March 26, 2009

The University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health will present its third annual Social Justice Symposium on Friday, April 3, 8:15 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., in several locations at the Arizona Health Sciences Center, 1501 N. Campbell Ave., Tucson. The event is free and open to the public.

The symposium is organized by the college’s students to bring together faculty, students, community members and health professionals to address a wide range of social justice topics, including social inequalities and health disparities. This year’s symposium, “In Solidarity: Paving Paths to Action,” will focus on forming a bridge between building awareness and a call to action. Goals include:

• Raise awareness, expand consciousness, clarify assumptions and exchange critical analysis about how social injustice and historical trauma impacts health outcomes.
• Demonstrate how cross-sectoral partnerships can effectively address health disparities.
• Engage students, faculty and community members in discourse regarding ways in which social inequality harms the health of the public.
• Inspire action, which fosters innovative strategies to promote social equality and improve the public’s health.

Keynote speaker Saul Landau, PhD, will discuss “Public Health Requires a Healthy Public,” at 9 a.m. in DuVal Auditorium, University Medical Center. Dr. Landau is an internationally known scholar, author, commentator and filmmaker on foreign and domestic policy issues. He has produced more than 40 films about social, political and historical issues and worldwide human rights, for which has won the Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award, the George Polk Award for Investigative Reporting and the First Amendment Award, as well as an Emmy for “Paul Jacobs and the Nuclear Gang.” He has written more than 10 books as well as short stories and poems. He received an Edgar Allen Poe Award for “Assassination on Embassy Row,” a report on the 1976 murders of Chilean Ambassador Orlando Letelier and his colleague Ronni Moffitt. In 2008, in recognition of his human rights work, he was awarded the Bernardo O’Higgins Medal, named after the Republic of Chile’s founding father and the highest honor given to foreigners. He currently is a senior fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, D.C.

Closing remarks will be by R.J. Shannon, minority AIDS coordinator, Arizona Department of Health Services. She will address “From Motivation to Mobilization: The 10 Steps for Moving Justice Forward,” from 2:45 to 3:30 p.m. in Roy P. Drachman Hall, Room B11. One of Arizona’s leading advocates and educators, Shannon recognizes the importance of social justice and civil rights and has been involved with many organizations that have undertaken the mission of bettering the quality of life for all of Arizona’s citizens. She has served as co-chairperson and chairperson of the Phoenix Human Relations Commission and currently is a consultant to the “Release the Fear” anti-violence project. She also serves on the Arizona African American Legislative Conference Committee; serves as co-chair for the Arizona Public Health Association’s HIV/STD/Viral Hepatitis Section; and recently was elected affirmative action officer for the American Civil Liberties Union, Arizona Chapter. She is a recipient of numerous awards for civil rights and human rights work and volunteerism, including the Phoenix Martin Luther King “Living the Dream” Award, the Mayor’s Award for Service on the Human Relations Commission, the Salute to Black Excellence Award for Community Service, outstanding contribution to HIV prevention from the Arizona Department of Health Services, and the Community Award from the black lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) organization, Soul Purpose AZ.

Other topics to be discussed in morning and afternoon concurrent sessions include global health, environmental health, institutionalized/structural racism, rural and urban health care issues, the educational system, housing issues, health policy and advocacy, poverty, social and economic inequity, historical trauma, human rights, and economic and community development.

The symposium is a collaboration of the UA Zuckerman College of Public Health and the Global Health Alliance and Public Health Student Alliance (student-run organizations at the college), the college’s Project EXPORT fellows, the UA Mexican American Studies and Research Center and the UA Center for Latin American Studies.

For more information, visit the UA Zuckerman College of Public Health Web site at

http://www.publichealth.arizona.edu/socialjustice

e-mail socialjusticesymposium@gmail.com;

or contact Lorraine Varela, (520) 626-5664, e-mail varelal@email.arizona.edu.

Registration is encouraged; to register, visit:

http://www.publichealth.arizona.edu/SocialJustice/Register.aspx

Send comments about this web page to L. McKibben.

This page was updated on Friday, April 10, 2009.