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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tInclusivity, by the Book\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTo facilitate diversity, inclusion, and understanding, each year MPH students read and discuss a book that focuses on the health of marginalized populations.<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\tNovember 11, 2020<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t- Jillian McKoy<\/a><\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\tTwitter<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\tFacebook<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\n
When it comes to building diversity and inclusion at the School of Public Health, \u201cWe are all part of the conversation,\u201d says Yvette Cozier<\/a>, assistant dean of diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe school launched SPH Reads<\/a> in 2016, a schoolwide reading program that helps facilitate this conversation by encouraging critical thought around carefully chosen books. Led by the Diversity & Inclusion office, the program is part of SPH\u2019s 11-point plan\u2014launched in 2015\u2014to create a culture of inclusion and a safe environment that enables the school community to discuss challenging issues around diversity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cDiversity and inclusion are topics that are difficult to start, and often ones people want to avoid,\u201d Cozier points out. \u201cBut when we get people to focus on the common ways we can look at these issues, we find there is a lot that we can talk about.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every year, SPH Reads focuses on one book that delves into specific themes or challenges related to racial, social, or economic inequalities and the resulting impact on the health of marginalized populations. Incoming MPH students receive the book before the start of their program and discuss it with faculty during New Student Orientation. Last fall,<\/a> students discussed the struggles of immigrant communities and the changing culture of America in There Goes the Neighborhood<\/em>: How Communities Overcome Prejudice and Meet the Challenge of American Immigration<\/em> by Ali Noorani (SPH\u201999), executive director of the National Immigration Forum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"\/sph\/files\/2021\/01\/hlacks-image.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nThe program\u2019s debut selection<\/a>, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks<\/em>, by Rebecca Skloot, sparked deep discussions about the ethical and legal issues of race and class in medical research. The book tells the story of the late Lacks, an impoverished Black woman with cervical cancer whose cells were taken without her knowledge in 1951 and used for critical and lucrative medical research. The school invited Lacks\u2019 grandson and daughter-in-law to speak about the book and her life during a Diversity & Inclusion seminar in February 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cAs epidemiologists, we present a lot of numbers to students, but sometimes it can seem as if those numbers aren\u2019t attached to real people,\u201d Cozier says. \u201cGetting to talk about the consequences of race and poverty and lack of health insurance, and then meet members of the Lacks family\u2014the people who were impacted by these consequences\u2014makes these issues even more real.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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- Jillian McKoy<\/a><\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\tTwitter<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\tFacebook<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\n
When it comes to building diversity and inclusion at the School of Public Health, \u201cWe are all part of the conversation,\u201d says Yvette Cozier<\/a>, assistant dean of diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The school launched SPH Reads<\/a> in 2016, a schoolwide reading program that helps facilitate this conversation by encouraging critical thought around carefully chosen books. Led by the Diversity & Inclusion office, the program is part of SPH\u2019s 11-point plan\u2014launched in 2015\u2014to create a culture of inclusion and a safe environment that enables the school community to discuss challenging issues around diversity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDiversity and inclusion are topics that are difficult to start, and often ones people want to avoid,\u201d Cozier points out. \u201cBut when we get people to focus on the common ways we can look at these issues, we find there is a lot that we can talk about.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every year, SPH Reads focuses on one book that delves into specific themes or challenges related to racial, social, or economic inequalities and the resulting impact on the health of marginalized populations. Incoming MPH students receive the book before the start of their program and discuss it with faculty during New Student Orientation. Last fall,<\/a> students discussed the struggles of immigrant communities and the changing culture of America in There Goes the Neighborhood<\/em>: How Communities Overcome Prejudice and Meet the Challenge of American Immigration<\/em> by Ali Noorani (SPH\u201999), executive director of the National Immigration Forum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nThe program\u2019s debut selection<\/a>, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks<\/em>, by Rebecca Skloot, sparked deep discussions about the ethical and legal issues of race and class in medical research. The book tells the story of the late Lacks, an impoverished Black woman with cervical cancer whose cells were taken without her knowledge in 1951 and used for critical and lucrative medical research. The school invited Lacks\u2019 grandson and daughter-in-law to speak about the book and her life during a Diversity & Inclusion seminar in February 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs epidemiologists, we present a lot of numbers to students, but sometimes it can seem as if those numbers aren\u2019t attached to real people,\u201d Cozier says. \u201cGetting to talk about the consequences of race and poverty and lack of health insurance, and then meet members of the Lacks family\u2014the people who were impacted by these consequences\u2014makes these issues even more real.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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