contact Jax Lee Gardner (269.337.7053.) The event is sponsored by Kalamazoo College’s African studies program, provost office, community and global health concentration, and the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership at Kalamazoo College.